Sex estimation of non-adult skeletal remains has long been regarded as a problematic or even an unattainable objective within physical anthropology and forensic science. Few extant methods have...Show moreSex estimation of non-adult skeletal remains has long been regarded as a problematic or even an unattainable objective within physical anthropology and forensic science. Few extant methods have been able to match the accuracy rates of methods designed for adult remains and those that have failed to achieve similarly acceptable rates when tested on a population other than the one on which the method was originally developed. Due to this, children are habitually excluded from archaeological investigations since a major component of their biological profiles is considered inaccessible. A definitive and reliable technique to estimate sex in non-adult osteological remains would contribute greatly to the field of osteoarchaeology, allowing for the refinement of osteological age estimation and growth studies as well as more perceptive interpretations of the social, economic, or environmental implications of osteological evidence. In this thesis, a population-specific statistical approach to non-adult sex estimation based on the crown and cervical dimensions of the permanent canines and maxillary first molars was tested on the documented post-medieval skeletal collection of Middenbeemster, the Netherlands. The odontometrics of the adult component of the population (n = 76) were used to develop 14 binomial logistic regression formulae, which were subsequently applied to the non-adult individuals of the same population (n = 15). Though the two formulae based on the maxillary first molar odontometrics performed little better than chance, all 12 of the formulae based on the permanent canines achieved accuracy rates above 75%, with eight surpassing 85% and five achieving 100% accuracy. It was demonstrated that as little as one dimension of the permanent maxillary or mandibular canine can be used to estimate sex with an acceptable level of confidence. Due to the necessity of a permanent canine, this method is only applicable to individuals aged five years and above at the time of death, including adult individuals whose state of preservation does not allow for morphometric sex estimation or whose morphological sex estimate was indeterminate. By allowing reliable sex estimation in non-adult skeletal remains, this method makes it possible to gain insights into the past lives of non-adult individuals, who all too often seem invisible in archaeological and historical narratives.Show less
When the body endures physiological stress during childhood it will react by disrupting the growth of skeletal elements. By doing so, the body will be able to utilize nutrients for survival rather...Show moreWhen the body endures physiological stress during childhood it will react by disrupting the growth of skeletal elements. By doing so, the body will be able to utilize nutrients for survival rather than putting energy towards growth. When a physiological disruption leaves a permanent mark on the skeleton or dentition it is called a non-specific indicator of stress. A small vertebral neural canal is one such non-specific indicator of stress. The vertebral neural canal is the hole in each vertebra through which the spinal cord passes. A small vertebral neural canal is an indicator of physiological stress during childhood. This thesis examines the relationship between physiological stress and urbanization by studying the vertebral neural canal size. Adults from St Mary Graces, a medieval skeletal collection with a mixed socioeconomic status, and St Bride’s Lower, a post-medieval collection with a low to middle class socioeconomic status, were analyzed for this study. Both archaeological sites are located in London, England, which was already an urban settlement during medieval times, but became even more urbanized during the post-medieval period. Measurements of the inner and outer diameter of the vertebral neural canal were taken. Statistical analysis was used to determine whether there were any differences in vertebral neural canal size between the two archaeological sites. The data was also used to establish whether there were any differences in vertebral neural canal size between sexes and age groups. Results show that the physiological stress did not increase with increased urbanization in the St Bride’s Lower sample and that males benefited more from the further urbanization of London than the females. The study also showed that only the inner diameter, and not the outer diameter, provided information on physiological stress. Overall, this study has further defined the possibilities and limitations of using the vertebral neural canal diameter as an indicator of stress and increased our understanding of the impact of urbanization on physiological stress.Show less
