Horacio Cardoso
Biographic Data
| ID | 83400 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Horacio Cardoso |
| GIVEN NAMES | Horacio |
| FAMILY NAME | Cardoso |
| SIGNATURE | CARDOSO H |
| AFFILIATIONS | Simon Fraser University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1338-101X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 57 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 396 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 57 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2002 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 11 |
Response to Garcia (2025)
We would like to thank Dr. Garcia (2025) for her reply and to the American Journal of Biological Anthropology for the opportunity to respond to her letter concerning our article “New Challenges and Perspectives on the Long-Term Study and Curation of the Collection of Identified Human Skeletons Housed at the National Museum of Natural History and Science, Lisbon, Portugal” (Cardoso et al. 2025). Our purpose in publishing that article was to bring …
Sex Differences in Secular Changes in Height and Weight Among Affluent Portuguese School Girls and Boys from 1913 to 2012
Secular changes in the physical growth of children in the 20th century have been examined largely between cohorts of boys or men, with fewer studies examining changes among girls/women or both sexes. Sex-specific growth trajectories and differential cultural treatment of the sexes can affect how girls and boys respond to changes in the ontogenetic environment. This study examined secular change in height (cm) and weight (kg) in affluent Portugues…
Radiographic and macroscopic dry bone manifestations of childhood leukemia in a case of known cause of death from mid-20th century Portugal
Do the regions of the spinal column record stress differently? An analysis of diminished growth in the vertebral neural canal
Growing up in a growing economy. Reassessing changes in biological living standards in Portugal during the twentieth century
This paper explores the assumptions about sample representativeness and provides a re-analysis of the data utilized by Cermeño and co-workers (2023a) to examine changes in the biological standards of living in Portugal over the 20th century, from records of child height taken from the Hospital de São Roque (1945-2000) in Lisbon, Portugal. The authors suggest that the largest decline in the prevalence of stunting - and concomitantly, the greatest …
The Impact of Social, Economic and Political Change in Linear and Appositional Growth of Children from the Medieval Islamic and Christian Periods of the Algarve, Portugal
Does age estimated from teeth forming in different early life periods show differential discrepancy with known age
OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to explore growth discrepancies in the dentition of impoverished children and examine how dental development is impacted by environmental influences throughout childhood, thereby identifying which teeth are more sensitive to the effects of biocultural factors and are consequently less useful to predict age. METHODS: Length measurements of developing teeth (deciduous and permanent) were taken from individuals o…
An Ethical, Cultural and Historical Background for Cemetery-Based Human Skeletal Reference Collections
OPEN ACCESS-PAID-CC BY-NC-ND In historically Protestant countries, human skeletal reference collections curated by research institutions have been amassed from bodies dissected by anatomists, typically unclaimed cadavers from morgues and hospitals, or from remains donated to science. In contrast to these anatomy-based and donation-based collections, skeletal reference collections in historically Roman Catholic countries on mainland Europe and in …
Lack of biological mortality bias in the timing of dental formation in contemporary children: Implications for the study of past populations
OBJECTIVES: Biological mortality bias is the idea that individuals who perish (non-survivors) are biologically distinct from those who survive (survivors). If biological mortality bias is large enough, bioarchaeological studies of nonsurvivors (skeletal samples) cannot accurately represent the experiences of the survivors of that population. This effect is particularly problematic for the study of juvenile individuals, as growth is particularly s…
Juvenile Body Mass Estimation from the Femur Using Postmortem Computed Tomography Data
Skeletal estimation methods to reconstruct the juvenile biological profile are largely limited to those estimating age and, to a lesser extent, sex. While body mass is not generally estimated as part of the biological profile in forensic investigations, this is a logical candidate for inclusion in the forensic biological profile, as it has long been of interest in paleoanthropology and several methods to estimate juvenile body mass currently exis…
Socioeconomic differences in permanent teeth mineralization of Portuguese girls and boys from Porto, Portugal
While this study was not able to further explore the causes of the dental advancement in girls, it is hypothesized that it might be related to a higher prevalence of overweight/obesity, and possibly caries, in low SES girls, compared to the SES difference in prevalence in boys.
