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Lewis ME. Exploring adolescence as a key life history stage in bioarchaeology. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2022; 179:519-534. [PMCID: PMC9825885 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24615] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2022] [Revised: 08/05/2022] [Accepted: 08/17/2022] [Indexed: 04/16/2024]
Abstract
Adolescence is a unique period in the life history of an individual. It is characterized by a myriad of changes that bioarchaeologists are only just coming to appreciate, related to sexual maturation, linear growth, immunological transformation, and emotional and cognitive development. New methods allow us to measure this age of transition through the stages of the adolescent growth, as a proxy for the physical development associated with sexual maturation (puberty). This review outlines ways bioarchaeologists may draw on research developments from the fields of human biology, evolutionary theory and neurobiology to advance a more holistic approach to the study of adolescence in the past. It considers current theoretical and analytical approaches to highlight the research potential of this critical stage of life history. This synthesis integrates the most recent research in the medical sciences concerned with body and brain development, and outlines the biological processes involved with sexual and physical maturation of the adolescent. The goal of this review is to help inform potentially rewarding areas of research that bioarchaeologists can contribute to and draw from, as well as the challenges and limitations, theoretical and methodological questions, and ways in which we can develop the study of adolescence in the discipline going forward.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mary E. Lewis
- Department of ArchaeologyUniversity of ReadingReadingUK
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Wolfe CA, Herrmann NP. Interpreting error in the estimation of skeletal growth profiles from past populations: An example demonstrating skeletal growth in historic African American communities. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2022; 177:83-99. [PMID: 36787783 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2020] [Revised: 07/27/2021] [Accepted: 09/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The study of growth in the past is a critical component of bioarcheological analyses. However, our understanding of growth in the past is subject to a number of methodological challenges. This study aims to model the skeletal growth of past populations by considering the challenges associated with the data collection process and the challenges associated with the age estimation procedures. MATERIALS AND METHODS We use skeletal remains from two historic African American cemeteries in the American South to model femoral diaphyseal length-for-age. We estimate the age of each individual using dental development techniques and present growth curves as both a product of the maximum likelihood (MLE) age estimate and the estimated posterior age distribution. Growth was compared against a reference sample from the University of Colorado Child Research Council Study. RESULTS The results of our analyses showed that femoral diaphyseal length in two historic African American communities is small-for-estimated age as compared to a modern reference sample. However, the magnitude and characterization of this difference is variable when taking into account the broader posterior age distribution. DISCUSSION Both samples may be small-for-age due to physiological stress associated with racism, inequality, and the compounding effects of early urbanization. However, the interpretation of growth in the past is muddled when considering the relationship between the study sample and the reference sample, when accounting for uncertainty in the age estimation procedure, and the error-inducing steps taken during the data collection process. Future interpretation of skeletal growth in the past must include a full account of the possible sources of error in order to present an accurate representation of growth.
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Betsinger TK, DeWitte SN. Toward a bioarchaeology of urbanization: Demography, health, and behavior in cities in the past. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2021; 175 Suppl 72:79-118. [PMID: 33619721 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24249] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2020] [Revised: 11/25/2020] [Accepted: 01/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Urbanization is one of the most important settlement shifts in human history and has been the focus of research within bioarchaeology for decades. However, there have been limited attempts to synthesize the results of these studies in order to gain a broader perspective on whether or how urbanization affects the biology, demography, and behavior of humans, and how these potential effects are embodied in the human skeleton. This paper outlines how bioarchaeology is well-suited to examine urbanization in the past, and we provide an overview and examples of three main ways in which urbanization is studied in bioarchaeological research: comparison of (often contemporaneous) urban and rural sites, synchronic studies of the variation that exists within and between urban sites, and investigations of changes that occur within urban sites over time. Studies of urbanization, both within bioarchaeology and in other fields of study, face a number of limitations, including a lack of a consensus regarding what urban and urbanization mean, the assumed dichotomous nature of urban versus rural settlements, the supposition that urbanization is universally bad for people, and the assumption (at least in practice) of homogeneity within urban and rural populations. Bioarchaeologists can address these limitations by utilizing a wide array of data and methods, and the studies described here collectively demonstrate the complex, nuanced, and highly variable effects of urbanization.