Humans are adapters. We not only adapt ourselves to the environment, more often than not we adapt the environment itself to suit our needs, our wishes, and our ideas. This urge to change does not...Show moreHumans are adapters. We not only adapt ourselves to the environment, more often than not we adapt the environment itself to suit our needs, our wishes, and our ideas. This urge to change does not stop with the environment. The human body itself is often used as a canvas where we express who we are, where we express our identity. This thesis discussed one type of such expression of identity: artificial cranial modification (often abbreviated as "ACM"). As the modification can only be done successfully on individuals younger than three years old, it does not express individual identity but rather the group identity the individual's parents belonged to. This makes cranial modification an interesting field of research, which can tell archaeologists many things about past populations. The two populations studied in this thesis originate from the Bolivian Andes; an area with a high percentage of modified crania but a low percentage of research. The aim of this work is thus to add to the information of cranial modification in the Bolivian Andes, which was done through the study of 60 mostly Tiwanaku-period (500 - 1000 CE) crania from two different Andean regions: the Altiplano, and the Cochabamba valles. The Cochabamba valles, although emulating the Tiwanaku culture, remained very much independent, a fact which is confirmed in the results of this thesis. The most striking difference turned out to be the influence of sex on modification presence, which was found to be statistically significant in the valles sample and not in the Altiplano crania. Other differences were found as well: annular modification is much more frequent in the Altiplano, with tabular being more popular in the valles. The annular types are mostly cylindrical in the valles whereas the conical variant is more common in the Altiplano. Occipitally curved tabular modifications only occur in the Altiplano, with the lambdoidally flattened variant being most common. Frontally curved tabular modifications, then, only occur in the valles. Lastly, erect modifications occurred relatively more in the Altiplano sample, where it made up half of the tabular subtypes, than in the valles. Osteological effects of ACM on the cranium were studied as well. These did not indicate regional results, showing that, all cultural differences aside, the populations were not too different from each other. The non-metric traits that seemed to be influenced by cranial modification in the sample are the prevalence of the left infraorbital foramen, right pterygo-spinous bridge and left tympanic dehiscence, as well as the metopic suture retention. The results show that although the populations lived near, and were in contact with, each other, regional cultural differences do exist. Extrapolating findings of the Altiplano's Tiwanaku culture to the rest of the Bolivian Andes is thus not correct, something that should be kept in mind for future (much needed) research in the area. This thesis was made possible by the archaeological museum INIAM of the Universidad Mayor de San Simón in Cochabamba and the zooarchaeological laboratory from the Universidad Mayor de San Andres in La Paz, which granted access to their collections.Show less
Congenital syphilis is a disease which still affects thousands of people throughout the world in a modern society. If untreated, congenital syphilis can be extremely debilitating and can even cause...Show moreCongenital syphilis is a disease which still affects thousands of people throughout the world in a modern society. If untreated, congenital syphilis can be extremely debilitating and can even cause death. Although the cure for congenital syphilis is relatively simple with modern medicine, this was not always the case. Congenital syphilis was responsible for thousands of deaths in the past, yet this is not visible in the archaeological record. There are several reasons why the true prevalence rate of congenital syphilis is not visible in the archaeological record such as, the common underrepresentation of juvenile skeletal remains. it is however possible that some potential cases of congenital syphilis are being misdiagnosed in the archaeological record because of the confusion surrounding the diagnostic criteria. By improving the diagnostic criteria of congenital syphilis, new archaeological cases may become evident.Show less
This research examines fracture risks in post-Medieval the Netherlands. The challenges of daily life as well as interpersonal violence means humans are always at risk of fractures to the skeleton....Show moreThis research examines fracture risks in post-Medieval the Netherlands. The challenges of daily life as well as interpersonal violence means humans are always at risk of fractures to the skeleton. Given the occurrence of fractures across societies archaeologists have the opportunity to compare the fracture risk between populations and investigate the effects of social and economic standing. Research into long bone fractures in the Netherlands has been done for medieval sites, but not for post medieval sites. This research addresses this gap in fracture research. The main question of this research is: What can the analysis of long bone fractures tell us about life in various places in post-medieval the Netherlands. The first sub question tests the hypothesis that the position, and pattern of fractures was