Interpolation of the Maresh diaphyseal length data for use in quantitative analyses of growth
The Maresh data are commonly used in bioarcheological growth studies as a representation of diaphyseal growth in a modern and healthy group of children. However, several problems with the way the data were reported have limited its use in quantitative analyses of growth. In this paper, we present updated and interpolated values for long bone length for age for use in calculating z-scores, percentages of expected length, and other quantitative mea…
Severe skeletal lesions, osteopenia and growth deficit in a child with pulmonary tuberculosis (mid-20th century, Portugal)
The digital lives of Ancestors
In bioarchaeology, 3-D models of human skeletons are increasingly being used in constructing osteobiographies. This is of considerable interest to Indigenous peoples who are keen to learn about their Ancestors’ lives, especially through non-destructive data recovery methods. This chapter offers a primer for those interested in implementing 3-D techniques in studies of Ancestors. We introduce common 3-D scanning techniques used in bioarchaeology. …
Historical, demographic, curatorial and legal aspects of the BoneMedLeg human skeletal reference collection (Porto, Portugal)
The BoneMedLeg research project was developed to address current research concerns related to the use of skeletal reference collections for forensic purposes. These concerns were partly addressed by amassing a new reference collection which incorporates unclaimed human remains sourced from two municipal cemeteries in the city of Porto, Portugal. Amassed between 2012 and 2014 the collection was developed with permission from and in partnership wit…
Structural violence and the nature of cemetery-based skeletal reference collections
The sourcing of cadavers for North American skeletal reference collections occurred immediately after death and targeted the poor and marginalised. In Europe, collections sourced bodies that were buried and unclaimed after some time in cemeteries with no perpetual care mandate, and may have also targeted the underprivileged. The relationship between socio-economic status (SES) and abandonment was examined in a sample of unclaimed remains (603 adu…
Post-mortem gross composition changes and differential weathering of immature and mature bone in an experimental burial environment
The impact of social experiences of physical and structural violence on the growth of African enslaved children recovered from Lagos, Portugal (15th–17th centuries)
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this article is to examine the impacts of physical and structural violence on the well-being of early modern enslaved Africans by comparing the growth of children in an archaeological sample recovered from Lagos, Portugal with that of modern children known to have lived under socially oppressive and racist political regimes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The age of 18 individuals was estimated from the length of developing tee…
Postnatal maturation of the sternum in a Portuguese skeletal sample: A Variable Ossification Process
The timing of skeletal maturation is one of the common indicators used to estimate age at death of juvenile skeletal remains. Skeletal maturation of the sternum has received less attention than other anatomical locations, and there is a general lack of detailed information about the fusion timing in the dry sternum that can be used for the estimation of age. The objective of this study is to document the age variation in the fusion of the body st…
Linear and appositional growth in children as indicators of social and economic change during the Medieval Islamic to Christian transition in Santarém, Portugal
This study explores whether child growth has signalled periods of social change between the Medieval Islamic and post-Islamic Christian Periods in Santarém, Portugal. The social change is associated with the Christian conquest of Iberia and the fall of the Islamic Empire in Europe, which ceased the regional influence of the Golden Age of Islam. This may have caused a deterioration in living conditions brought by the Christian conquest, compared w…
Indirect evidence for biological mortality bias in growth from two temporo-spatially distant samples of children
Biological mortality bias in growth is a challenge to the analysis and understanding of past populations. In this analysis, we address two interrelated aspects of the bias: its potential magnitude in terms of linear growth and the association between height and survivorship. A contemporary sample of 292 children, whose recumbent length was measured at autopsy in Cuyahoga County, USA, was used to quantify the magnitude of mortality bias. Differenc…
The influence of stunting on obesity in adulthood: Results from the Epiporto cohort
Objective To retrospectively investigate the association between short stature and increased sitting height ratio (SHR) – indicators of stunting – and obesity markers in adults. Design Cross-sectional evaluation of the EPIPorto cohort. Weight, height, sitting height and waist circumference were measured. Obesity was assessed for men and women through BMI and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR). Short stature (women, Setting Representative sample of adul…
A ge estimation of immature human skeletal remains from the metaphyseal and epiphyseal widths of the long bones in the post‐natal period
