Marie Elaine Danforth
Biographic Data
| ID | 81773 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Marie Elaine Danforth |
| GIVEN NAMES | Marie Elaine |
| FAMILY NAME | Danforth |
| SIGNATURE | DANFORTH M E |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Southern Mississippi |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1678-1078 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 19 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 258 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 19 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1993 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2019 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
The youngest meningioma? A historic Maya adolescent from Tipu, Belize
Meningiomas are the most common tumours of the central nervous system. However, few well‐accepted cases have been reported in the palaeopathological literature and usually only when hyperostosis co‐occurs. We present a hyperostotic cranial lesion in an adolescent from the early historic population of Tipu in west central Belize. It fits most clinical and epidemiological patterns of meningeal expression in modern children, and differential diagnos…
Bodies and Lives in Ancient America: Health Before Columbus
In their volume, Bodies and Lives in Ancient America: Health Before Columbus, Debra L. Martin and Anna J. Osterholtz provide a thoughtful and highly readable introduction for nonspecialists to the
The United States–Mexican War Soldiers of Greenwood Island, Mississippi: An Historical, Archaeological, and Bioarchaeological Analysis
Patterns of Interobserver Error in the Scoring of Entheseal Changes
Although the interpretation of entheses has undergone considerable discussion recently, the role of interobserver error, especially in comparative contexts, has been only sporadically addressed. Using standards developed by Hawkey and Merbs, currently the most widely used system, rates of reproducibility were evaluated in two prehistoric North American skeletal series. Eight observers of varying experience levels scored 17 long bone entheses, rep…
Upper limb entheseal change with the transition to agriculture in the southeastern United States: A view from Moundville and the central Tombigbee River valley
In the shadow of Moundville: A bioarchaeological view of the transition to agriculture in the central Tombigbee valley of Alabama and Mississippi
Challenges in Approaches to Skeletal Stature Estimation: An Example From Prehistoric Eastern Mississippi and Western Alabama
Although stature is used widely as a bioarchaeological health indicator, its determination and subsequent interpretation are not always straightforward. A study of 77 individuals from eight prehistoric populations from the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway illustrates this issue. Application of three common stature estimation formulae to five Middle/Late Woodland and four Mississippian groups strongly suggests that use of partial versus whole bone, ch…
An analysis of secular change in the human mandible over the last century
In light of several recent investigations that have identified notable secular change in cranial size and morphology over the last century, the present study addresses its possible effects in the mandible in U.S. populations. Standard measurements of 407 mandibles from the Terry (Smithsonian) and Hamann‐Todd (Cleveland Museum of Natural History) Collections, which are primarily composed of individuals living in the early 20th century, were compar…
Juvenile Age Estimation Using Diaphyseal Long Bone Lengths Among Ancient Maya Populations
Standards for diaphyseal lengths of the femur, humerus, and tibia that can be used in juvenile age estimation for the ancient Maya are presented. It is argued that these new standards are necessary given differences in stature and limb proportion in Mesoamerican groups compared to the prehistoric North American groups upon whom the current available standards have been developed. Using data from 96 juveniles in the protohistoric Maya series from …
Tatham Mound and the Bioarchaeology of European Contact: Disease and Depopulation in Central Gulf Coast Florida
Book Review| April 01 2008 Tatham Mound and the Bioarchaeology of European Contact: Disease and Depopulation in Central Gulf Coast Florida. By Dale L. Hutchinson. (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2007. $59.95 cloth.) Marie Danforth Marie Danforth Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Ethnohistory (2008) 55 (2): 343–344. https://doi.org/10.1215/00141801-2007-071 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter Linked…
The backbone of history: Health and nutrition in the western hemisphere