influenced by the socioeconomic status and lifestyle of the inhabitants of Middenbeemster. The second and third sub questions compare the frequency and distribution of long bone fractures (clavicle, humerus, radius, ulna, femur, tibia, and fibula) from four post-medieval the Netherlands sites (Eindhoven, Gouda, Middenbeemster and Roosendaal) from different socioeconomic backgrounds (e.g. low and high status) and living environments (e.g. urban and rural). The data from the Middenbeemster sample was collected by the author the other data was drawn from reports and books. There were three main findings in this research. First, it found that the assemblage from Middenbeemster has fractures that are consistent with traditional farming injuries, but differed from those described in other bioarchaeological studies, suggesting that farming in post-medieval the Netherlands might have been different or posted different dangers from those in other places. Second it found that the urban site of Eindhoven had significantly more long bone fractures compared to the rural site of Middenbeemster. There was also a difference in the distribution of fractures between the sites. This suggests that in post-medieval the Netherlands urban living had more risks of long bone fractures than rural living. Third, there was no difference in the long bone fracture rate between the high status site of Gouda and the low status site of Roosendaal. This shows that socioeconomic status did not have a significant effect on fracture risk. This thesis has broadened our understanding of fracture risk in post-medieval the Netherlands by providing some preliminary conclusions about the relationship between environmental and socioeconomic factors and fracture risk. This research, however, still requires more comparative data sets to confirm these preliminary conclusions, and test new hypotheses.Show less
The aim of this research is to reconstruct the diets of people interred in the early medieval cemetery of Blokhuizen, and the late medieval cemetery of the Paardenmarkt, in Holland. In order to...Show moreThe aim of this research is to reconstruct the diets of people interred in the early medieval cemetery of Blokhuizen, and the late medieval cemetery of the Paardenmarkt, in Holland. In order to accomplish this, 50 human and 19 animal bone samples were analyzed for the stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen in “collagen”. Two “collagen” isolation methods were applied and a comparison of extraction methods is included in the research. The analysis of stable isotope ratios, and comparison of the reconstructed diets from Blokhuizen and Alkmaar, provide the opportunity to evaluate interpopulation and intrapopulational dietary differences. The goal was to assess general trends in the composition of diet over time, and whether there were differences in diet between the sexes. Ultimately, it was attempted to evaluate to what extent an urban way of life, commercialisation, and changes in subsistence practices impacted diet in medieval Holland. It was established that both populations subsisted on a C3-based diet, with mainly terrestrial protein. Significant dietary differences were found between Blokhuizen and Alkmaar. The population of Alkmaar showed significantly enriched δ15N ratios and had more variable δ13C ratios. This is interpreted as an increase in the consumption of meat and/or marine or freshwater foods in the late medieval diet. There was no significant difference between the sexes in the Blokhuizen sample, whereas a significant difference was found between men and women from Alkmaar: men had significantly enriched in δ15N ratios compared to women. Both male and female diet changed significantly through time as evidenced by higher δ15N ratios, but the δ15N enrichment was higher in the males suggesting they consumed comparatively more animal protein. These data suggest that social differences between males and females changed through time, resulting in dietary differences detectable in stable isotope ratios of human bone “collagen”.Show less
Population genetics during the medieval to modern period of Europe remain underresearched by bioarchaeologists, as do issues of social identity such as gender and ethnicity in this historical...Show morePopulation genetics during the medieval to modern period of Europe remain underresearched by bioarchaeologists, as do issues of social identity such as gender and ethnicity in this historical context. This thesis investigates changes in female population structure and continuity between the 14th century AD and the modern era at two Dutch sites, Vlissingen and Oldenzaal, using ancient mitochondrial DNA. Ancient DNA samples extracted from human teeth taken from excavations spanning two main periods, the late medieval and the early modern period, were compared with modern population samples from the same areas. Population continuity modelling and statistics were used to explore patterns of population structure, migration, and population replacement, that have occurred over these periods. Mitochondrial DNA, which is passed down exclusively through the female line, has the unique advantage of allowing archaeologists to examine the movement of just the