Investigating femoral growth disruption in subadults from the 10th-13th century St. Étienne cemetery of Toulouse, France

OBJECTIVES

The skeleton embodies an individual's environment and lived experiences. Studying childhood growth disruption can, therefore, aid in understanding the experiences of children in the past. This study evaluates growth disruption in a medieval Toulousian subadult sample to explore factors that may have influenced childhood growth and mortality at this site and to assess the utility of Harris line (HL) interpretations in bioarchaeology.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Femoral growth disruption was assessed in n = 71 subadults (0.125-12.42 years) from the 10th-13th century St. Étienne cemetery of Toulouse, France, using femoral length, total area, cortical area, and relative cortical area. Femoral radiographs were assessed for HLs. To determine the prevalence of growth disruption, z-scores were calculated using data from the Denver growth study.

RESULTS

The majority of subadults in this sample suffered from femoral growth disruption. Young children (1.0-3.99 years) were the most affected, with >65% experiencing reduced appositional growth and linear growth stunting at time-of-death. Additionally, while many individuals presented with observable HLs, linear and appositional growth did not significantly differ between individuals with and without HLs.

DISCUSSION

Maternal malnutrition and inadequate complementary feeding practices likely contributed to the high prevalence of growth disruption among the youngest individuals in the study. The older children and adolescents buried at St. Étienne experienced an amelioration in growth deficits, indicating an improvement in nutrition and/or disease load. The results of this study suggest that more consideration is required when interpreting the presence/absence of HLs, and that studies assessing HLs may benefit from using a more individualistic approach.

Using craniofacial fluctuating asymmetry to examine the effects of sex, socioeconomic status, and early life experiences on adult age at death in industrial England

OBJECTIVES

Historical evidence from 18th- and 19th-century England suggests that industrialization's impacts on health were largely negative, especially among marginalized groups. However, available documentary evidence is often biased toward adult men and rarely sheds light on the experiences of other members of the population, such as women and children. Craniofacial fluctuating asymmetry (FA) can serve as a proxy measurement of developmental instability and stress during development. This study examines the associations among age, sex, socioeconomic status (SES), and FA in skeletal samples from industrial-era England.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The sample for this study comes from four industrial-era cemeteries from England (A.D. 1711-1857). Geometric morphometric analyses of three-dimensional landmark coordinate data were used to generate a measure of FA for each individual (Mahalanobis distance). A three-way ANOVA was used to evaluate the impacts of sex, SES, and FA scores on adult age at death (n = 168).

RESULTS

Significant associations existed between age at death and SES (p = 0.004) and FA scores (p = 0.094). Comparisons of the estimated means indicated that age at death was consistently higher among high SES individuals and individuals with FA scores less than one standard deviation from the mean.

CONCLUSIONS

This study supports findings from previous studies that have suggested that the differences in resource access and environmental buffering generated by socioeconomic inequality can impact longevity and patterns of mortality among socioeconomic status groups. Likewise, stress in early life-evinced by craniofacial fluctuating asymmetry-can influence observed patterns of longevity in adults decades later.

The expendables: Bioarchaeological evidence for pauper apprentices in 19th century England and the health consequences of child labour

Child labour is the most common form of child abuse in the world today, with almost half of child workers employed in hazardous industries. The large-scale employment of children during the rapid industrialisation of the late 18th and early 19th centuries in England is well documented. During this period, the removal of pauper children from workhouses in cities to work as apprentices in rural mills in the North of England was commonplace. Whilst the experiences of some of these children have been recorded historically, this study provides the first direct evidence of their lives through bioarchaeological analysis. The excavation of a rural churchyard cemetery in the village of Fewston, North Yorkshire, yielded the skeletal remains of 154 individuals, including an unusually large proportion of children aged between 8 to 20 years. A multi-method approach was undertaken, including osteological and palaeopathological examination, stable isotope and amelogenin peptide analysis. The bioarchaeological results were integrated with historical data regarding a local textile mill in operation during the 18th-19th centuries. The results for the children were compared to those obtained from contemporaneous individuals of known identity (from coffin plates) of comparable date. Most of the children exhibited distinctive 'non-local' isotope signatures and a diet low in animal protein when compared to the named local individuals. These children also showed severe growth delays and pathological lesions indicative of early life adversity, as well as respiratory disease, which is a known occupational hazard of mill work. This study has provided unique insights into the harrowing lives of these children; born into poverty and forced to work long hours in dangerous conditions. This analysis provides a stark testimony of the impacts of industrial labour on the health, growth and mortality risk of children, with implications for the present as well as our understanding of the past.