Estimating Sex of Maya Skeletons by Discriminant Function Analysis of Long-Bone Measurements From the Protohistoric Maya Site of Tipu, Belize
Discriminant functions were developed using long-bone robusticity measurements of 82 individuals from the protohistoric Maya site of Tipu, Belize. All individuals were sexed using nonmetric morphological indicators, particularly those of the pelvis. These functions are designed to provide a means of determining the sex of fragmentary prehistoric Maya skeletons. The equations ranged in accuracy from 77.5% to 100%. The reliability of these equation…
Analysis of interobserver scoring patterns in porotic hyperostosis and cribra orbitalia
The role of scoring standards has become increasingly important during the last ten years because of issues such as reburial and comparability of data among researchers. The present study considered the efficacy of a proposed standard for porotic hyperostosis and cribra orbitalia, two of the most commonly evaluated pathologies in skeletal analysis. Twenty scorers with varying experience in bioarchaeology and five scorers with no experience in bio…
Nutrition and Politics in Prehistory
The interaction of nutritional status with political structure in prehistoric New World societies is examined through bioarchaeological analysis. Overall, a general correlation is seen between political complexity and patterns of morbidity among various subsegments of the population. This relationship is strongest among egalitarian societies, in which few differences exist, and state-level societies, in which differences are readily apparent and …
Gender and Health Among the Colonial Maya of Tipu, Belize
The health of the Colonial-period Maya from Tipu, Belize, was evaluated using a skeletal series to explore differential effects of European contact by sex. Variables addressed were nutrition and disease patterns, reproductive patterns, and occupational stress. Results suggest that females enjoyed fewer childhood health disruptions, likely as a result of greater genetic buffering. No evidence of male preferential treatment was observed. Frequencie…
Early Agriculture in the Maya Lowlands
Wetland research in northern Belize provides the earliest evidence for development of agriculture in the Maya Lowlands. Pollen data confirm the introduction of maize and manioc before 3000 B.C. Dramatic deforestation, beginning ca. 2500 B.C. and intensifying in wetland environments ca. 1500-1300 B.C., marks an expansion of agriculture, which occurred in the context of a mixed foraging economy. By 1000 B.C. a rise in groundwater levels led farmers…
Stature Change in Prehistoric Maya of the Southern Lowlands
Since the 1950s, a decline in stature has been offered as evidence of increasing nutritional stress in prehistoric Maya populations, particularly during the Late Classic collapse. A review of the extant skeletal data, however, reveals very inconsistent support for such a decline. The primary explanation for the variation may reside in the small number of skeletal series that have representatives of more than one time period. Other possible explan…
The Human Remains from Carter Ranch Pueblo, Arizona: Health in Isolation
Health patterns in the Pueblo III (A.D. 1100-1225) population from Carter Ranch Pueblo were investigated in skeletal remains from 34 individuals. Childhood health disruptions were assessed using stature, linear enamel hypoplasias, and Harris lines. Periostitis, arthritis, anemia, trauma, and dental pathology were also observed. Although the low juvenile representation is probably an effect of age-biased mortuary practices, results suggest a healt…
A preliminary study of patterns of replication in Scoring linear enamel hypoplasias
In order to investigate replicability in scoring linear enamel hypoplasias 59 anterior teeth were evaluated by three observers. Hypoplasias were identified with low-power microscopy and by the unaided eye. Location on the tooth was determined through caliper and micrometer measurement as well as assignment to tooth 'thirds'. Hypoplasia size was determined through measurement of episode width and comparison with a cast designed to categorize types…
Early Agriculture in the Maya Lowlands
Wetland research in northern Belize provides the earliest evidence for development of agriculture in the Maya Lowlands. Pollen data confirm the introduction of maize and manioc before 3000 B.C. Dramatic deforestation, beginning ca. 2500 B.C. and intensifying in wetland environments ca. 1500-1300 B.C., marks an expansion of agriculture, which occurred in the context of a mixed foraging economy. By 1000 B.C. a rise in groundwater levels led farmers…
Nutrition and Politics in Prehistory