females in the study population. This thesis therefore builds on previous work on Y chromosomal DNA used to study the male line at these sites, to examine gender-specific differences in historical population movements. The two sites chosen have a very different historical character, which also allowed questions to be raised about European genetic histories in more urban or rural environments. Since Vlissingen was a key centre of international trade over the study period, particularly the Atlantic slave trade, the presence of ‘exotic’ or non-European haplogroups also formed an interesting line of enquiry. The results of this study concluded that population continuity could be confirmed in all cases except at Vlissingen between the medieval and modern period, where replacement of the original female population has occurred gradually over the entire period of study. It is hypothesized that this may represent the increasing movement of women into urban centres due to the greater opportunities for them in these areas. Surprisingly, the presence of African haplogroups could not be confirmed at Vlissingen, raising questions about the extent of non-European and slave integration in European societies from the medieval period onwards. However, there appears to have been migration at both sites from other areas of Europe, and possibly the Near East at Vlissingen. It is concluded that urbanization in western Europe between the medieval and modern period may have had a significant effect on female population structure, in the form of migrations by women into these areas in search of opportunities, whilst in more rural areas population structure may have remained more stable.Show less
Skeletal and dental growth and development is investigated in 39 perinate and infant skeletons aged between 32 weeks gestation to 42 weeks after birth in order to determine the accuracy of three...Show moreSkeletal and dental growth and development is investigated in 39 perinate and infant skeletons aged between 32 weeks gestation to 42 weeks after birth in order to determine the accuracy of three ageing methods and to assess possible periods of increased stress in the sample. The skeletal remains belong to a recently excavated, partly documented cemetery, from Middenbeemster, a rural village in the Netherlands, dating mainly to the nineteenth century. Three ageing methods were chosen to be evaluated, the accuracy of which had not been systematically investigated: 1) the deciduous Demirjian stages by Liversidge and Molleson (2004); 2) the dental height regression equations by Liversidge and colleagues (1993), and; 3) skeletal age estimation using 26 measurements form 18 different bones utilising six different standards (Black and Scheuer 1996; Fazekas and Kósa 1978; Maresh 1955; Molleson and Cox 1993; Saunders et al. 1993; Scheuer and McLaughlin-Black 1994). Accuracy of the methods is tested on a subsample of ten individuals for whom age at death is known from the Beemster district archives, and the results are further evaluated using the entire sample. Results from individuals of known age indicate high levels of accuracy for skeletal age and dental height with mean difference to chronological age of only -0.4 and +0.6 weeks, respectively. The deciduous developmental stages significantly overestimate chronological age by +5.5 weeks. These observed trends are confirmed in the entire sample were age was compared to the sample mean. In neonatal remains, skeletal age is most accurate regardless the standards used, but for post-neonates only the Maresh (1955) standard provides accurate results (+1.9 weeks). Dental developmental stages are more accurate in individuals less than two months (+2.4 weeks), increasing in older individuals to +5.2 weeks. Dental height gave an outstanding performance with consistent high levels of accuracy in neonatal (+1.6 weeks) and post-neonatal remains (+0.15 weeks), making it the preferred method for age estimation in the infant category. The mortality pattern followed a normal declining curve with the greatest percentage of individuals dying during the neonatal period. Skeletal development lagged behind dental development by about one month in almost 70% of the individuals, showing a trend of an increasing amount of delay with age. But differences in age between skeletal and dental development were not unambiguously pointing to a stress induced delay and more research is needed to clarify the observed trends. This thesis provides new information on the accuracy of dental and skeletal ageing methods of infant remains and should guide our application of these methods in future research of north-west European skeletal samples.Show less