OBJECTIVES: This study provides regression and classical calibration models for the estimation of age from the dimensions of the metaphyses and epiphyses of the six long bones. METHODS: A sample of 148 known sex and age individuals (56 females and 92 males), aged between birth and 12 years of age, selected from Portuguese and English skeletal collections. Age estimation models were obtained separately for each sex and for the sexes combined, for …
Age estimation of immature human skeletal remains from the dimensions of the girdle bones in the postnatal period
OBJECTIVES: This study provides classical calibration regression formulae for age estimation from the dimensions of unfused shoulder and pelvic girdle bones. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Age estimation models were derived from a sample of 160 known age and sex individuals (63 females and 97 males) aged birth to 12 years, selected from Portuguese and English skeletal collections. The sample was divided into two age groups at the age of 2 years, and form…
Lost and then found: The Mendes Correia Collection of identified human skeletons curated at the University of Porto, Portugal
Among the several human skeletal reference collections that have been amassed in Portugal, there is one that has remained in nearly anonymity for its almost entire existence. The collection was initiated by Mendes Correia who collected abandoned skeletal remains from cemeteries of the city of Porto circa 1912-1917. Over the years and for unknown reasons its original documentation was lost and the collection has been treated as an unidentified ass…
Environmental effects on skeletal versus dental development: Using a documented subadult skeletal sample to test a basic assumption in human osteological research
This study examines the relationship between measures of skeletal and dental development and socioeconomic factors in a 20th century documented skeletal sample of children from Portugal. The skeletons are of known sex and chronological age, and include other biographic data, such as cause of death. Growth in the length of the long bone is used as a measure of skeletal growth, and schedules of tooth formation are used as a measure of dental develo…
Brief communication: The collection of identified human skeletons housed at the Bocage Museum (National Museum of Natural History), Lisbon, Portugal
A large collection of identified human skeletons curated at the Bocage Museum (National Museum of Natural History, Lisbon, Portugal) has remained in relative anonymity since its collecting protocol was initiated in the 1980s. This collection originates from modern cemetery sources and is comprised of 1,692 skeletons with basic documentary data (age at death, place of birth, occupation, place of residence, and date and cause of death). At present,…
Epiphyseal union at the innominate and lower limb in a modern Portuguese skeletal sample, and age estimation in adolescent and young adult male and female skeletons
This study documents the timing of epiphyseal union at the innominate, femur, tibia, and fibula in a sample of modern Portuguese skeletons. The sample was taken from the Lisbon documented skeletal collection and it is comprised of 57 females and 49 males between the ages of 9 and 25. Individuals are mostly representative of the middle‐to‐low socioeconomic segment of the early 20th century Lisbon population. A total of 18 anatomical locations were…
Sample-specific (universal) metric approaches for determining the sex of immature human skeletal remains using permanent tooth dimensions
Age estimation of adolescent and young adult male and female skeletons II, epiphyseal union at the upper limb and scapular girdle in a modern Portuguese skeletal sample
This study completes previously reported ages for timing of epiphyseal union in the postcranial skeleton in a recent sample, with data from the scapula, clavicle, humerus, radius, and ulna. A sample of 121 individuals between the ages of 9 and 29 (females = 65, males = 56) was derived from the Lisbon documented skeletal collection. Epiphyseal union was scored at 16 anatomical locations, using a three‐stage scheme: 1) no union; 2) partial union; a…
Universal methodology for developing univariate sample-specific sex determination methods: An example using the epicondylar breadth of the humerus
Shape, size, and maturity trajectories of the human ilium
Morphological traits of the ilium have consistently been more successful for juvenile sex determination than have techniques applied to other skeletal elements, however relatively little is known about the ontogeny and maturation of size and shape dimorphism in the ilium. We use a geometric morphometric approach to quantitatively separate the ontogeny of size and shape of the ilium, and analyze interpopulation differences in the onset, rate and p…
Environmental effects on skeletal versus dental development II: Further testing of a basic assumption in human osteological research
This study further tests the general assumption that skeletal development is more sensitive to socioeconomic factors than dental development in a sample of modern immature Portuguese skeletons ( N = 41) of known sex, age, and socioeconomic background. Skeletal development was assessed from skeletal maturation of the knee and dental development was assessed from schedules of tooth formation. Discrepancies between physiological age (skeletal and de…