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sharon N DeWitte
- Department of Anthropology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA
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Reedy S. Childhood Morbidity and Mortality in Europe’s Industrial Era. BIOARCHAEOLOGY AND SOCIAL THEORY 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-53417-2_14] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
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Newman SL, Gowland RL, Caffell AC. North and south: A comprehensive analysis of non‐adult growth and health in the industrial revolution (AD 18th–19th C), England. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2019; 169:104-121. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23817] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2018] [Revised: 02/19/2019] [Accepted: 02/21/2019] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Sophie L. Newman
- Department of ArchaeologyDurham University Durham United Kingdom
- Department of ArchaeologyUniversity of Sheffield Sheffield United Kingdom
| | | | - Anwen C. Caffell
- Department of ArchaeologyDurham University Durham United Kingdom
- York Osteoarchaeology Ltd York United Kingdom
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Cardoso HFV, Spake L, Wasterlain SN, Ferreira MT. The impact of social experiences of physical and structural violence on the growth of African enslaved children recovered from Lagos, Portugal (15th-17th centuries). AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2018; 168:209-221. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23741] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2018] [Revised: 09/07/2018] [Accepted: 10/13/2018] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- HFV Cardoso
- Department of Archaeology and Centre for Forensic Research; Simon Fraser University; Burnaby Canada
| | - L Spake
- Department of Archaeology and Centre for Forensic Research; Simon Fraser University; Burnaby Canada
| | - SN Wasterlain
- Centro de Investigação em Antropologia e Saúde, Department of Life Sciences; University of Coimbra; Coimbra Portugal
| | - MT Ferreira
- Laboratory of Forensic Anthropology, Centre for Functional Ecology, Department of Life Sciences; University of Coimbra; Coimbra Portugal
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Amoroso A, Garcia SJ. Can early-life growth disruptions predict longevity? Testing the association between vertebral neural canal (VNC) size and age-at-death. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PALEOPATHOLOGY 2018; 22:8-17. [PMID: 29626662 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpp.2018.03.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2017] [Revised: 03/05/2018] [Accepted: 03/21/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
This study tests the association of vertebral neural canal (VNC) size and age-at-death in a Portuguese skeletal collection from the 19th-20th century. If the plasticity and constraint model best explains this association, VNC size would be negatively related to mortality risk. If the predictive adaptive response (PAR) model is a better fit, no association can be inferred between VNC size and age-at-death. Ninety individuals were used in this study. The anteroposterior and transverse diameters of all vertebrae were measured. A Cox regression analysis was performed by sex to assess the effect of VNC size on age-at-death, after adjusting for the effects of year of birth and cause of death. Several measurements of VNC diameters have a statistically significant effect on age-at-death, but when the covariates were considered, this association became non-significant. The PAR model seems the best fit to explain the relation between VNC and age-at-death. Individuals who went through stressful events early in life were prepared to face a stressful environment later in life, allowing them to cope with adversity without affecting longevity. However, developmental plasticity may be buffered by maternal capital accumulated over several generations, and health hazards encountered throughout life can contribute to health outcomes and longevity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra Amoroso
- CAPP, Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas, Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal, Rua Almerindo Lessa, 1300-663, Lisboa, Portugal.
| | - Susana J Garcia
- CAPP, Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas, Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal, Rua Almerindo Lessa, 1300-663, Lisboa, Portugal.