Determining the sex of subadults is seen as important for osteology and social studies. Within osteology several methods exist to determine the sex of subadults, but all these methods are under...Show moreDetermining the sex of subadults is seen as important for osteology and social studies. Within osteology several methods exist to determine the sex of subadults, but all these methods are under discussion. Often, the researchers who created the methods had high accuracies, but when it was later on retested by other researchers, the accuracy rates dropped. Within this research twelve non-metric methods were tested on known-sex subadults from Middenbeemster (n = 43). The twelve non-metric methods of this research are the elevation of the auricular surface, the greater sciatic notch angle, the greater sciatic notch depth, the arch criterion, the iliac crest, the protrusion of the chin, the anterior dental arcade, the eversion of the gonion region, the complete mandible, the mentum, the mandibular angle and the orbital morphology. The accuracy rates for each method were calculated and in addition separate accuracy rates were obtained for the pelvis, the skull and the overall skeleton. All the obtained accuracy rates were low. In addition, the statistical analyses indicate that the methods cannot be used to determine the sex of subadults. These low accuracy rates might be explained through with several factors. A population difference between the Middenbeemster sample and the sample of the other researchers might explain the low accuracy rate. In addition, some researchers have proved that there is less sexual dimorphism in Dutch populations than in other populations. Disease and malnutrition can also cause low accuracy rates. And inter- and intraobserver error can also cause low accuracy rates. In addition, this research was limited by a small sample and a overrepresentation of females within the sample. A division in five age groups made clear that there might be several methods that are age-related and not sex-related. It seems that the twelve non-metric method cannot be used to determine the sex of subadults, but more research is needed to get a better understanding of these methods.Show less
In modern clinical sources, the prevalence of infectious ear diseases is usually higher in urban environments as opposed to rural environments. Due to overcrowding, poor hygiene and high intensity...Show moreIn modern clinical sources, the prevalence of infectious ear diseases is usually higher in urban environments as opposed to rural environments. Due to overcrowding, poor hygiene and high intensity of contact with other people, infectious diseases tend to spread more easily in such environments. In this research, the research questions is: Are we able to see differences in the prevalence of infectious ear diseases between the skeletal populations from an urban and a rural site? Also, the populations are examined to which ear diseases can be identified in skeletal populations. The skeletal populations used are from Alkmaar and Middenbeemster. The population from Alkmaar originates from the 15th and 16th century, and consists of 37 usable skeletons. The population from Middenbeemster originates from mainly the 19th century and consists of 60 usable skeletons. The ear ossicles, tympanic cavities, external ears and mastoid processes are examined for pathological conditions. In total, the number of individuals affected by ear diseases was 18 in Alkmaar and 25 in Middenbeemster. Infectious diseases were found most frequently, followed by neoplasms and congenital diseases. Overall, more infectious diseases were found in Middenbeemster as opposed to Alkmaar. No significant differences in prevalence of infectious ear diseases or overall ear sickness were found. It can therefore be suggested that living environment did not affect the prevalence of infectious ear diseases and overall ear sickness in these historical populations. Possible explanations for the masking of these differences can be the osteological paradox, smoking, air pollution and socio-economic status. This research shows that ear diseases can be identified within skeletal populations from the Netherlands. Not only infectious diseases, but also congenital diseases and neoplasms are identified. This research can be a starting point for further research on ear diseases in general and infectious ear diseases specific.Show less
Sex determination of human skeletal remains is of fundamental importance in many bioarchaeological and medicolegal investigations. In the present study, a method based on discriminant function...Show moreSex determination of human skeletal remains is of fundamental importance in many bioarchaeological and medicolegal investigations. In the present study, a method based on discriminant function analysis of metric data from the foramen magnum, occipital condyles, intercondylar dimensions and mandibular canines is proposed to determine the sex of sub-adult and adult skeletons. These elements are thought to be sexual dimorphic in previous studies and are fully developed prior to puberty. Therefore they are selected for this method. The combination of measurements of these elements has not been tested before. The use of discriminant function analyses based on multiple measurements was beforehand expected to reach higher accuracies than independent measurements. The proposed method is tested on the nineteenth century Middenbeemster collection to determine its reproducibility, suitability and accuracy. The accuracy rates this study was aiming for was a minimum of 75-80%. The Middenbeemster skeletal collection was suitable for this study because skeletons could be linked to the archive of the cemetery. Therefore, of some skeletons age and sex were