The interaction of nutritional status with political structure in prehistoric New World societies is examined through bioarchaeological analysis. Overall, a general correlation is seen between political complexity and patterns of morbidity among various subsegments of the population. This relationship is strongest among egalitarian societies, in which few differences exist, and state-level societies, in which differences are readily apparent and …
Patterns of Interobserver Error in the Scoring of Entheseal Changes
Although the interpretation of entheses has undergone considerable discussion recently, the role of interobserver error, especially in comparative contexts, has been only sporadically addressed. Using standards developed by Hawkey and Merbs, currently the most widely used system, rates of reproducibility were evaluated in two prehistoric North American skeletal series. Eight observers of varying experience levels scored 17 long bone entheses, rep…
Estimating Sex of Maya Skeletons by Discriminant Function Analysis of Long-Bone Measurements From the Protohistoric Maya Site of Tipu, Belize
Discriminant functions were developed using long-bone robusticity measurements of 82 individuals from the protohistoric Maya site of Tipu, Belize. All individuals were sexed using nonmetric morphological indicators, particularly those of the pelvis. These functions are designed to provide a means of determining the sex of fragmentary prehistoric Maya skeletons. The equations ranged in accuracy from 77.5% to 100%. The reliability of these equation…
Stature Change in Prehistoric Maya of the Southern Lowlands
Since the 1950s, a decline in stature has been offered as evidence of increasing nutritional stress in prehistoric Maya populations, particularly during the Late Classic collapse. A review of the extant skeletal data, however, reveals very inconsistent support for such a decline. The primary explanation for the variation may reside in the small number of skeletal series that have representatives of more than one time period. Other possible explan…
The Human Remains from Carter Ranch Pueblo, Arizona: Health in Isolation
Health patterns in the Pueblo III (A.D. 1100-1225) population from Carter Ranch Pueblo were investigated in skeletal remains from 34 individuals. Childhood health disruptions were assessed using stature, linear enamel hypoplasias, and Harris lines. Periostitis, arthritis, anemia, trauma, and dental pathology were also observed. Although the low juvenile representation is probably an effect of age-biased mortuary practices, results suggest a healt…
A preliminary study of patterns of replication in Scoring linear enamel hypoplasias
In order to investigate replicability in scoring linear enamel hypoplasias 59 anterior teeth were evaluated by three observers. Hypoplasias were identified with low-power microscopy and by the unaided eye. Location on the tooth was determined through caliper and micrometer measurement as well as assignment to tooth 'thirds'. Hypoplasia size was determined through measurement of episode width and comparison with a cast designed to categorize types…
Juvenile Age Estimation Using Diaphyseal Long Bone Lengths Among Ancient Maya Populations
Standards for diaphyseal lengths of the femur, humerus, and tibia that can be used in juvenile age estimation for the ancient Maya are presented. It is argued that these new standards are necessary given differences in stature and limb proportion in Mesoamerican groups compared to the prehistoric North American groups upon whom the current available standards have been developed. Using data from 96 juveniles in the protohistoric Maya series from …
Analysis of interobserver scoring patterns in porotic hyperostosis and cribra orbitalia
The role of scoring standards has become increasingly important during the last ten years because of issues such as reburial and comparability of data among researchers. The present study considered the efficacy of a proposed standard for porotic hyperostosis and cribra orbitalia, two of the most commonly evaluated pathologies in skeletal analysis. Twenty scorers with varying experience in bioarchaeology and five scorers with no experience in bio…
Gender and Health Among the Colonial Maya of Tipu, Belize
The health of the Colonial-period Maya from Tipu, Belize, was evaluated using a skeletal series to explore differential effects of European contact by sex. Variables addressed were nutrition and disease patterns, reproductive patterns, and occupational stress. Results suggest that females enjoyed fewer childhood health disruptions, likely as a result of greater genetic buffering. No evidence of male preferential treatment was observed. Frequencie…
Challenges in Approaches to Skeletal Stature Estimation: An Example From Prehistoric Eastern Mississippi and Western Alabama
