Archaeological Populations Research Articles

Molar crown height as a means of evaluating existing dental wear scales for estimating age at death in human skeletal remains

This study uses molar tooth crown heights of skeletons excavated from Poundbury cemetery, Dorset in order to evaluate Brothwell's (1963) system for scoring molar wear for age estimation in adult skeletons from archaeological sites. Among the juveniles a highly significant relationship was found between crown height and dental age, confirming the utility of crown height in the study of individual age at death. In the group as a whole, wear (as measured by crown height) on teeth which are occlusal partners is strongly correlated, hence information loss by considering only upper or lower teeth is minor for the purposes of ageing. The remainder of the paper concentrates on mandibular molars. It appears that mandibular first and second molars wear at similar rates throughout life. Wear on the third molar is more variable and hence should be given less weight in age determination. The results confirm the value of dental wear for estimating age at death, and comparison of crown heights with Brothwell's stages confirm the value of his scheme for scoring wear. However the definitions of some of Brothwell's stages were found to be problematic, and in this light some revisions to his scheme are suggested. There are problems in applying tooth wear data to age older adults in archaeological populations, particularly as many of these show substantial ante-mortem loss of teeth. It is suggested that for archaeological populations young adults (aged about 17–35) may be distinguished from mature adults (aged about 35–55) on the basis of dental wear using Brothwell's chart. In archaeological groups, adults showing losses of more than about 50% of their teeth ante-mortem are probably aged over about 55 years at death.

Age assessment of the Spitalfields cemetery population by rib phase analysis.

Accurate paleodemographic reconstruction depends in large part on the ability to estimate age at death from the skeleton. Thus, it is important to evaluate the reliability of standards utilized for this assessment. The rib phase technique has proven to be one of the most consistently reliable means of determining age in modern human adults. A recent study also demonstrated that this method can be applied to Neandertals because they exhibit the same pattern of age-related change. However, the efficacy of the rib phases in aging archaeological populations of anatomically modern humans has not been systematically examined. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to determine if ribs from the 16th to 18th century Spitalfields cemetery population (with church records of age at death) manifest a morphological aging pattern similar to that found in the recent specimens upon which the rib phase standards are based. Age was assessed on a sample of 87 individuals using only the sternal ends of the ribs without access to the rest of the skeleton or records of age and sex. Results indicated that Spitalfields ribs exhibit essentially the same aging patterns found in the ribs of modern Whites. Overall, the demographic profile generated from the ribs produced a good approximation of this sample in both range and distribution. Error was in the direction of underaging, and results for males were better than for females. The present findings indicate that the rib can be considered a reliable site for age estimation in archaeological populations. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Stable carbon isotope assessment of hunter—Gatherermobility in prehistoric South Australia

Bone collagen stable carbon isotope values for the inland riverine Roonka Flat archaeological population of southeastern South Australia indicate that prehistoric Aboriginal diets were based on local C 3-derived terrestrial foods throughout the Late Holocene. Whereas 91% of the sample had values indicative of a predominantly C 3-based terrestrial diet (X̄ δ 13C= − 20·0 N=41), the remaining 9% had values indicating a mixed diet of C 3- and C 4-derived terrestrial foods and marine foods (X̄ δ 13C= − 16·1 N=4). There were no significant differences between mean δ 13C values for adult males, adult females, and subadults. These bone collagen δ 13C values suggest that there was limited hunter-gatherer mobility between the inland riverine site and adjacent coastal and arid interior habitats during the Late Holocene. Bone collagen stable carbon isotope comparisons with the Early Holocene Roonka Flat population could not be made due to extensive collagen degradation in these older interments.

Computed femur and tibia volumes and cranial capacity under near‐optimal conditions of skeletal growth: Relation to geomagnetic dipole field intensity and other latitude‐dependent climatic variables in archaeological North America and North Africa