known, which was required for this study. The known age and sex skeletons were divided into a sub-adult and an adult sample. The results for the adult sample showed statistical significant difference between the sexes in measurements of the foramen magnum width, right occipital condyle length, maximum bicondylar breadth and minimum interior distance between the condyles. Also, all permanent mandibular canine measurements were significantly sexual dimorphic. The sub-adult sample showed no significant sexual dimorphism in the cranial base elements or the deciduous mandibular canines. Of the permanent mandibular canines three out of four measurements turned out to be statistically significantly different. Of the single-measurements methods, eight out of twelve measurements in of the permanent and deciduous canines reached the minimum success rate of 75- 80%, which makes them likely to be suitable for sex determination in adults as well as sub-adults. The measurements cranial base elements provided accuracy rates between 52.0% and 71.7% in the adult sample and 47.1% and 73.3% in the sub-adult sample. These were all lower than the minimum accuracy of 75-80% this study was aiming for and are therefore considered as too low to be acceptable as method for sex determination. The discriminant function analyses based on multiple measurements provided higher overall accuracies in both samples. Especially the combinations including permanent mandibular canine measurements reached high overall success rates, up to 100%. Combining all cranial base and permanent mandibular canine measurements reached an overall accuracy of 100% in the adult sample and 86.7% in the sub-adult sample, which are successful results when looking at the aim of the study. Overall, this study shows that the use of discriminant functions analysis based on measurements of the foramen magnum, occipital condyles and permanent mandibular canines for sex determination of adult and sub-adult skeletons is highly reliable. However, further research is needed on the applicability of the method on geographically diverse skeletal samples. Also, the use of deciduous canine dimensions should be studied more extensive to determine their suitability for sex determination in younger sub-adults.Show less
During the excavation at the St. Plechelmus church in Oldenzaal between 2011 and 2013, six skeletons were found in a single burial context and were interpreted to be family members buried in a ...Show moreDuring the excavation at the St. Plechelmus church in Oldenzaal between 2011 and 2013, six skeletons were found in a single burial context and were interpreted to be family members buried in a ‘family grave’. Ancient DNA recovered from these individuals yielded information that is used to determine if there are genetic indications which can prove or disprove this interpretation. Furthermore, 81 surrounding skeletons were incorporated in this research for the determination of possible additional family relationships from a larger area of the cemetery. Short tandem repeat amplifications for 16 autosomal markers and 22 y-chromosomal markers provided reliable polymerase chain reaction products with no contamination. With allele frequency data from present-day Dutch people, and allele frequencies from all the Oldenzaal samples, statistical analyses were performed with the programs Relpair and Familias to reconstruct kinship relations. The results found no genetic indications for possible kinship relations between the six individuals from the ‘family grave’. However, this cannot exclude that these individuals were biologically related to each other. For the surrounding 81 skeletons, the results indicate eight possible kinship relations. A Harris matrix showing all the excavated skeletons revealed that three out of the eight possible kinship relation pairs were spatially linked to each other; an aspect upon which the interpretation of the ‘family grave’ was based in the first place. This thesis demonstrates the successful use of aDNA from the Oldenzaal cemetery to reconstruct family relationships.Show less
After years of research the etiology of Harris lines (abbreviated as HLs) is still a matter of much discussion. Multiple scholars agree on HLs being an indicator of psychological stress (González...Show moreAfter years of research the etiology of Harris lines (abbreviated as HLs) is still a matter of much discussion. Multiple scholars agree on HLs being an indicator of psychological stress (González-Reimers et al. 2007; Macchiarelli et al. 1994; White 2005). However, recent research that could not directly associate HLs with other stress indicators, such as linear enamel hypoplasia and hypothyroidism, suggested that HLs are not good indicators of periods of nutritional stress or disease (Papageorgopoulou 2011). Thus, there is still a lot of discussion concerning the etiology of HLs (Alfonso-Durruty 2011; Ameen et al. 2005; Hughes et al. 1996; Nowak and Pointek 2002; Ribot and Roberts 1996). The focus of this thesis is the occurrence of HLs in the distal tibiae of skeletons from the Early Medieval cemetery of the Paardenmarkt (i.e. horse market) in the Dutch city of Alkmaar. HLs are compared to another stress marker namely, linear