Analysing trabecular bone morphology to interpret the behaviour of past populations has become more popular these last few years. Due to its non-destructive method of collecting data, microCT has...Show moreAnalysing trabecular bone morphology to interpret the behaviour of past populations has become more popular these last few years. Due to its non-destructive method of collecting data, microCT has been widely used in the field of palaeoanthropology in an effort to study the locomotion of extant and extinct primates, fossil hominins and past populations of modern humans. One problem with these studies is that they all rely on the assumption that adult trabecular bone morphology accurately reflects changes in mechanical loading during life. Ontogenetic studies of the human os coxae have indicated that this may not be the case. This study attempts to remedy this issue by investigating the ontogenetic trajectory of trabecular bone development in the talus of a modern human population from the 19th Century Netherlands. Trabecular bone variables such as bone volume ratio, connectivity density, trabecular number, thickness and degree of anisotropy of the talus were recorded using microCT for 55 individuals aged between 3 weeks and 50+ years and compared across age groups. Results show that talar trabecular morphology reflects mechanical loading during life and that abrupt changes in variables such as connectivity density and bone volume ratio can be used to identify the onset of independent walking in human infants.Show less
In the summer of 2011, archaeologists from Leiden University excavated the post-Medieval cemetery site of Middenbeemster, the Netherlands. The Middenbeemster skeletal collection provides unique...Show moreIn the summer of 2011, archaeologists from Leiden University excavated the post-Medieval cemetery site of Middenbeemster, the Netherlands. The Middenbeemster skeletal collection provides unique research possibilities due to the availability of detailed historical information on a portion of the excavated individuals. The discovery of a historical map of the cemetery allows for the identification of all individuals buried after 1829, providing age at death, sex, and socioeconomic status. This study applies biomechanical models to cross-sections of human limb bones in order to assess the variability in the habitual activities that were practised by the male and female inhabitants of the Beemster polder from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. Cross-sections were obtained by Computed Tomography Scanning of lower and upper limb bones followed by digital sectioning. By combining historical data and the principles of bone functional adaptation, a reconstruction of life on one of the first polders is attempted. Results show that the presence of a sexual division of labour where the males were generally more mobile than females, and performed more strenuous manual activities. The males were very similar in limb bone strength and shape, but the female sample showed a high amount of variability. While a portion of the females were relatively gracile, other females showed very robust lower and upper limb bones indicating high mobility and strenuous manual labour. This indicates that economic roles were not the same for all females in the seventeenth to nineteenth century Beemster polder. The current study represents the first time that cross-sectional geometric analysis has been applied to a Dutch archaeological population. The results obtained from the current study are therefore a valuable contribution to the international fields of bioarchaeology and biological anthropology.Show less