AbstractUsing computed femur (F) and tibia (T) volumes and cranial capacity (CC), the Pleistocene geomagnetic acromegalosis (PGMA) model of human evolution is tested in eight series of male skeleton sets (n = 123) from aboriginal North America and North Africa, the majority dated to the Holocene. The material was selected from the extensive multiracial osteometric data base previously assembled in the course of adult residual rickets (RR) skeletal plasticity research in archaeological populations of the Northern Hemisphere, controlling for optimal bone eutrophism, that is, for the absence of sunshine and calcium deficits and demographic stress. Six of the eight series are of hunter‐gatherers, including a terminal Pleistocene mesolithic sample from the Maghreb. As predicted by PGMA, a clear osteotrophic response is observed between the F, T, and CC of these populations and their geomagnetic dipole field intensity (GMFI) backgrounds, here expressed in microteslas (μT); along with evidence that the GMFI‐dependent osteotrophism is stronger near the sagittal plane. Slightly higher bioenvironmental correlations, also compatible with PGMA, are obtained with a composite environmental osteotrophism parameter (CEOT.J), which incorporates the reciprocal of the archaeological site's reconstructed mean July temperature as a synergizer of GMFI. In a final demonstration of the utility of the new computed osteovolumetrics, it is shown that Skhul IV, to judge from its size and proportions, is a hyperrobust pre‐neanderthal male skeleton of early Late Pleistocene interglacial age, and belongs to the North African geographical race.

Osteometric scoring of adult residual rickets skeletal plasticity in two archaeological populations from southeastern England: Relationship to sunshine and calcium deficits and demographic stress

AbstractAn osteometric scoring technique is developed for the quantification of rickets deformational effects persisting in the healed adult skeleton. Termed RR‐15 scoring (for residual rickets estimate, based on 15 main diagnostic osteometric traits), the method is first validated for sunshine deficit, and is then tested in a comparison of three climatically distinct archaeological populations from southeastern England. Two well‐dated cemetery series were sampled: the Saint Bride's Church columbarium collection (SBC) from London at the time of the Industrial Revolution, for which the sex, age, and calender year at death of each individual are known; and the early Anglo‐Saxons from Abingdon, near Oxford (AAS). Estimates of insolation in the past were developed indirectly by reference to δ18O mass spectrometer analyses of dated layers of the Greenland ice sheet. In SBC and AAS, the RR‐15 score varies primarily as a direct function of computed sunshine deficit, but is also incremented by deficits of bioavailable calcium in their reconstructed diets, and by demographic stress in AAS, the inferred result of a high birth rate. The amounts of interglobular dentine present in the permanent first and third molar crowns of SBC and AAS have been shown to correlate similarly with sunshine and calcium deficits. The relatively high RR‐15 score obtained in a small sample of northwestern European neanderthals lends quantitative support to the bioenvironmental hypothesis that sunshine‐deficit rickets accounts for much of their paranormal gross morphology.

Drained Fields at La Tigra, Venezuelan Llanos: A Regional Perspective

This paper discusses drained-field studies in Venezuela, beginning with the first investigations two decades ago that focused on field systems themselves and proceeding to recent research by the authors that examined the drained fields of La Tigra as part of a regional-scale project in the state of Barinas. The La Tigra fields are dated to the Late Gaván phase (A.D. 550-1000), a time of extensive habitation in the region. An analysis of excavated pollen samples from the drained fields and a nearby village site has revealed that whereas maize was the predominant plant, there was notable intersite variability in the secondary cultigens. The paper also considers whether population pressure could have prompted the construction of the La Tigra fields. A comparison of archaeological population estimates to estimates of potential population under varying assumptions of productive capacity yields no indication of demographic pressures. We suggest that drained-field construction in this case was motivated primarily by political-economic considerations, part of a strategy whereby the regional elite sought to stimulate and mobilize the production of surplus by village farmers.

Variation in cross‐striation number between striae in an archaeological population

AbstractThe observed variation in the number of cross‐striations between Striae of Retzius in a sample of teeth from juveniles buried in the crypts of a London City church is presented. Estimates of intra‐and inter‐observer error in making such cross‐striation counts are discussed, together with implications for the estimation of age from perikymata counts on the tooth surface.

The Size of the Aztec City of Yautepec

AbstractIn 1992 we conducted an intensive archaeological surface survey in and around the modern town of Yautepec, Morelos, Mexico. Our goals were to determine the size and extent of the Aztec-period city of Yautepec, and to gather data on its spatial organization. This article describes the methods used and the results obtained toward achieving the first goal. Aztec Yautepec covered approximately 209 ha; this area is partly covered by the modern town and partly by open fields. Late Postclassic settlement was clustered around a structure that today is the largest known Aztec palace in central Mexico. We generate ethnohistoric and archaeological population estimates for Yautepec and discuss the city in relation to other Aztec urban settlements in Morelos and the Basin of Mexico.

