Abstract
Human skeletal and dental remains are an invaluable source of information for interpreting the way of life of past people and also provide the only direct evidence of non-living populations’ health status. This research paper discusses the sex-related health differences observed in two skeletal populations from Greece, an ancient and a modern, by employing multiple health indicators, and aims at determining the biological and possible social factors that contribute to this variation. Particular emphasis is given to the importance of hypotheses-driven, population-based studies of human remains as the most effective means of reconstructing life in the past. The results showed that fracture (<em>ancient</em>: females 0.08%, males 0.12%; <em>modern</em>: females 0.38%, males 0.19%) and osteoarthritis (<em>ancient</em>: females 0.7%, males: 3.0%; <em>modern</em>: females 4.4%, males 3.2%) frequencies were higher for male individuals than females in the ancient population, which can be explained by greater engagement in strenuous and risky activity. Dental caries (<em>ancient</em>: females 1.2%, males 1.8%; <em>modern</em>: females 23.6%, males 17.4%) and ante-mortem tooth loss (<em>ancient</em>: females 12.3%, males 7.7%; <em>modern</em>: females 69.5%, males 49.5%) rates were higher for females than males (with the exception of the almost equal caries rates for the ancient population), most likely due to hormonal fluctuations, saliva content and flow, because female teeth erupt earlier and also perhaps as a result of differences in dietary habits. Periodontitis levels were more elevated in males (<em>ancient</em>: females 9.6%, males 30.1%; <em>modern</em>: females 29.1%, males 38.3%), possibly due to poor oral hygiene practices and excessive masticatory loading. Dental enamel defects rates showed that in the ancient population, males had more chances of surviving childhood stress than females (females 19.5%, males 20.0%), whereas, in the modern population, the exact opposite was the case (females 6.1%, males 22.7%).
Highlights
In this paper, an important and complicated area of research is discussed: the sex-related health status differences as revealed by human skeletal remains and more palaeopathology
Sig.=0.203) but this is misleading; the overall percentages are higher for females because there is a high frequency of vertebral crush fractures, possibly secondary to pathology, i.e. osteoporosis, in the older ages (Table 2b) and because females live longer (Fig. 2)
The overall impression, when comparing the two populations, is that, they are very distant chronologically and they have completely different backgrounds, the sex-related health differences detected in each of them are very similar. It appears that changing social conditions do not have a major influence on the distribution of osteoarthritis, fractures and dental pathology between the sexes
Summary
An important and complicated area of research is discussed: the sex-related health status differences as revealed by human skeletal remains and more palaeopathology. Since palaeopathology as a science depends on the development of methodologies based on comparative methods (Armelagos 1998: 3), a comparative method is used here to test hypotheses of sex differences in health status as a result of biological and social factors. The main aims of this paper are to: . Identify the health differences between the sexes. Examine the influence of sex (biologically-determined) and gender (socially-determined) on the prevalence, distribution and pattern of disease in skeletal populations. Investigate the importance of the use of multiple health indicators and hypotheses-testing, population-based studies in bioarchaeology. Papers from the Institute of Archaeology 18 (2007): 114-147
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
