Activity patterns in New Kingdom Nubia: An examination of entheseal remodeling and osteoarthritis at Tombos

Abstract

The effects of Egyptian imperial expansion into Nubia during the New Kingdom Period (1,550-1,069 BC) have been debated. Here, the impacts of the Egyptian Empire are investigated through an examination of osteological indicators of activity at the archaeological site of Tombos. Entheseal changes to fibrocartilaginous attachment sites and osteoarthritis are examined to infer what types of physical activities this colonial town was engaging in. Many of the skeletal remains at Tombos were commingled due to looting in antiquity; undisturbed burials are presented as a subsample of the population (n = 28) in which age, sex, and body size can be considered. The total sample (n = 85) is then analyzed to better understand overall levels of activity. A number of Nile River Valley bioarchaeological samples are used as points of comparison to the Tombos population. Results indicate that the inhabitants of Tombos had relatively low entheseal remodeling scores; this is highlighted when Tombos is juxtaposed with comparative samples, particularly in men. Furthermore, osteoarthritis, as assessed by eburnation, was also markedly infrequent at Tombos. Collectively, these results indicate a relatively low level of activity and support the hypothesis that Tombos may have served as an administrative center.

Entheseal changes in ancient Egyptians from the pyramid builders of Giza—Old Kingdom

“…However, these procedures were not implemented here for the following reasons: (a) Most of the data were collected before any likely conventional acknowledgement was reached for the use of new methods; (b) the Hawkey and Merbs system provides valuable data regarding both severity and frequency of ECs; and (c) all data in this work were collected by one individual, the author, and thus minimising interobserver error. Moreover, several recent reports have reliably applied the Hawkey and Merbs system to describe activity patterns of various populations from the Nile Valley region (Schrader, , ; Schrader & Buzon, ; Zabecki, ).…”

Skeletal evidence of craft production from the Ch'iji Jawira site in Tiwanaku, Bolivia

“…While the exact etiology of OA is unknown, it has been associated with non-bilateral recurring motion injuries on joint surfaces (Bridges, 1992;Bridges, 1995;Cope et al, 2005;Felson, 2004;Felson et al, 1991;Felson and Zhang, 1998;Gramstad and Galatz, 2006;Huiskes, 1982;Jurmain, 1999;Larsen, 2000;Schrader, 2012;Weiss and Jurmain, 2007). OA has been used in prior bioarchaeological research to discuss task-based repetitive motion injuries within joints, estimating motions used over and over again, such as grinding grain or weaving textiles (Bridges, 1989;Bridges, 1991a;Bridges, 1992;Cope et al, 2005;Jurmain, 1999;Kennedy, 1989;Klaus et al, 2009;Larsen, 2000: 107, Pearson andRoberts and Manchester, 1995: 150 and others).…”

Age changes of musculoskeletal stress markers and their inter-period comparisons

“…When a bone avulsion injury occurs, new bone formation may be incorporated into the muscle tissue, and result in an exostosis. These osseous changes are relatively prevalent in adults after the growth of the skeletal system has been fully completed, and are often considered to reflect physical activities based on daily subsistence or habits during the lifetime of the individual (Hawkey and Merbs, 1995;Chapman, 1997;Churchill and Morris, 1998;Peterson, 1998;Steen and Lane, 1998;al-Oumaoui et al, 2004;Eshed et al, 2004;Molnar, 2006Molnar, , 2010Weiss, 2007;Lieverse et al, 2009Lieverse et al, , 2013Havelková et al, 2011;Schrader, 2012;Stefanović and Porčić, 2013).…”