Increasing human tooth length between birth and 5.4 years

Most previous studies of tooth development have used fractional stages of tooth formation to construct growth standards suitable for aging juvenile skeletal material. A simple alternative for determining dental age is to measure tooth length throughout development. In this study, data on tooth length development are presented from 63 individuals of known age at death, between birth and 5.4 years, from an archeological population recovered from the crypt of Christ Church, Spitalfields, London. Isolated developing teeth (304 deciduous, 269 permanent) were measured in millimeters and plotted against individual age. Regression equations to estimate age from a given tooth length, are presented for each deciduous maxillary and mandibular tooth type and for permanent maxillary and mandibular incisors, canines, and first permanent molars. Data on the earliest age of root completion of deciduous teeth and initial mineralization and crown completion of some permanent teeth in this sample are given, as well as the average crown height and total tooth length from a small number of unworn teeth. This method provides an easy, quantitative and objective measure of dental formation appropriate for use by archeologists and anthropologists.

Evaluating human skeletal growth: An Anglo‐Saxon example

AbstractCross‐sectional growth data were obtained from the skeletal remains of non‐adults from the Raunds Anglo‐Saxon site. Standard measurements of the diaphyseal lengths of the long bones of the upper and lower limbs and the maximum breadth of the ilium were recorded in order to construct skeletal growth profiles (SGP). In addition regression equations were used to estimate diaphyseal length from proximal and distal shaft widths, and epiphyseal breadth data for fragmentary remains. The skeletal measurements were then plotted against age estimates determined by the dental formation standards of Moorrees, Fanning and Hunt, and Anderson, Thompson and Popovich. The growth data were compared with sixth to seventh century German, ninth century Slavic and modern Caucasian data. With the exception of the ancient Slavic material, the Anglo‐Saxon remains demonstrated the smallest rates of growth. Diaphyseal ageing curves derived from the Anglo‐Saxon sample were tested for applicability on the non‐adult cohorts of the Berinsfield and Exeter Anglo‐Saxon/Early Medieval samples. Differences were observed between diaphyseal age as determined from the skeletal growth profiles for Raunds and calcification age assessed for individuals within the test samples. It is proposed that variation in long bone growth as well as dental age confounds consistent and reliable ageing of skeletal remains based on diaphyseal length. Assessment of changes in health and evaluation of methodological problems inherent to studies of skeletal growth from archaeological populations are discussed. Population comparisons for changes in general health are recommended over individual assessments.

Lead exposure in italy: 800 BC-700 AD

Certain social and industrial activities that were common among Imperial Age Romans have been suggested to have caused lead poisoning whose sociological consequences may have afflicted many members of the aristocratic social stratum. Evaluation of this suggestion has awaited quantitative data. This study reports the skeletal lead content of twenty Italian archaeological populations. Imperial Age populations demonstrated up to ten-fold more bone lead than their predecessors or successors.

Anthropology in Disability Research and Rehabilitation

People with disabilities make up a significant part of the human family, with estimates of their numbers ranging from the tens to the hundreds of millions worldwide. One highly regarded estimate places the number of significantly disabled individuals—people with serious hearing, vision, mobility, or cognitive impairments—as high as one in every ten persons. Nor are these impairments recent in origin. Any review of written or oral history, or archaeological skeletal population, large or small, allows us to identify many individuals for whom a physical or mental impairment played a significant role in daily life.

Long bone growth velocity in the Libben population.

Growth-attained curves have shown only limited effectiveness in studies of long bone growth in archaeological populations. As an alternative, the length of long bone diaphyses in children aged 0 to 12 years from the Libben skeletal collection were first normalized by average adult long bone length, and derivatives of fitted curves were then used to determine age-specific growth velocity. The sample was compared to healthy Euroamerican children from Denver, Colorado (Maresh: American Journal of Diseases of Children 89:725-742, 1955). Results indicate almost identical patterns of growth in the two populations with one exception: the Libben sample shows significantly diminished velocity during the first three years of life. This period of depressed growth coincides with high levels of infectious disease.