Although stature is used widely as a bioarchaeological health indicator, its determination and subsequent interpretation are not always straightforward. A study of 77 individuals from eight prehistoric populations from the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway illustrates this issue. Application of three common stature estimation formulae to five Middle/Late Woodland and four Mississippian groups strongly suggests that use of partial versus whole bone, ch…
The youngest meningioma? A historic Maya adolescent from Tipu, Belize
Meningiomas are the most common tumours of the central nervous system. However, few well‐accepted cases have been reported in the palaeopathological literature and usually only when hyperostosis co‐occurs. We present a hyperostotic cranial lesion in an adolescent from the early historic population of Tipu in west central Belize. It fits most clinical and epidemiological patterns of meningeal expression in modern children, and differential diagnos…
The United States–Mexican War Soldiers of Greenwood Island, Mississippi: An Historical, Archaeological, and Bioarchaeological Analysis
A preliminary study of patterns of replication in Scoring linear enamel hypoplasias
In order to investigate replicability in scoring linear enamel hypoplasias 59 anterior teeth were evaluated by three observers. Hypoplasias were identified with low-power microscopy and by the unaided eye. Location on the tooth was determined through caliper and micrometer measurement as well as assignment to tooth 'thirds'. Hypoplasia size was determined through measurement of episode width and comparison with a cast designed to categorize types…
Stature Change in Prehistoric Maya of the Southern Lowlands
Since the 1950s, a decline in stature has been offered as evidence of increasing nutritional stress in prehistoric Maya populations, particularly during the Late Classic collapse. A review of the extant skeletal data, however, reveals very inconsistent support for such a decline. The primary explanation for the variation may reside in the small number of skeletal series that have representatives of more than one time period. Other possible explan…
The Human Remains from Carter Ranch Pueblo, Arizona: Health in Isolation
Health patterns in the Pueblo III (A.D. 1100-1225) population from Carter Ranch Pueblo were investigated in skeletal remains from 34 individuals. Childhood health disruptions were assessed using stature, linear enamel hypoplasias, and Harris lines. Periostitis, arthritis, anemia, trauma, and dental pathology were also observed. Although the low juvenile representation is probably an effect of age-biased mortuary practices, results suggest a healt…
Early Agriculture in the Maya Lowlands
Wetland research in northern Belize provides the earliest evidence for development of agriculture in the Maya Lowlands. Pollen data confirm the introduction of maize and manioc before 3000 B.C. Dramatic deforestation, beginning ca. 2500 B.C. and intensifying in wetland environments ca. 1500-1300 B.C., marks an expansion of agriculture, which occurred in the context of a mixed foraging economy. By 1000 B.C. a rise in groundwater levels led farmers…
Gender and Health Among the Colonial Maya of Tipu, Belize
The health of the Colonial-period Maya from Tipu, Belize, was evaluated using a skeletal series to explore differential effects of European contact by sex. Variables addressed were nutrition and disease patterns, reproductive patterns, and occupational stress. Results suggest that females enjoyed fewer childhood health disruptions, likely as a result of greater genetic buffering. No evidence of male preferential treatment was observed. Frequencie…
Nutrition and Politics in Prehistory
The interaction of nutritional status with political structure in prehistoric New World societies is examined through bioarchaeological analysis. Overall, a general correlation is seen between political complexity and patterns of morbidity among various subsegments of the population. This relationship is strongest among egalitarian societies, in which few differences exist, and state-level societies, in which differences are readily apparent and …
Estimating Sex of Maya Skeletons by Discriminant Function Analysis of Long-Bone Measurements From the Protohistoric Maya Site of Tipu, Belize
Discriminant functions were developed using long-bone robusticity measurements of 82 individuals from the protohistoric Maya site of Tipu, Belize. All individuals were sexed using nonmetric morphological indicators, particularly those of the pelvis. These functions are designed to provide a means of determining the sex of fragmentary prehistoric Maya skeletons. The equations ranged in accuracy from 77.5% to 100%. The reliability of these equation…
Analysis of interobserver scoring patterns in porotic hyperostosis and cribra orbitalia