Age estimation from stages of union of the vertebral epiphyses of the ribs
This study attempts to fill a persistent gap in the literature by documenting the timing of epiphyseal union at the vertebral end of the ribs in a sample of modern Portuguese skeletons. The skeletal remains of 53 females and 45 males, between the ages of 11 and 30, were taken from the Lisbon documented skeletal collection. Individuals in the sample have been previously described as being representative of a middle‐to‐low socioeconomic segment of …
Trends in adult stature of peoples who inhabited the modern Portuguese territory from the Mesolithic to the late 20th century
This study documents long-term changes in stature from the Mesolithic to the late 20th century in the territory of modern Portugal. Data utilised originated from published sources and from a sample of the Lisbon identified skeletal collection, where long bone lengths were collected. Mean long bone lengths were obtained from 20 population samples and compiled into nine periods. Pooled long bone lengths for each period were then converted to statur…
Age estimation from stages of epiphyseal union in the presacral vertebrae
The presacral vertebrae have various secondary centers of ossification, whose timing of fusion can be used for age estimation of human skeletal remains up to the middle to the latter third decade. However, detailed information about the age at which these secondary centers of ossification fuse has been lacking. In this study, the timing of epiphyseal union in presacral vertebrae was studied in a sample of modern Portuguese skeletons (57 females a…
The impact of social experiences of physical and structural violence on the growth of African enslaved children recovered from Lagos, Portugal (15th–17th centuries)
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this article is to examine the impacts of physical and structural violence on the well-being of early modern enslaved Africans by comparing the growth of children in an archaeological sample recovered from Lagos, Portugal with that of modern children known to have lived under socially oppressive and racist political regimes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The age of 18 individuals was estimated from the length of developing tee…
The Not‐so‐Dark Ages: Ecology for human growth in medieval and early Twentieth Century Portugal as inferred from skeletal growth profiles
This study attempts to address the issue of relative living standards in Portuguese medieval and early 20th century periods. Since the growth of children provides a good measure of environmental quality for the overall population, the skeletal growth profiles of medieval Leiria and early 20th century Lisbon were compared. Results show that growth in femur length of medieval children did not differ significantly from that of early 20th century chi…
The chronology of epiphyseal union in the hand and foot from dry bone observations
Dry bone data for epiphyseal union at the hand and foot are scarce, incomplete or inexistent. This study documents the timing of fusion of secondary ossification centres at the hand and foot in a sample of known-age human skeletons. The sample comprises 92 individuals (49 females and 43 males), between the ages of 9 and 22 years, from the identified skeletal collection curated at the National Museum of Natural History in Lisbon, Portugal. Epiphys…
Testing the quality of nonadult Bayesian dental age assessment methods to juvenile skeletal remains: The Lisbon collection children and secular trend effects
Age estimation of nonadult skeletons from archaeological or forensic contexts has relied heavily on modern schedules of dental formation developed on samples of children of affluent populations. Although genetic factors have been considered to have had the greatest influence on population differences in dental development, increased interest has been placed on the role of environmental influences, such as differences in socioeconomic status and s…
Frequencies of the Four Major Amerindian mtDNA Haplogroups in the Population of Montevideo, Uruguay
mtDNA Amerindian polymorphisms were studied in 108 inhabitants of Montevideo, Uruguay, using PCR RFLP analysis. Amerindian haplogroups were found in 20.4% of the sample. The frequency of Amerindian polymorphisms in Montevideo differed significantly from that observed in Tacuarembó, a city about 400 km away, indicating the high level of variation within Uruguay. Results for mitochondrial markers indicate that admixture occurred primarily as a resu…
Lack of biological mortality bias in the timing of dental formation in contemporary children: Implications for the study of past populations
OBJECTIVES: Biological mortality bias is the idea that individuals who perish (non-survivors) are biologically distinct from those who survive (survivors). If biological mortality bias is large enough, bioarchaeological studies of nonsurvivors (skeletal samples) cannot accurately represent the experiences of the survivors of that population. This effect is particularly problematic for the study of juvenile individuals, as growth is particularly s…
Assessing the influence of occupational and physical activity on the rate of degenerative change of the pubic symphysis in portuguese males from the 19th to 20th century