Infant and childhood morbidity and mortality risks in archaeological populations

Abstract Infants and children are nearly universally found to be among the most vulnerable subgroups of a population. Their health can be a sensitive indicator of the health of the population as a whole. Furthermore, repeated bouts of illness during infancy and childhood, periods of rapid development, can have lasting functional effects on the individual and the group. In this paper we provide a framework for studying infant and childhood health in archaeological populations, briefly review methods for studying infant‐childhood health in skeletal remains, and provide examples of the sensitivity and adaptive significance of this segment of the population by examining infant and childhood health at Dickson Mounds, Illinois and Wadi Haifa, Sudanese Nubia. A variety of methods are available for studying infant and childhood health in archaeological groups. Taken together, these methods can provide insights into the patterns and consequences of health in prehistory.

Dental enamel hypoplasias in prehistoric populations.

Recent years have witnessed an impressive increase in research on enamel hypoplasias in archaeological populations. By reviewing a series of studies of enamel hypoplasias at Dickson Mounds, Illinois, North America (950-1300 A.D.), a prehistoric site involved in the transition from gathering-hunting to agriculture, this paper provides an illustration of this type of research. The location of linear hypoplasias on labial tooth surfaces of 111 adults was studied with a thin-tipped caliper, and this location was converted to an age at development. Most defects developed between two and four years of developmental age. Hypoplasias increased in prevalence from 45% in the pre-agriculture group to 80% in the agricultural group (p less than 0.01). The transition to agriculture occurred at a cost to infant and childhood health. Defects are associated with decreased longevity. Individuals with defects have a life expectancy of nearly ten years fewer than those without defects, suggesting that the development of a defect marks a significant and lasting health event. Enamel hypoplasias occur most frequently on anterior teeth, polar teeth in developmental fields, and the middle developmental thirds of teeth. Analysis of these data suggests that enamel may be differentially susceptible to growth disruption and that susceptibility varies both within and among teeth. The study of enamel defects at Dickson provides insights into the health and nutritional consequences of the economic change from hunting and gathering to agriculture. More generally, with the availability of teeth from genetically homogeneous populations, studies of enamel hypoplasias in prehistory should provide a useful complement to research on this condition in contemporary peoples.

Inferring Fertility from Relative Mortality in Historically Controlled Cemetery Remains from Barbados

Fertility (crude birth rate) was estimated from skeletal and corresponding historical relative mortality ratios for a seventeenth- to eighteenth-century Barbados slave population. The estimates varied widely among themselves according to which data source and mortality ratio was used; they also varied from the actual historical fertility rate. In addition, we have raised logical objections to the use of stable model life tables for inferring nonstable vital rates in archaeological populations. These points are problematic for the broad use of relative mortality to infer relative fertility.

Model life table fitting by maximum likelihood estimation: a procedure to reconstruct paleodemographic characteristics from skeletal age distributions.

A procedure is presented that uses the regression coefficients for the Coale and Demeny west model life tables to model selected demographic characteristics from skeletal age-at-death distributions. Model death distributions were constructed and compared to a given skeletal distribution, using methods of maximum likelihood estimation to determine the best fit. Two chi-square tests are employed to evaluate the degree of fit. The resulting model includes estimates of demographic characteristics including gross reproductive rate, crude birth rate and life expectancy. The procedure is applied to three archaeological skeletal samples as test cases: two from eastern North America and one from Mexico. These display a range of correspondence (between the best fitting model and the data) from good to poor. The proposed procedure is a potentially powerful tool for both reconstructing paleodemographic rates and illuminating differences between typical human patterns and those found in archaeological populations.