The role of scoring standards has become increasingly important during the last ten years because of issues such as reburial and comparability of data among researchers. The present study considered the efficacy of a proposed standard for porotic hyperostosis and cribra orbitalia, two of the most commonly evaluated pathologies in skeletal analysis. Twenty scorers with varying experience in bioarchaeology and five scorers with no experience in bio…
The backbone of history: Health and nutrition in the western hemisphere
Tatham Mound and the Bioarchaeology of European Contact: Disease and Depopulation in Central Gulf Coast Florida
Book Review| April 01 2008 Tatham Mound and the Bioarchaeology of European Contact: Disease and Depopulation in Central Gulf Coast Florida. By Dale L. Hutchinson. (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2007. $59.95 cloth.) Marie Danforth Marie Danforth Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Ethnohistory (2008) 55 (2): 343–344. https://doi.org/10.1215/00141801-2007-071 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter Linked…
An analysis of secular change in the human mandible over the last century
In light of several recent investigations that have identified notable secular change in cranial size and morphology over the last century, the present study addresses its possible effects in the mandible in U.S. populations. Standard measurements of 407 mandibles from the Terry (Smithsonian) and Hamann‐Todd (Cleveland Museum of Natural History) Collections, which are primarily composed of individuals living in the early 20th century, were compar…
Juvenile Age Estimation Using Diaphyseal Long Bone Lengths Among Ancient Maya Populations
Standards for diaphyseal lengths of the femur, humerus, and tibia that can be used in juvenile age estimation for the ancient Maya are presented. It is argued that these new standards are necessary given differences in stature and limb proportion in Mesoamerican groups compared to the prehistoric North American groups upon whom the current available standards have been developed. Using data from 96 juveniles in the protohistoric Maya series from …
Challenges in Approaches to Skeletal Stature Estimation: An Example From Prehistoric Eastern Mississippi and Western Alabama
Although stature is used widely as a bioarchaeological health indicator, its determination and subsequent interpretation are not always straightforward. A study of 77 individuals from eight prehistoric populations from the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway illustrates this issue. Application of three common stature estimation formulae to five Middle/Late Woodland and four Mississippian groups strongly suggests that use of partial versus whole bone, ch…
Upper limb entheseal change with the transition to agriculture in the southeastern United States: A view from Moundville and the central Tombigbee River valley
In the shadow of Moundville: A bioarchaeological view of the transition to agriculture in the central Tombigbee valley of Alabama and Mississippi
Patterns of Interobserver Error in the Scoring of Entheseal Changes
Although the interpretation of entheses has undergone considerable discussion recently, the role of interobserver error, especially in comparative contexts, has been only sporadically addressed. Using standards developed by Hawkey and Merbs, currently the most widely used system, rates of reproducibility were evaluated in two prehistoric North American skeletal series. Eight observers of varying experience levels scored 17 long bone entheses, rep…
The United States–Mexican War Soldiers of Greenwood Island, Mississippi: An Historical, Archaeological, and Bioarchaeological Analysis
Bodies and Lives in Ancient America: Health Before Columbus
In their volume, Bodies and Lives in Ancient America: Health Before Columbus, Debra L. Martin and Anna J. Osterholtz provide a thoughtful and highly readable introduction for nonspecialists to the
The youngest meningioma? A historic Maya adolescent from Tipu, Belize
Meningiomas are the most common tumours of the central nervous system. However, few well‐accepted cases have been reported in the palaeopathological literature and usually only when hyperostosis co‐occurs. We present a hyperostotic cranial lesion in an adolescent from the early historic population of Tipu in west central Belize. It fits most clinical and epidemiological patterns of meningeal expression in modern children, and differential diagnos…
Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies (16 works) · Geography (15 works) · Archaeology (14 works) · History (9 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (7 works) · Biology (7 works) · Paleopathology and ancient diseases (7 works) · Sociology (7 works) · Demography (6 works) · Medicine (6 works)