Clark G A
Veterans Administration, Outpatient Clinic, Boston, Massachusetts 02108.
Am J Phys Anthropol. 1988 Sep;77(1):105-16. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330770116.
This paper has three goals. First, traditional methods used for analyzing growth disruption (GD) and sexual dimorphism (SD) in prehistoric skeletal populations are critiqued. Second, a new method, using adult vertebrae, is presented which helps overcome these limitations. Third, this new method is then tested in the Dickson Mounds skeletal population. Between A.D. 950 and 1300 this population underwent a transition from hunting and gathering (PreMississippian: PreMiss.) to maize horticulture (Mississippian: Miss.). Previous research has found a decrease in long bone length in Miss. children, but no difference in adults, or a change in SD. Could this be due to catch-up growth? In the adult skeleton vertebral neural canals (VNCs) size and vertebral body heights (VBHs) can easily be measured. VNCs generally cease growth by early childhood, whereas VBHs grow through young adulthood. This new method offers inference into prehistoric GD and SD previously thought impossible. For example, if VNCs are reduced, but not VBHs, it implies early GD with subsequent catch-up growth. If both VNCs and VBHs are reduced, GD was presumably chronic. Moreover, within this framework, preadult SD can be examined. Results from Dickson show that early GD was followed by catch-up growth. There was a significant change in SD, with females becoming smaller. They had chronic GD. Miss. males had early GD, followed by catch-up growth. Indeed, Miss. males, compared to PreMiss. males, had significantly larger VBHs. Together, these results suggest females lost, but males gained, social status. Thus, vertebral morphometrics may be an invaluable new tool for paleoepidemiologists.
本文有三个目标。首先，对用于分析史前骨骼群体生长中断（GD）和两性异形（SD）的传统方法进行了批判。其次，提出了一种使用成人椎骨的新方法，该方法有助于克服这些局限性。第三，然后在迪克森土丘骨骼群体中对这种新方法进行了测试。在公元950年至1300年期间，这个群体经历了从狩猎采集（前密西西比时期：PreMiss.）到玉米园艺（密西西比时期：Miss.）的转变。先前的研究发现，密西西比时期儿童的长骨长度有所减少，但成年人没有差异，或者两性异形没有变化。这可能是由于追赶生长吗？在成人骨骼中，椎骨神经管（VNCs）大小和椎体高度（VBHs）很容易测量。VNCs通常在幼儿期就停止生长，而VBHs在成年早期仍会生长。这种新方法为以前认为不可能的史前GD和SD提供了推断。例如，如果VNCs减小但VBHs没有减小，这意味着早期GD随后有追赶生长。如果VNCs和VBHs都减小，GD可能是慢性的。此外，在这个框架内，可以检查成年前的SD。迪克森的结果表明，早期GD之后是追赶生长。SD有显著变化，女性变得更小。她们有慢性GD。密西西比时期的男性有早期GD，随后是追赶生长。事实上，与前密西西比时期的男性相比，密西西比时期的男性VBHs明显更大。总之，这些结果表明女性失去了社会地位，而男性获得了社会地位。因此，椎体形态计量学可能是古流行病学家的一个非常有价值的新工具。