The dark satanic mills: Evaluating patterns of health in England during the industrial revolution

OBJECTIVE

this research seeks to investigate the impact the industrial revolution had on the population of England.

MATERIALS

Pre-existing skeletal data from 1154 pre-Industrial (1066-1700 CE) and 4157 industrial (1700-1905) skeletons from 21 cemeteries (N = 5411).

METHODS

Context number, sex, age-at-death, stature and presence/absence of selected pathological conditions were collated. The data were compared using chi square, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, t-tests and logistic regression (α = 0.01).

RESULTS

There was a statistically significant increase in cribra orbitalia, periosteal reactions, rib lesions, fractures, rickets, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, enamel hypoplasia, dental caries and periapical lesions in the industrial period. Osteomyelitis decreased from the pre-industrial to industrial period.

CONCLUSION

Our results confirm the industrial revolution had a significant negative impact on human health, however the prevalence of TB, treponemal disease, maxillary sinusitis, osteomalacia, scurvy, gout and DISH did not change, suggesting these diseases were not impacted by the change in environmental conditions.

SIGNIFICANCE

This is the largest study of health in the industrial revolution that includes non-adults and adults and considers age-at-death alongside disease status to date. This data supports the hypothesis that the rise of industry was associated with a significant decline in general health, but not an increase in all pathological conditions.

Biological mortality bias in diaphyseal growth of contemporary children: Implications for paleoauxology

Objectives

Biological mortality bias is the idea that individuals who comprise skeletal samples (non‐survivors) are a specific subset of the overall population, who may have been exposed to greater stress during life. Because of this, it is possible that studying growth in a skeletal population misrepresents the growth and health of survivors in that population. Using a modern sample, this study investigates whether biological mortality bias in growth may be present in archaeological skeletal samples.

Materials and methods

Postmortem computed tomography scans of 206 children aged under 13 years were collected from two institutions in the United States and Australia. The sample was separated into children who died from natural causes as proxies for non‐survivors and from accidental causes as proxies for survivors. Differences in long bone length for age were assessed through analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and z‐score analysis, and these results were compared with studies linking anthropometrics and mortality risk in nonindustrialized societies.

Results

Differences in growth favoring survivors were greater for girls than for boys and seemed to increase over age. The effect in nonindustrialized societies was 1.5 to 5 times the magnitude of that in our contemporary sample.

Conclusions

A greater growth delay in girls than in boys has been documented in historical identified collections, and skeletal samples consistently become more stunted relative to modern standards over the course of growth. Our findings on biological mortality bias could explain part of these growth delays and impact interpretations of past ontogenetic environments.

A growth area: A review of the value of clinical studies of child growth for palaeopathology

Studies of living children demonstrate that early life stress impacts linear growth outcomes. Stresses affecting linear growth may also impact later life health outcomes, including increased cardiometabolic disease risk. Palaeopathologists also assess the growth of children recovered from bioarchaeological contexts. Early life stresses are inferred to affect linear growth outcomes, and measurements of skeletal linear dimensions alongside other bioarchaeological information may indicate the types of challenges faced by past groups. In clinical settings, the impacts of stress on growing children are typically measured by examining height. Palaeopathologists are limited to examining bone dimensions directly and must grapple with incomplete pictures of childhood experiences that may affect growth. Palaeopathologists may use clinical growth studies to inform observations among past children; however, there may be issues with this approach. Here, we review the relationship between contemporary and palaeopathological studies of child and adolescent growth. We identify approaches to help bridge the gap between palaeopathological and biomedical growth studies. We advocate for: the creation of bone-specific growth reference information using medical imaging and greater examination of limb proportions; the inclusion of children from different global regions and life circumstances in contemporary bone growth studies; and greater collaboration and dialogue between palaeopathologists and clinicians as new studies are designed to assess linear growth past and present. We advocate for building stronger bridges between these fields to improve interpretations of growth patterns across human history and to potentially improve interventions for children living and growing today.

