Ruff C B, Larsen C S, Hayes W C
Am J Phys Anthropol. 1984 Jun;64(2):125-36. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330640205.
Structural characteristics of the femur are compared in preagricultural (2200 B.C.-A.D. 1150) and agricultural (A.D. 1150-1550) subsistence strategy groups from the Georgia coast. Using an automated technique, cross-sectional geometric properties used in structural analyses (areas, second moments of area) were determined at midshaft and distal to the lesser trochanter in 20 adults from each group. A significant decline in magnitude of almost every geometric property occurs in the agricultural group. The differences between groups are reduced but still significant for many properties after standardizing for bone length differences. In addition, a remodeling of the femoral cortex to one of relatively smaller medullary and subperiosteal diameter, as well as a more circular cross-sectional shape, is characteristic of agricultural femora. Thus, while the relative cross-sectional area of bone remains the same, the spatial distribution of bone area is different in the two groups. The results strongly suggest a relative reduction in mechanical loadings of the femur in the agricultural group, implying different levels and possibly types of activity involving the lower limb in the two groups. The data are also compared with similar data available for the Pecos Pueblo (agricultural) sample. The comparison indicates that types of activity may have been more similar in the two agricultural samples, but that general levels of activity were more similar in the Pecos Pueblo and Georgia coast preagricultural samples.
对来自佐治亚海岸的前农业时期（公元前2200年 - 公元1150年）和农业时期（公元1150年 - 1550年）生存策略群体的股骨结构特征进行了比较。使用一种自动化技术，在每组20名成年人中，于股骨中轴和小转子远端测定了结构分析中使用的横截面几何特性（面积、面积二次矩）。农业群体中几乎每个几何特性的大小都显著下降。在对骨长度差异进行标准化后，两组之间的差异有所减小，但许多特性仍具有显著性。此外，农业时期的股骨皮质重塑为髓腔和骨膜下直径相对较小且横截面形状更接近圆形的结构。因此，虽然两组的骨相对横截面积保持不变，但两组骨面积的空间分布不同。结果强烈表明农业群体中股骨的机械负荷相对降低，这意味着两组涉及下肢的活动水平和可能的活动类型有所不同。这些数据还与佩科斯普韦布洛（农业）样本的类似数据进行了比较。比较表明，两个农业样本中的活动类型可能更相似，但佩科斯普韦布洛和佐治亚海岸前农业样本中的总体活动水平更相似。
