No abstract

RMA Cambios entesiales en Portugal: un estudio diacrónico utilizando el nuevo Método Coimbra

The present study aims to evaluate the frequency of entheseal changes (EC) in a modern skeletal collection from the rural village of Inden, Germany (late 19th–early 20th century), in order to identify general levels of physical activity. The sample is comprised of 66 individuals (51 males and 15 females), whose data on sex, age, and occupation were retrieved from church records. Fourteen fibrous and nineteen fibrocartilaginous entheses of upper and lower limbs were scored in a blind test using two different methods. Grades were converted into binary data, and frequencies of EC were analyzed in each enthesis and in functional complexes by applying a Fisher exact test and a logistic regression. Results showed a higher prevalence for more entheses among female individuals. This does not agree with previous research, but it could be related to the small sample size in this study. More statistically, significant values were found for the relationship between EC and age, which was the main predictor for the presence of EC. However, the percentage of variability that it is explained by age is lower than that found by other studies of European identified collections. This would suggest an interaction with other variables. Regarding occupation, data did not show any clear pattern for the upper limb, whereas for the lower limb, higher frequencies were found for non‐manual workers. Significant values were only found for EC in two entheses of the forearm within the group of manual workers, and one of the feet for non‐manual workers. As with other identified collections, this study was unable to identify distinctive patterns of EC among occupations. This may be due to a combination of different physical activities engaged in or as a result of change of occupation during an individual's lifetime.

Congenital disorders are pathologies rarely found in archaeological cases. In recent years, however, there has been an increase in the number of reported cases, and a growing interest in understanding their development and implication as genetic markers within certain collections. In the central region of Argentina, researchers have begun to focus on issues related to the health of prehispanic populations from a bioarchaeological perspective. Between 1999 and 2012 our research group recovered, by rescue archaeological activities, a total number of 62 individuals from different archaeological sites in the province of Córdoba, from which only three individuals with pathologies classified as congenital were recorded (4.83%). Radiocarbon and contextual information sets these individuals in the late Holocene (2156 ± 86 and 920 ± 20 14C years BP). Hence, this work aims at presenting two pathological conditions deriving from congenital developmental abnormalities that arise during the first three months of pregnancy: (a) Klippel–Feil syndrome (type II) which was suffered by the individuals from the sites of Guasmara and El Vado, and (b) central sagittal fissure of the vertebral body or ‘butterfly vertebra’ as in the case of one individual from La Calera. We also analyse other lesions in these skeletons that may be associated with the conditions mentioned above, and we provide a thorough interpretation from an osteobiographical perspective. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.