Studies of living children demonstrate that early life stress impacts linear growth. Stresses affecting linear growth may also impact later life health, including cardiometabolic disease risk. Palaeopathologists also investigate if children and adolescents recovered from bioarchaeological contexts experienced growth disruptions due to early life challenges. In clinical settings, the impacts of stress on growing children are typically measured by examining height. Palaeopathologists are limited to examining bone dimensions directly and must grapple with incomplete pictures of childhood experiences that may affect growth. Here, we review the relationship between contemporary and palaeopathological studies of child and adolescent growth. We advocate for: the creation of bone-specific growth reference information using medical imaging and greater examination of limb proportions; the inclusion of children from different global regions and life circumstances in contemporary bone growth studies; and greater collaboration and dialogue between palaeopathologists and clinicians as new studies are designed to assess linear growth past and present. These steps may improve interpretations of growth patterns across human history and interventions for children living and growing today.

Interpreting error in the estimation of skeletal growth profiles from past populations: An example demonstrating skeletal growth in historic African American communities

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.

Mortality, migration and epidemiological change in English cities, 1600-1870

OBJECTIVE

This study tests the argument that industrialisation was accompanied by a dramatic worsening of urban health in England.

MATERIALS

Family reconstitutions derived from baptism, marriage and burial records for the period before 1837, and from civil registration of deaths and census populations between 1837 and 1900.

METHODS

Age-specific mortality rates are used as indicators of population health.

RESULTS

The available evidence indicates a decline in urban mortality in the period c.1750-1820, especially amongst infants and (probably) rural-urban migrants. Mortality at ages 1-4 years demonstrated a more complex pattern, falling between 1750 and 1830 before rising abruptly in the mid-nineteenth century.

CONCLUSIONS

These patterns are better explained by changes in breastfeeding practices and the prevalence or virulence of particular pathogens than by changes in sanitary conditions or poverty. Mortality patterns amongst young adult migrants were affected by a shift from acute to chronic infectious diseases over the period.

SIGNIFICANCE

Pathogen evolution, infant care and migration exerted major influences on mortality trends and should be given greater attention in studies of the health impacts of British industrialisation.

LIMITATIONS

Evidence of urban mortality rates is very limited before 1837 and may not be fully representative of industrialising populations. Mortality also provides only a partial picture of the health of urban populations and may be distorted by migration patterns.

FURTHER RESEARCH

There is enormous scope for collaboration between archaeologists and historians to investigate the health of industrial populations, through the triangulation and contextualisation of diverse sources of evidence.

Intersectionality and trauma analysis in bioarchaeology

Intersectionality, the theory named by Kimberlé Crenshaw, outlines how multiple elements of an individual's social identity overlap to create and preserve societal inequalities and discrimination. Recently bioarchaeology's engagement with intersectionality has become increasingly explicit, as the field recognizes the lived experience of multiple axes of an individual's identity. Evidence of trauma can remain observable in an individual's skeleton for years, making it an ideal subject of study for intersectional analyses in bioarchaeology. Using contrasting case studies of two individuals who died in hospitals and were unclaimed after death, we explore the theoretical and methodological application of intersectionality to investigations of accidental and interpersonal trauma. Differences in identities and structural inequalities affect bone quality and health outcomes. As we demonstrate, a broken bone is the intersecting result of biological, histomorphological, sociocultural, and behavioral factors. This approach allows for a better acknowledgement of the inherent complexity of past lives, elevating and amplifying previously silenced voices. In this way, intersectionality in bioarchaeology demands social justice.