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Agostini G, Holt BM, Relethford JH. Bone functional adaptation does not erase neutral evolutionary information. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2018; 166:708-729. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23460] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2017] [Revised: 02/26/2018] [Accepted: 03/01/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Gina Agostini
- Mayo Clinic/ASU Obesity Solutions, School of Human Evolution and Social ChangeArizona State UniversityTempe Arizona
| | - Brigitte M. Holt
- Department of AnthropologyUniversity of Massachusetts AmherstAmherst Massachusetts
| | - John H. Relethford
- Department of AnthropologyState University of New York at OneontaOneonta New York
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Rosas A, Ríos L, Estalrrich A, Liversidge H, García-Tabernero A, Huguet R, Cardoso H, Bastir M, Lalueza-Fox C, de la Rasilla M, Dean C. The growth pattern of Neandertals, reconstructed from a juvenile skeleton from El Sidrón (Spain). Science 2018; 357:1282-1287. [PMID: 28935804 DOI: 10.1126/science.aan6463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2017] [Accepted: 07/27/2017] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Ontogenetic studies help us understand the processes of evolutionary change. Previous studies on Neandertals have focused mainly on dental development and inferred an accelerated pace of general growth. We report on a juvenile partial skeleton (El Sidrón J1) preserving cranio-dental and postcranial remains. We used dental histology to estimate the age at death to be 7.7 years. Maturation of most elements fell within the expected range of modern humans at this age. The exceptions were the atlas and mid-thoracic vertebrae, which remained at the 5- to 6-year stage of development. Furthermore, endocranial features suggest that brain growth was not yet completed. The vertebral maturation pattern and extended brain growth most likely reflect Neandertal physiology and ontogenetic energy constraints rather than any fundamental difference in the overall pace of growth in this extinct human.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Rosas
- Paleoanthropology Group, Department of Paleobiology, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN)-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Calle José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain.
| | - Luis Ríos
- Paleoanthropology Group, Department of Paleobiology, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN)-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Calle José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain.,Department of Physical Anthropology, Aranzadi Society of Sciences, Zorroagagaina 11, 20014 Donostia-San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa, Spain
| | - Almudena Estalrrich
- Paleoanthropology Group, Department of Paleobiology, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN)-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Calle José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain.,Department of Paleoanthropology, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Franckfurta, Germany
| | - Helen Liversidge
- Queen Mary University of London, Institute of Dentistry, Turner Street, London E1 2AD, UK
| | - Antonio García-Tabernero
- Paleoanthropology Group, Department of Paleobiology, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN)-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Calle José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain
| | - Rosa Huguet
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social-Unidad Asociada al CSIC, Campus Sescelades (Edifici W3), Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Carrer Marcel.lí Domingo s/n, 43007 Tarragona, Spain
| | - Hugo Cardoso
- Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A1S6, Canada
| | - Markus Bastir
- Paleoanthropology Group, Department of Paleobiology, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN)-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Calle José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain
| | - Carles Lalueza-Fox
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Carrer Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Marco de la Rasilla
- Área de Prehistoria Departamento de Historia, Universidad de Oviedo, Calle Teniente Alfonso Martínez s/n, 33011 Oviedo, Spain
| | - Christopher Dean
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
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Bleuze MM, Wheeler SM, Williams LJ, Dupras TL. Growth of the pectoral girdle in a sample of juveniles from the kellis 2 cemetery, Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt. Am J Hum Biol 2016; 28:636-45. [PMID: 26914741 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.22844] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2015] [Revised: 11/25/2015] [Accepted: 01/13/2016] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES This study investigates growth patterns in the scapula and clavicle in a cross-sectional juvenile skeletal sample ranging from 20 weeks gestation to 8.5 years of age from the Kellis 2 cemetery, Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt. The primary goal is to quantify growth patterns and growth velocities in the scapula and clavicle to better understand the development of the pectoral girdle. METHODS A series of low-order polynomial regression models was used to examine growth curves in clavicle diaphyseal length, scapular height, and scapular width. Incremental growth and relative percent increase were examined among successive age groups as a proxy measure of growth velocity. Scapular body proportions were assessed with the scapular index and compared across age groups using a Kruskal-Wallis test with post-hoc tests. RESULTS A third-order polynomial best describes growth in clavicle diaphyseal length and scapular height, and a second-order polynomial best describes growth in scapular width. Growth velocity patterns are similar among clavicle diaphyseal length, scapular height, and scapular width particularly from birth until the end of early childhood. Clavicle diaphyseal length decelerates during middle childhood while scapular height and width accelerate during this time. With increasing age, the scapular body proportionately increases more in height than in width. The relatively narrow scapular body characteristic of adult scapulae is first evident during early childhood. CONCLUSIONS Changes in scapular body shape during ontogeny may be a reflection of the greater alterations taking place in the integrated morphology of the pectoral girdle during the biomechanical shift from crawling to bipedalism. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 28:636-645, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michele M Bleuze
- Department of Anthropology, The University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY, 12222.