enamel hypoplasia (abbreviated as LEH). This stress marker forms in the teeth, and comparison is made in order to assess their concordance with HLs. These markers are compared, with the assumption that the late Medieval population of Alkmaar was affected by physiological stress experiences, such as malnutrition and illness during a time of marked social, political and economic change. The results show that there are some links to be found between LEHs and HLs, mainly the younger individuals show more stress events. In addition, the age-at-line formation times show an overlap, five individuals have stress events in there dentition and bones during at the same time. A possible explanation of HLs in the Alkmaar population is malaria; the high number of cribra orbitalia in the Paardenmarkt collection in combination with this high number of stress events could be caused by this parasitic disease. But, due to the small dataset(55 tibia belonging to 33 individuals) it is difficult to make strong statistical statements.Show less
Body mass increases when nutritional status increases and decreases when there is a lack of essential nutrients. Bone is a dynamic organ that continuously undergoes a process involving bone...Show moreBody mass increases when nutritional status increases and decreases when there is a lack of essential nutrients. Bone is a dynamic organ that continuously undergoes a process involving bone absorption and formation. Previous research has focused on average body mass estimations or pathological responses to body mass extremes. However, limited research has been done towards body mass estimation accuracy when body mass falls under an extreme. In the summer of 2011, the laboratory for human osteoarchaeology and the Dutch archaeological company Hollandia excavated a cemetery in Middenbeemster, The Netherlands. This skeletal population is unique since the cemetery could be linked to detailed historical information, including age, sex, and cause of death. The aim of this study was to study the prevalence of body mass extremes in the 19th century skeletal population. Furthermore, it has been studied whether the age related features experience influence from body mass and whether pathological lesions known to be associated with body mass have a correlation with body mass in the Middenbeemster skeletal population as well. Body mass estimations have been made with both the femoral head diameter and stature-bi-iliac breadth (STBIB). The age estimations, to assess the influence of body mass on age related features, have been made with both pubic symphyseal morphology and auricular surface morphology. The age estimations were compared to the true age at death, which were available from historical data. Special care has been taken in interpreting the results, because confounding factors may have caused bias. It appeared that the skeletal population of Middenbeemster was composed of primarily normal and overweight individuals, with a significant difference among males and females. Furthermore, there has not been a significant influence of body mass on age related features in this skeletal sample. The correlation of pathological lesions known to be associated with body mass was not significantly correlated with body mass in this skeletal sample. Together with other research, this study will be part of the enormously detailed historical framework of the population of 19th century Middenbeemster.Show less
This thesis compares stature, a non-specific indicator of health, with three other non-specific indicators of stress in a human skeletal population. The latter are enamel hypoplasia, cribra...Show moreThis thesis compares stature, a non-specific indicator of health, with three other non-specific indicators of stress in a human skeletal population. The latter are enamel hypoplasia, cribra orbitalia and Harris lines. The goal of this thesis is to improve the understanding of the relationship between stress markers and stature in order to evaluate the health of past populations in a better manner. The material used is from the rural Dutch town of Middenbeemster, from the post-Medieval time. Only young adults were selected, with an equal amount of females and males. The results show that this sample was stressed in childhood, shown by the high percentage of enamel hypoplasia. About a one sixth of the Middenbeemster sample had cribra orbitalia, which means these people had anemia. This was possibly caused by malnutrition, chronic blood loss, parasitic infection, or an increased pathogen load. No statistics could be run on enamel hypoplasia but statistics show that the presence of cribra orbitalia did not influence stature. Stature seemed to decrease in late young adults with Harris lines but this was due to a high amount of females in the Harris line group. Having Harris lines on top of enamel hypoplasia as an early young adult however, does seem to decrease stature. This suggests that Harris lines are markers of stress. There were no statistically significant correlations found between the stress markers, only some trends can be suggested. The sample of this thesis was small, thus repeating this research with a larger sample could make some results stronger.Show less