Lack of biological mortality bias in the timing of dental formation in contemporary children: Implications for the study of past populations

OBJECTIVES

Biological mortality bias is the idea that individuals who perish (non-survivors) are biologically distinct from those who survive (survivors). If biological mortality bias is large enough, bioarchaeological studies of nonsurvivors (skeletal samples) cannot accurately represent the experiences of the survivors of that population. This effect is particularly problematic for the study of juvenile individuals, as growth is particularly sensitive to environmental insults. In this study, we test whether biological mortality bias exists in one dimension of growth, namely dental development.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Postmortem computed tomography scans of 206 children aged 12 years and younger at death were collected from two institutions in the United States and Australia. The sample was separated into children dying from natural causes as proxies for non-survivors and from accidental causes as proxies for survivors. Differences in the timing of dental development were assessed using sequential logistic regressions between dental formation stages and residual analysis of dental minus chronological age.

RESULTS

No consistent delay in age of attainment of dental stages was documented between survivors and non-survivors. Delays between survivors and non-survivors in dental relative to chronological age were greatest for infants, and were greater for females than for males.

DISCUSSION

Lack of biological mortality bias in dental development reinforces confidence in juvenile age estimates and therefore in skeletal growth profiles and growth studies. As dental development is known to be less environmentally sensitive than skeletal growth and development, further studies should examine biological mortality bias in long bone length.

Environmental correlates of growth patterns in Neolithic Liguria (northwestern Italy)

OBJECTIVE

This study evaluates patterns of human growth in the Neolithic to make inferences about environmental correlates of developmental disturbances.

MATERIALS

33 children/adolescents from the Neolithic of Liguria (Italy), 29 of which date between 4,800-4,400 cal BCE.

METHODS

Neolithic patterns of growth are compared with a modern sample (the Denver Growth Study; DGS). Dental development was used to determine age at death. Proxies for postcranial maturation are femoral length and proportion of mean adult femoral length attained.

RESULTS

Ligurian children show growth faltering compared to DGS, especially between 4 and 9 years of age. Between 1 and 2 years, and in later childhood and adolescence, values are more similar or higher than DGS, when using the proportion of adult femoral length attained.

CONCLUSIONS

The pattern of growth in Ligurian Neolithic children may reflect a deprived and highly-infectious environment: three individuals show skeletal lesions consistent with tuberculosis. The relatively faster growth in infancy may result from the buffering provided by maternal milk. Older children and adolescents may exhibit catch-up growth.

SIGNIFICANCE

This study contributes to our understanding of Neolithic selective pressures and possible biocultural adaptive strategies.

LIMITATIONS

The cross-sectional nature of the data and the small sample size make it unclear whether the observed pattern is representative of the growth patterns in the living population. The possibility that adults are stunted undermines the interpretation of optimal growth in the first years.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

Refine age estimates, increase sample size through the study of other bone elements.

Rare paleopathological insights into vitamin D deficiency rickets, co-occurring illnesses, and documented cause of death in mid-19th century London, UK

Growing evidence suggests that vitamin D supports immune responses to infections, autoimmune conditions and cancers, although evidence from large-scale studies is limited. There is scope to better understand how vitamin D deficiency interacted with other diseases to affect health in past groups. This study investigated paleopathological evidence and documentary records of individual cause of death to examine disease co-occurrence in a group of mid-19th century child burials from London, UK. Twenty-one percent of children had vitamin D deficiency rickets (138/642) and 36 children with rickets had an identified cause of death. Cyclical episodes of metabolic and nutritional deficiencies (rickets and scurvy) had occurred during childhood. Active rickets co-occurred with respiratory and gastrointestinal infections in a small number of children, likely reflecting vitamin D's role in supporting immune function. Consideration of the stage of the vitamin D deficiency showed that the majority of children were affected by chronic disease loads indicative of multiple episodes of illness. Reconstructions of the wider health consequences of vitamin D deficiency in past groups are dependent on recognising whether the deficiency was active or healed. The variability of diseases identified illustrates the high disease burden that affected children in this socially disadvantaged group.