| | - Sandra M Wheeler
- Department of Anthropology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, 32816
| | - Lana J Williams
- Department of Anthropology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, 32816
| | - Tosha L Dupras
- Department of Anthropology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, 32816
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Possible Further Evidence of Low Genetic Diversity in the El Sidrón (Asturias, Spain) Neandertal Group: Congenital Clefts of the Atlas. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0136550. [PMID: 26418427 PMCID: PMC4587856 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0136550] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2015] [Accepted: 08/05/2015] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
We present here the first cases in Neandertals of congenital clefts of the arch of the atlas. Two atlases from El Sidrón, northern Spain, present respectively a defect of the posterior (frequency in extant modern human populations ranging from 0.73% to 3.84%), and anterior (frequency in extant modern human populations ranging from 0.087% to 0.1%) arch, a condition in most cases not associated with any clinical manifestation. The fact that two out of three observable atlases present a low frequency congenital condition, together with previously reported evidence of retained deciduous mandibular canine in two out of ten dentitions from El Sidrón, supports the previous observation based on genetic evidence that these Neandertals constituted a group with close genetic relations. Some have proposed for humans and other species that the presence of skeletal congenital conditions, although without clinical significance, could be used as a signal of endogamy or inbreeding. In the present case this interpretation would fit the general scenario of high incidence of rare conditions among Pleistocene humans and the specific scenariothat emerges from Neandertal paleogenetics, which points to long-term small and decreasing population size with reduced and isolated groups. Adverse environmental factors affecting early pregnancies would constitute an alternative, non-exclusive, explanation for a high incidence of congenital conditions. Further support or rejection of these interpretations will come from new genetic and skeletal evidence from Neandertal remains.
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PAREDES JOANA, FERREIRA MARIATERESA, WASTERLAIN SOFIAN. Growth problems in a skeletal sample of children abandoned at Santa Casa da Misericórdia, Faro, Portugal (16th–19th centuries). ANTHROPOL SCI 2015. [DOI: 10.1537/ase.150629] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- JOANA PAREDES
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra
| | - MARIA TERESA FERREIRA
- Forensic Sciences Centre, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra
| | - SOFIA N. WASTERLAIN
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra
- Centro de Investigação em Antropologia e Saúde, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra
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Mummert A, Esche E, Robinson J, Armelagos GJ. Stature and robusticity during the agricultural transition: evidence from the bioarchaeological record. ECONOMICS AND HUMAN BIOLOGY 2011; 9:284-301. [PMID: 21507735 DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2011.03.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2011] [Revised: 03/26/2011] [Accepted: 03/27/2011] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
The population explosion that followed the Neolithic revolution was initially explained by improved health experiences for agriculturalists. However, empirical studies of societies shifting subsistence from foraging to primary food production have found evidence for deteriorating health from an increase in infectious and dental disease and a rise in nutritional deficiencies. In Paleopathology at the Origins of Agriculture (Cohen and Armelagos, 1984), this trend towards declining health was observed for 19 of 21 societies undergoing the agricultural transformation. The counterintuitive increase in nutritional diseases resulted from seasonal hunger, reliance on single crops deficient in essential nutrients, crop blights, social inequalities, and trade. In this study, we examined the evidence of stature reduction in studies since 1984 to evaluate if the trend towards decreased health after agricultural transitions remains. The trend towards a decrease in adult height and a general reduction of overall health during times of subsistence change remains valid, with the majority of studies finding stature to decline as the reliance on agriculture increased. The impact of agriculture, accompanied by increasing population density and a rise in infectious disease, was observed to decrease stature in populations from across the entire globe and regardless of the temporal period during which agriculture was adopted, including Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, South America, and North America.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda Mummert
- Department of Anthropology, Emory University, 207 Anthropology Building, 1557 Dickey Drive, Atlanta, GA 30322, United States.
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