A study of nonspecific skeletal health indicators in two nonadult populations from western Britain

Bibliographic Data

ID6136335
AuthorsBernadette Manifold Bernie (University of Reading, corresponding author)
Year2016
Issue30-31
Pages53-75
Publication date2016-05-04
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAntropologia Portuguesa (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0870-0990 • E-ISSN: 2182-7982
PublisherCoimbra University Press (PUBLISHER • PT)
DOI10.14195/2182-7982_31_3
OpenAlexW2474741150
LanguageEN
References cited34

Skeletal health indicators are often employed to measure how past populations adapted to their physical environment. The skeletons of children provide a measure of population fitness, as the ability of a community to keep their younger inhabitants alive and in general good health attest their ability to adapt to their environment. In this study, skeletal remains of non-adults from foetal to 17 years of age (n=300) from two cemetery populations in western Britain, namely the early medieval site of Llandough in south Wales (n=204) and the multi-period site of St Oswald’s Priory in Gloucester (n=96), were assessed. Non-specific indicators of physiological stress (cribra orbitalia, porotic hyperosprotosis, dental hypoplasia) and non-specific infections (periosteal new bone formation and endocranial lesions) are compared. Results suggest that the children from the English site enjoyed better health than their counterparts in Wales, where there was an increase in physiological stress during childhood

Archaeology · Bioarchaeology · Enamel hypoplasia · Geography · Paleopathology · Physiological stress · Population · Demography · Dentistry · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Indigenous Studies and Ecology · Medicine · Paleopathology and ancient diseases · Gerontology · Physiology

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