Objectives This study compares lower limb diaphyseal robusticity between Native Alaskan hunter‐gatherers to reconstruct patterns of mobility and engagement with terrain. Materials and methods Ancestral remains included in this study date between 600 and 1800 C.E. and were divided into three regions: Coastal Bay, Far North Coastal, and Inland/Riverine. Cross‐sectional properties were determined at femoral and tibial midshafts and standardized by powers of body mass and bone length. Results Consistently elaevated areas and second moments of area were found in ancestral remains from the Far North Coastal, while the Coastal Bay remains had reduced diaphyseal robusticity. Individuals from the Inland/Riverine region were intermediate in robusticity for male femora, but similar to the Coastal Bay group for females. Sexual dimorphism was greatest in the Inland/Riverine ancestral remains and comparable between Coastal Bay and Far North Coastal regions. Conclusions Ancestral remains from the Far North Coastal region have the greatest diaphyseal robusticity in response to intensive hunting and travel over rugged terrain. Reduced sexual dimorphism in the Far North Coastal region suggest female participation in hunting activities. Intermediate diaphyseal robusticity among Inland/Riverine males and increased sexual dimorphism reflects diverse patterns of mobility in relation to the hunting cycle between males and females. Reduced diaphyseal robusticity and sexual dimorphism among the Coastal Bay group is associated with sedentary villages established around net fishing in regions with low relief. Such findings argue against technocentric views of sedentism in hunter‐gatherer lifeways and generally reflect diverse adaptive strategies and interaction with local terrain among Indigenous Late Holocene hunter‐gatherers of Alaska.
Objectives: This study compares humeral diaphyseal robusticity and asymmetry between Late Holocene hunter-gatherers from Alaska with the goal of reconstructing habitual activity in relation to culture and environment.Materials and Methods: Ancestral remains from four geographic regions of Alaska were divided into five site groups defined by subsistence strategies and technology: Aleutian Islands, Coastal Bay, Far North Coastal, Inland/Riverine, and Tikeraq. Middistal humeral diaphyseal robusticity was quantified using cross-sectional geometric properties standardized by estimated body mass and bone length.Results: Humeral strength and bilateral asymmetry were greatest in Aleutian Island males, moderate in Far North Coastal and Tikeraq males, and reduced in Inland/ Riverine males. Left-biased directional asymmetry and reduced humeral strength were found in Coastal Bay males. Aleutian Island males had relatively mediolaterally strengthened humeri compared with other groups. Aleutian Island females had elevated humeral strength, while humeral asymmetry among females was moderate and did not vary between groups. Humeri were relatively round among Aleutian Island and Tikeraq females and anteroposteriorly (A-P) strengthened among Coastal Bay, Far North Coastal, and Inland/Riverine females.Conclusions: These results suggest elevated humeral strength and asymmetry in males that engaged in rowing and unimanual projectile hunting, while reduced humeral strength and asymmetry may reflect bow-and-arrow or ensnarement technologies. Left-biased humeral asymmetry may be associated with net-fishing.Humeral strength and asymmetry are consistent with select instances of unimanual projectile hunting in females, while differences in humeral A-P/mediolateral strength may reflect variation in butchery and processing of prey versus rowing and throwing behaviors.
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