Among the many factors suggested as potential sources of variation in the rate of ageing of the pubic symphysis is occupational/physical activity, but this has yet to be demonstrated. This study's main goal is to determine whether occupational/physical activity influences the aging process in the pubic symphysis. We analyzed a sample of 161 males (18–96 years) from two Portuguese identified skeletal collections, where age‐related features were re…
Metatarsal fusion pattern and developmental morphology of the Olduvai Hominid 8 foot: Evidence of adolescence
Chronology of fusion of the primary and secondary ossification centers in the human sacrum and age estimation in child and adolescent skeletons
Little is known about fusion times of the primary and secondary centers of ossification in the sacrum, particularly from dry bone observations. In this study, the timing of union of these centers was studied in a sample of modern Portuguese skeletons (90 females and 101 males) between the ages of 0 and 30 years, taken from the Lisbon documented skeletal collection. A three‐stage scheme was used to assess fusion status between ossification centers…
Interpolation of the Maresh diaphyseal length data for use in quantitative analyses of growth
The Maresh data are commonly used in bioarcheological growth studies as a representation of diaphyseal growth in a modern and healthy group of children. However, several problems with the way the data were reported have limited its use in quantitative analyses of growth. In this paper, we present updated and interpolated values for long bone length for age for use in calculating z-scores, percentages of expected length, and other quantitative mea…
Linear and appositional growth in children as indicators of social and economic change during the Medieval Islamic to Christian transition in Santarém, Portugal
This study explores whether child growth has signalled periods of social change between the Medieval Islamic and post-Islamic Christian Periods in Santarém, Portugal. The social change is associated with the Christian conquest of Iberia and the fall of the Islamic Empire in Europe, which ceased the regional influence of the Golden Age of Islam. This may have caused a deterioration in living conditions brought by the Christian conquest, compared w…
Indirect evidence for biological mortality bias in growth from two temporo-spatially distant samples of children
Biological mortality bias in growth is a challenge to the analysis and understanding of past populations. In this analysis, we address two interrelated aspects of the bias: its potential magnitude in terms of linear growth and the association between height and survivorship. A contemporary sample of 292 children, whose recumbent length was measured at autopsy in Cuyahoga County, USA, was used to quantify the magnitude of mortality bias. Differenc…
An Ethical, Cultural and Historical Background for Cemetery-Based Human Skeletal Reference Collections
OPEN ACCESS-PAID-CC BY-NC-ND In historically Protestant countries, human skeletal reference collections curated by research institutions have been amassed from bodies dissected by anatomists, typically unclaimed cadavers from morgues and hospitals, or from remains donated to science. In contrast to these anatomy-based and donation-based collections, skeletal reference collections in historically Roman Catholic countries on mainland Europe and in …
Structural violence and the nature of cemetery-based skeletal reference collections
The sourcing of cadavers for North American skeletal reference collections occurred immediately after death and targeted the poor and marginalised. In Europe, collections sourced bodies that were buried and unclaimed after some time in cemeteries with no perpetual care mandate, and may have also targeted the underprivileged. The relationship between socio-economic status (SES) and abandonment was examined in a sample of unclaimed remains (603 adu…
Skeletal markers of occupational stress in the toes: A case report from Alcabideche (Cascais, Portugal)
The analysis and interpretation of skeletal markers of occupational stress play an important role in the reconstruction of activity patterns and socio-economic life of prehistoric and historic populations. In this paper, skeletal markers on the phalanges of the feet are described in an adult skeleton recovered from the archaeological excavation carried out in the churchyard of the S. Vicente Church (12 t h -19 t h centuries) in Alcabideche (Casca…
The Search for a Paradigm in Archaeology Evolutionary Theory and the "Selectionist" School of Thought
According to evolutionary archaeology (the "selectionist" school of archaeological theory) the archaeological record can be explained in terms of generic Darwinian processes of evolution. Evolution is seen as the differential persistence of cultural traits and as the differential reproductive success of individuals in result of the cultural traits they possess. However, one of the major criticisms of evolutionary archaeology is concerned with the…
Onde estão as crianças? Representatividade de esqueletos infantis em populações arqueológicas e implicações para a paleodemografia
As amostras populacionais de restos ósseos humanos recuperados em contextos arqueológicos, constituem uma fonte de informação essencial sobre a demografia das sociedades do passado. No entanto, alguns elementos destas amostras, em especial as crianças muito jovens, encontram-se frequentemente sub-representados devido à conjugação de filtros de amostragem que os eliminam selectivamente. Uma vez que se pressupõe que a amostra seja representativa da…
