Osteoporosis

238

121

Inaccuracies introduced through biases in preservation are a major source of error in paleodemographic reconstructions. Although it is generally assumed that such biases exist, little is known about their magnitude. To investigate this problem, we studied age and sex differences in the preservation of skeletal remains from Mission La Purisima and a prehistoric cemetery (Ca-Ven-110). Comparison of mortality profiles obtained through analysis of skeletal remains and burial records from the mission indicates that biases in preservation can be very significant in poorly preserved skeletal collections. The Purisima burial records show that most of the people interred in the cemetery were either infants or elderly adults. The skeletal remains, in contrast, are predominantly those of young adults. The burial records and skeletal collection produced comparable sex ratios. These results show that age biases in preservation are much more important than sex biases. This conclusion is supported by data on the completeness of the skeletons from La Purisima and Ca-Ven-110. At both sites, the remains of young adults were better preserved than those of children or elderly adults, and the completeness of male and female skeletons was comparable.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Age and sex biases in the preservation of human skeletal remains

Walker

Johnson

Lambert

1988

238

121

“…A balance between dietary intake and release of calcium from the bone is essential for maintaining serum calcium levels. Maintenance of serum calcium levels is critical because calcium is necessary for every biological process where there is tissue stimulation coupled to a response (Raisz, 1982). Calcium is also essential for intercellular bridging and communication between cells (Raisz and Kream, 1981).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These demands can be met only through skeletal remodeling or turnover. When resorption and formation are not balanced, there can be a net loss of bone, generally referred to as osteoporosis (Raisz, 1982).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Cortical bone maintenance in an historic Afro‐American Cemetery sample from Cedar Grove, Arkansas

Martin

Magennis

Rose

1987

The relocation and analysis of 80 skeletons from the Cedar Grove Cemetery, located in southwest Arkansas, provides an opportunity to examine the level of health and nutrition experienced by Afro-Americans in the post-Reconstruction South (1878-1930). The demographic profile lends support to the interpretation that Cedar Grove participated in the nationwide decline in Afro-American health. The high frequencies of skeletal lesions indicative of dietary deficiencies and infectious disease demonstrate that this was a highly stressed population. For this analysis, adult femoral thin sections (15 females and 14 males) are examined histologically. These data provide support to the assertion that the Cedar Grove population experienced poor health. Measures taken from the sections include cortical thickness, percent cortical area, and mean number of resorption spaces and forming osteons per square millimeter of bone. As a group, they demonstrate low percent cortical area compared with well-nourished normals. They also show high rates of resorption to formation, thereby disrupting the balance necessary for normal cortical bone maintenance. The pattern established for bone porosity in this group is not a function of age but rather is due to other factors, most likely nutrition and disease stress. What may be unique about this group is that males, as well as females, experienced problems with calcium homeostasis and normal maintenance and repair of bone. Taken together, these data support the interpretation that diet and health were substandard in the post-Reconstruction South.

“…Thus, it is often considered to be a universal aspect of human ontogeny, although there are important sex and population differences in the rates at which net loss occurs. Postmenopausal women and certain Eskimo populations, for example, are among the groups that show accelerated rates of loss and high frequencies of the related clinical condition, osteoporosis (Raisz, 1982).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Aging in the musculoskeletal system of rhesus monkeys: III. Bone loss

DeRousseau

1985

It is well established that aging of the human skeleton includes the loss of bone mass or density, but little comparative information on age-related osteopenia in other primates is available. In order to determine whether bone loss occurs in normally locomoting nonhuman primates, radiographs of 139 rhesus monkey skeletons from the Cayo Santiago collection were examined, and measures of percent cortical bone (PCT) at the midshaft of second metacarpals, humeri, and femora were calculated. An age-related osteopenia was observed in the metacarpal of adult female macaques, although much individual variation was present. This variability could not be explained by reproductive history (number of offspring), matrilineal affiliation, or degree of osteoarthrosis. However, in a subsample of 15 animals, females who had given birth in the three months prior to death showed lower PCTs than those who had not conceived in the previous mating season. In adult males, PCT did not vary significantly with age, but males that weighed less and those with no/little osteoarthrosis showed lower PCTs than heavier or more arthritic animals, respectively. The multifactorial nature of the variation in PCT observed here suggests that similar processes of bone behavior are involved in the skeletal aging of both humans and rhesus monkeys.