Hubbe Mark, Green Madelyn K, Cheverko Colleen M, Neves Walter A
Department of Anthropology, Ohio State University, 147W 18th Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43210.
Instituto de Arqueología y Antropología, Universidad Católica del Norte, Gustavo Le Paige 380, San Pedro de Atacama 141-0000, Chile.
Am J Phys Anthropol. 2018 Feb;165(2):353-362. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.23346. Epub 2017 Nov 1.
The southern Brazilian shellmounds provide archaeological evidence of prolonged human activity in the coast from approximately 6000 to 1000 BP. Shellmound building populations exploited the rich coastal estuarine zones, and the human remains recovered from them are important sources of information on health and overall lifestyle of these mid-Holocene groups. Therefore, they were included in the Western Hemisphere Global History of Health project. The shellmounds contribute the highest Health Index in the Western Hemisphere, but these conclusions are based on collections that exclude postcranial remains. Here, we reconstruct the Health Index for one specific shellmound using both cranial and postcranial remains to determine whether the initial studies might misrepresent the relative health of the Brazilian shellmound builders.
The Health Index was calculated for a sample of 18 complete skeletons recovered from the shellmound Porto do Rio Vermelho 02 (Santa Catarina Island, Brazil). The Heath Index was calculated with and without postcranial markers and the results are compared with the Western Hemisphere Global History of Health data.
The Health Index for Porto do Rio Vermelho 02 is lower than the reported average for American series in the Western Hemisphere Global History of Health Project and considerably lower than the original index reported for Brazilian shellmounds. This discrepancy is due to an increased prevalence of infectious disease and low stature.
Although the Health Index remains a useful comparison statistic, re-evaluation of fragmentary skeletal remains demonstrates the need for caution when applying it to incomplete skeletal series.
巴西南部的贝丘提供了约公元前6000年至1000年期间人类在海岸长期活动的考古证据。建造贝丘的人群开发了丰富的沿海河口区域，从这些贝丘中发现的人类遗骸是了解这些中全新世群体健康状况和整体生活方式的重要信息来源。因此，它们被纳入了西半球全球健康史项目。贝丘在西半球的健康指数最高，但这些结论是基于不包括颅后遗骸的藏品得出的。在此，我们利用颅骨和颅后遗骸重建了一个特定贝丘的健康指数，以确定最初的研究是否可能错误呈现了巴西贝丘建造者的相对健康状况。
对从贝丘里约韦尔梅柳港02（巴西圣卡塔琳娜岛）出土的18具完整骨骼样本计算健康指数。在有和没有颅后标记的情况下计算健康指数，并将结果与西半球全球健康史数据进行比较。
里约韦尔梅柳港02的健康指数低于西半球全球健康史项目中美国系列报告的平均水平，且远低于巴西贝丘最初报告的指数。这种差异是由于传染病患病率增加和身材矮小所致。
尽管健康指数仍然是一个有用的比较统计量，但对不完整骨骼遗骸的重新评估表明，在将其应用于不完整骨骼系列时需要谨慎。