Substantial native American female contribution to the population of Tacuarembó, Uruguay, reveals past episodes of sex‐biased gene flow
For many years it has been assumed that the population of Uruguay is almost exclusively European‐derived and that the biological contribution of the native population as well as of individuals of African descent is negligible. Several recent studies based on a variety of genetic markers, mostly morphological and serological markers, have produced quite a different picture of the constitution of the Uruguayan population. The Native American contri…
Universal methodology for developing univariate sample-specific sex determination methods: An example using the epicondylar breadth of the humerus
Frequencies of the Four Major Amerindian mtDNA Haplogroups in the Population of Montevideo, Uruguay
mtDNA Amerindian polymorphisms were studied in 108 inhabitants of Montevideo, Uruguay, using PCR RFLP analysis. Amerindian haplogroups were found in 20.4% of the sample. The frequency of Amerindian polymorphisms in Montevideo differed significantly from that observed in Tacuarembó, a city about 400 km away, indicating the high level of variation within Uruguay. Results for mitochondrial markers indicate that admixture occurred primarily as a resu…
A quantificação do estatuto socioeconómico em populações contemporâneas e históricas: Dificuldades, algumas orientações e importância na investigação orientada para a saúde
As desigualdades socioeconómicas na doença e na saúde são o reflexo da organização social de qualquer sociedade. A investigação epidemiológica e antropológica actual na área da saúde considera o estatuto socioeconómico (ESE) como actuando para estratificar as populações humanas em grupos que expoêm a saúde individual, ora aos riscos, ora aos benefícios que o ambiente físico e social proporciona. Nesta medida, vários investigadores têm desenvolvid…
Brief communication: The collection of identified human skeletons housed at the Bocage Museum (National Museum of Natural History), Lisbon, Portugal
A large collection of identified human skeletons curated at the Bocage Museum (National Museum of Natural History, Lisbon, Portugal) has remained in relative anonymity since its collecting protocol was initiated in the 1980s. This collection originates from modern cemetery sources and is comprised of 1,692 skeletons with basic documentary data (age at death, place of birth, occupation, place of residence, and date and cause of death). At present,…
Sample-specific (universal) metric approaches for determining the sex of immature human skeletal remains using permanent tooth dimensions
Environmental effects on skeletal versus dental development: Using a documented subadult skeletal sample to test a basic assumption in human osteological research
This study examines the relationship between measures of skeletal and dental development and socioeconomic factors in a 20th century documented skeletal sample of children from Portugal. The skeletons are of known sex and chronological age, and include other biographic data, such as cause of death. Growth in the length of the long bone is used as a measure of skeletal growth, and schedules of tooth formation are used as a measure of dental develo…
Secular changes in body height and weight of Portuguese boys over one century
This study examines secular changes in attained height and weight in student boys from a military boarding school ( Colégio Militar ) in Lisbon, Portugal. Data for 1899–1906, 1929–1936, 1961–1966, and 1999–2006 obtained from the archives and medical files of the Colégio Militar were used in this study. In a century Portuguese boys increased in height by 10.5 cm at age 10 to 19.1 cm at age 14, at a mean increase of 1.54 cm per decade. The gain in …
Changes in height, weight, BMI and in the prevalence of obesity among 9- to 11-year-old affluent Portuguese schoolboys, between 1960 and 2000
The results suggest that a high family income does not necessarily translate into more informed choices about healthy foods and lifestyles, with a strong influence in the prevalence of obesity. This pattern of association between socio-economic status and obesity may reflect a late socio-economic transition of Portugal, compared to that of other high-income countries
Epiphyseal union at the innominate and lower limb in a modern Portuguese skeletal sample, and age estimation in adolescent and young adult male and female skeletons
This study documents the timing of epiphyseal union at the innominate, femur, tibia, and fibula in a sample of modern Portuguese skeletons. The sample was taken from the Lisbon documented skeletal collection and it is comprised of 57 females and 49 males between the ages of 9 and 25. Individuals are mostly representative of the middle‐to‐low socioeconomic segment of the early 20th century Lisbon population. A total of 18 anatomical locations were…
Age estimation of adolescent and young adult male and female skeletons II, epiphyseal union at the upper limb and scapular girdle in a modern Portuguese skeletal sample
This study completes previously reported ages for timing of epiphyseal union in the postcranial skeleton in a recent sample, with data from the scapula, clavicle, humerus, radius, and ulna. A sample of 121 individuals between the ages of 9 and 29 (females = 65, males = 56) was derived from the Lisbon documented skeletal collection. Epiphyseal union was scored at 16 anatomical locations, using a three‐stage scheme: 1) no union; 2) partial union; a…