Patterns of Prehistoric Food Production in West-Central New Mexico

Previous articleNext article No AccessPatterns of Prehistoric Food Production in West-Central New MexicoW. H. WillsW. H. Wills Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Journal of Anthropological Research Volume 45, Number 1Spring, 1989University of New Mexico Centennial 1889-1989 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/jar.45.1.3630175 Views: 16Total views on this site Citations: 11Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1989 The University of New MexicoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Mary J. Adair, Neil A. Duncan, Danielle N. Young, Steven R. Bozarth, Robert K. Lusteck Early Maize ( Zea mays ) in the North American Central Plains: The Microbotanical Evidence, American Antiquity 87, no.22 (Apr 2022): 333–351.https://doi.org/10.1017/aaq.2021.152Matthew E. Hill, Jr, Vance T. Holliday Paleoindian and later occupations along ancient shorelines of the San Agustín Plains, New Mexico, Journal of Field Archaeology 36, no.11 (Jul 2013): 3–20.https://doi.org/10.1179/009346910X12707321242557David A. Phillips Adoption and Intensification of Agriculture in the North American Southwest: Notes toward a Quantitative Approach, American Antiquity 74, no.44 (Jan 2017): 691–707.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0002731600049015ANDRÉ V. RITTER, JOHN O. GRIPPO, THOMAS A. COLEMAN, MICHÈLE E. MORGAN Prevalence of Carious and Non-carious Cervical Lesions in Archaeological Populations from North America and Europe, Journal of Esthetic and Restorative Dentistry 21, no.55 (Oct 2009): 324–334.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1708-8240.2009.00285.xJohn Kantner Ancient Puebloan Southwest, 79 (Feb 2015).https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511801778K. Renee Barlow Predicting Maize Agriculture among the Fremont: An Economic Comparison of Farming and Foraging in the American Southwest, American Antiquity 67, no.11 (Jan 2017): 65–88.https://doi.org/10.2307/2694877Michael W. Diehl Changes in Architecture and Land Use Strategies in the American Southwest: Upland Mogollon Pithouse Dwellers, A.C. 200–1000, Journal of Field Archaeology 24, no.22 (Jul 2013): 179–194.https://doi.org/10.1179/009346997792208212Joe Truett Bison and elk in the American Southwest: In search of the pristine, Environmental Management 20, no.22 (Mar 1996): 195–206.https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01204004W. H. Wills The Transition from the Preceramic to Ceramic Period in the Mogollon Highlands of Western New Mexico, Journal of Field Archaeology 23, no.33 (Jul 2013): 335–359.https://doi.org/10.1179/009346996791973882Michael E. Whalen Moving out of the Archaic on the Edge of the Southwest, American Antiquity 59, no.44 (Jan 2017): 622–638.https://doi.org/10.2307/282337Raymond Mauldin The Relationship Between Ground Stone and Agricultural Intensification in Western New Mexico, KIVA 58, no.33 (Jul 2016): 317–330.https://doi.org/10.1080/00231940.1993.11758212

Human dental reduction: natural selection or the probable mutation effect.

Dental reduction has been sufficiently widespread among human populations to render the phenomenon of reduced tooth size worthy of scientific explanation. One of the most controversial models invoked to explain structural reduction in organisms is referred to as the "probable mutation effect" (PME). According to this model, structures no longer functional owing to ecological or cultural changes will experience a relaxation of selection pressure, permitting an accumulation of mutations in the population that inevitably will result in the reduction in size or the loss of the concerned structure. Although the PME continues to be offered as a viable explanation of human dental reduction, it is based upon several premises that modern dental clinical experience fails to support. Known enzyme defects resulting from mutations, factors predisposing to dental infections, and the deleterious effects of teeth that are too large or too small reveal that the PME does not logically account for the reduction of tooth size. Given such information, this paper proposes models of dental reduction based upon natural selection, which, unlike the PME, are testable in both modern and archaeological populations. The integration of clinical and skeletal data permits a more thorough understanding of dental reduction in the hominid fossil record.

The logic of the herd: A computer simulation of archaeological herd structure

The advent of new techniques of dental ageing has permitted inferences about the age-structures of ancient animal populations on the basis of faunal remains. Unfortunately, inference from archaeological populations of faunal elements to the age-structure of ancient herds is fraught with both sampling problems and logical difficulties. The relationship between a living herd—a dynamic system characterized by growth—and a static archaeological population is more complex than that assumed by current models based on kill-off patterns and survivorship curves. Using a computer simulation, these logical relationships are explored, and the effects of herd growth on the composition of live and death populations are evaluated. By employing the simulation within a deductive framework, constrained by ethnographically derived criteria for reproduction, mortality, and economic viability in the Near East, it is possible to determine whether certain archaeological kill-off patterns could represent viable herding systems. Examples were found to vary widely in terms of both demographic plausibility and economic viability. Some implications for the possible course of ova-caprine domestication in the Near East are discussed.