Bones grow in length and in width, growth in length occurs via longitudinal growth, growth in width is reached by an increase in cortical thickness via appositional growth. Longitudinal growth has...Show moreBones grow in length and in width, growth in length occurs via longitudinal growth, growth in width is reached by an increase in cortical thickness via appositional growth. Longitudinal growth has intensively been used as an indicator for children’s health and nutritional status in past populations. As appositional growth is also influenced by malnutrition and disease, it suggested that appositional bone growth might be used as an indicator for stress. The aim of this study was to confirm whether appositional growth could be used as an indicator for stress during childhood in a nineteenth century rural population from Middenbeemster, the Netherlands. This population is known to have suffered from malnutrition and epidemic outbreaks, which makes this population ideal for this research. In order to study longitudinal length, femoral length was plotted against dental age of Middenbeemster subadults. To study appositional growth, cortical thickness, measured on X-rays, was plotted against dental age. These were compared with long bone lengths and cortical thicknesses of modern populations. It appeared that Middenbeemster subadults between 7 and 11 years old were deficient in longitudinal growth compared to modern children, and that children younger than 7 years were not deficient in longitudinal growth. Middenbeemster children were deficient in appositional growth. This deficiency was greatest in children between 9 and 12 years old, but children younger than 7 were also deficient. The Middenbeemster subadults were generally more deficient in appositional growth than in longitudinal growth. This study showed that appositional growth could be used as an indicator for stress in a nineteenth century rural population. It appeared to be a more sensitive indicator than longitudinal growth. Hopefully, appositional growth will be more widely appreciated as an indicator for stress in health studies in past populations. However, more research in populations from different time periods or geographical areas will strengthen its position.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