Testing the quality of nonadult Bayesian dental age assessment methods to juvenile skeletal remains: The Lisbon collection children and secular trend effects
Age estimation of nonadult skeletons from archaeological or forensic contexts has relied heavily on modern schedules of dental formation developed on samples of children of affluent populations. Although genetic factors have been considered to have had the greatest influence on population differences in dental development, increased interest has been placed on the role of environmental influences, such as differences in socioeconomic status and s…
Secular trends in social class differences of height, weight and BMI of boys from two schools in Lisbon, Portugal (1910–2000)
Age estimation from stages of union of the vertebral epiphyses of the ribs
This study attempts to fill a persistent gap in the literature by documenting the timing of epiphyseal union at the vertebral end of the ribs in a sample of modern Portuguese skeletons. The skeletal remains of 53 females and 45 males, between the ages of 11 and 30, were taken from the Lisbon documented skeletal collection. Individuals in the sample have been previously described as being representative of a middle‐to‐low socioeconomic segment of …
The Not‐so‐Dark Ages: Ecology for human growth in medieval and early Twentieth Century Portugal as inferred from skeletal growth profiles
This study attempts to address the issue of relative living standards in Portuguese medieval and early 20th century periods. Since the growth of children provides a good measure of environmental quality for the overall population, the skeletal growth profiles of medieval Leiria and early 20th century Lisbon were compared. Results show that growth in femur length of medieval children did not differ significantly from that of early 20th century chi…
Trends in adult stature of peoples who inhabited the modern Portuguese territory from the Mesolithic to the late 20th century
This study documents long-term changes in stature from the Mesolithic to the late 20th century in the territory of modern Portugal. Data utilised originated from published sources and from a sample of the Lisbon identified skeletal collection, where long bone lengths were collected. Mean long bone lengths were obtained from 20 population samples and compiled into nine periods. Pooled long bone lengths for each period were then converted to statur…
Secular change in the timing of dental root maturation in Portuguese boys and girls
We demonstrate a clear and consistent acceleration in dental root maturation due to secular changes and show that the plasticity in dental development in response to environmental factors is greater than previously thought
The chronology of epiphyseal union in the hand and foot from dry bone observations
Dry bone data for epiphyseal union at the hand and foot are scarce, incomplete or inexistent. This study documents the timing of fusion of secondary ossification centres at the hand and foot in a sample of known-age human skeletons. The sample comprises 92 individuals (49 females and 43 males), between the ages of 9 and 22 years, from the identified skeletal collection curated at the National Museum of Natural History in Lisbon, Portugal. Epiphys…
Age estimation from stages of epiphyseal union in the presacral vertebrae
The presacral vertebrae have various secondary centers of ossification, whose timing of fusion can be used for age estimation of human skeletal remains up to the middle to the latter third decade. However, detailed information about the age at which these secondary centers of ossification fuse has been lacking. In this study, the timing of epiphyseal union in presacral vertebrae was studied in a sample of modern Portuguese skeletons (57 females a…
Environmental effects on skeletal versus dental development II: Further testing of a basic assumption in human osteological research
This study further tests the general assumption that skeletal development is more sensitive to socioeconomic factors than dental development in a sample of modern immature Portuguese skeletons ( N = 41) of known sex, age, and socioeconomic background. Skeletal development was assessed from skeletal maturation of the knee and dental development was assessed from schedules of tooth formation. Discrepancies between physiological age (skeletal and de…
Metatarsal fusion pattern and developmental morphology of the Olduvai Hominid 8 foot: Evidence of adolescence
Assessing the influence of occupational and physical activity on the rate of degenerative change of the pubic symphysis in portuguese males from the 19th to 20th century
Among the many factors suggested as potential sources of variation in the rate of ageing of the pubic symphysis is occupational/physical activity, but this has yet to be demonstrated. This study's main goal is to determine whether occupational/physical activity influences the aging process in the pubic symphysis. We analyzed a sample of 161 males (18–96 years) from two Portuguese identified skeletal collections, where age‐related features were re…
Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies (39 works) · Medicine (31 works) · Demography (29 works) · Biology (23 works) · Geography (19 works) · Population (19 works) · Sociology (18 works) · Anatomy (16 works) · Paleopathology and ancient diseases (15 works) · Anatomy (13 works)