RESEARCH QUESTIONS: The study on Entheseal Changes has been going on for the past 50 years. Through this thesis, we look into understanding Entheseal Changes and their development playing a role in...Show moreRESEARCH QUESTIONS: The study on Entheseal Changes has been going on for the past 50 years. Through this thesis, we look into understanding Entheseal Changes and their development playing a role in understanding socioeconomic status. The study was conducted with the primary goal of understanding socioeconomic status within the Eindhoven society and also to see if it was possible to differentiate socioeconomic differences with EC as a proxy, along with archaeological data on the status between the rich and the poor acquired through archives and previously documented details on social class, burial practices within Eindhoven. Of course, along with the central question in focus was a list of other questions that helped better understand the main topic. This included studying the correlation between sex, age, and Entheseal Changes and analyzing handedness and bilateral coordination for males and females. Through the essay, it was essential to analyze the relationship between the left and right of each entheseal change to understand which muscles could have worked together to provide an idea on which activities might have been performed, as the hypothesis is that certain activities require the use of specific muscles. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For the thesis, the author has used the Sint CatharinaKerk, Eindhoven collection to conduct the study. A total of 19 skeletons were used to conduct the studying, with age groups limited to Middle Adult and Late Young adults (No sub-adults or older adult individuals were added to the study), using a wide range of statistical techniques (namely, Spearman’s Rho, Paired t-test, ANCOVA, Wilcoxon test and Mann Whitney test) all applied using SPSS. However, the Entheseal Changes need to be scored before applying the statistical techniques. The scoring was done using scoring developed by Mariotti et al. For the thesis, the list of Entheseal Changes includes Pectoralis Major muscle, Latissimus Dorsi, Teres Major muscle, Deltoid muscle, Brachioradialis muscle, Biceps Brachii muscle, Triceps brachii muscle. RESULTS: When testing Entheseal Changes and burial inside and outside, it seems to provide a result that showed some correlation between being buried inside or outside and having a high sum total Entheseal change; while both age and sex correlation to Entheseal Changes seemed to give the result of no statistically significance, for both. However, when mean scores for each age group were acquired, it seems to back the idea of age affecting the pronunciation of Entheseal changes. Interestingly, when a total sum score was achieved for Entheseal Changes to correlate against sex, it seems that male and female skeletons developed differently, with the male having higher scores for most of the muscles. However, the female skeletons have equally developed and suggested possible strenuous activity being equally performed by both female members of the society. Results were similar for handedness, too, as no clear distinction was made on whether individuals were mostly right or left-handed. However, testing for asymmetry did show two Entheseal Changes that were slightly different from the others, Latissimus Dorsi and Deltoid muscles, which was backed by the descriptive analysis test (which was able to show Deltoid muscle being more asymmetric than the Latissimus Dorsi muscles), although when testing for bilateral coordination between the left and right of each Entheseal Changes provided results that showed some level of correlation existing between the left and right of each muscle, however, the paired t-test that was applied showed a p-value of higher than 0.1, suggesting not enough evidence to reject the null hypothesis. Finally, the activity test provided us with results that showed us a possible wide range of possible activities that were partaken by the different socioeconomic classes. A social class distinction did exist as nether classes performed similar activities. So, in particular, a conclusion was possible to draw that socioeconomic status did play a role in the development of Entheseal Changes. DISCUSSION: The criteria applied to the research were well thought out, and the method of scoring and statistical techniques used were adequate. However, the sample size was too short, and the results provided were vague and not concrete enough to make a definitive conclusion. However, using Entheseal changes along with archaeological data and applying the scoring and the statistical techniques provided insight into the socioeconomic status and possible activities performed by the different members of society from different socioeconomic statuses.Show less
