Palaeopathology in late Pleistocene and early Holocene Central Plains bison: dental enamel hypoplasia, fluoride toxicosis and the archaeological record

Byerly, Ryan M.

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2007.01.001

Cited by 17 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…A further effect of substantial ashfall is fluoride poisoning, which may affect not only people [75] but also fauna, particularly large herbivores [55]. Both modern [76] and archaeological [77] examples of fluoride poisoning have been documented. Fluorosis can lead to death, but it is the associated longer term debilitating bone deformations (e.g., hyperostosis, osteosclerosis, osteomalacia, and osteoporosis) that are most likely to be identifiable in the archaeological record [77].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Campanian Ignimbrite Eruption: New Data on Volcanic Ash Dispersal and Its Potential Impact on Human Evolution

et al. 2013

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The Campanian Ignimbrite (CI) volcanic eruption was the most explosive in Europe in the last 200,000 years. The event coincided with the onset of an extremely cold climatic phase known as Heinrich Event 4 (HE4) approximately 40,000 years ago. Their combined effect may have exacerbated the severity of the climate through positive feedbacks across Europe and possibly globally. The CI event is of particular interest not only to investigate the role of volcanism on climate forcing and palaeoenvironments, but also because its timing coincides with the arrival into Europe of anatomically modern humans, the demise of Neanderthals, and an associated major shift in lithic technology. At this stage, however, the degree of interaction between these factors is poorly known, based on fragmentary and widely dispersed data points. In this study we provide important new data from Eastern Europe which indicate that the magnitude of the CI eruption and impact of associated distal ash (tephra) deposits may have been substantially greater than existing models suggest. The scale of the eruption is modelled by tephra distribution and thickness, supported by local data points. CI ashfall extends as far as the Russian Plain, Eastern Mediterranean and northern Africa. However, modelling input is limited by very few data points in Eastern Europe. Here we investigate an unexpectedly thick CI tephra deposit in the southeast Romanian loess steppe, positively identified using geochemical and geochronological analyses. We establish the tephra as a widespread primary deposit, which blanketed the topography both thickly and rapidly, with potentially catastrophic impacts on local ecosystems. Our discovery not only highlights the need to reassess models for the magnitude of the eruption and its role in climatic transition, but also suggests that it may have substantially influenced hominin population and subsistence dynamics in a region strategic for human migration into Europe.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Campanian Ignimbrite Eruption: New Data on Volcanic Ash Dispersal and Its Potential Impact on Human Evolution

et al. 2013

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“…Once one or more causes is firmly established, study of enamel hypoplasia among palaeozoological remains will provide insight to what is normal and what might jeopardize the survival of a population. For example, there is some consistency but also some significant variation between several early Holocene‐age collections of bison remains (Byerly, 2007), the latter suggesting that some populations were under more dietary(?) stress than others.…”

Section: Exemplary Palaeozoological Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A warrant for applied palaeozoology

Lyman

2011

Biological Reviews

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It has been argued by some neozoologists (those who study living animals) that the palaeozoological record is biased and incomplete (relative to an existing biological community) and therefore should not be consulted for purposes of conservation biology. An article published in a biology journal in 2011 lists numerous reasons why natural history collections (NHCs) of skins and skulls of animals collected over the past century or two are exceptionally valuable to conservation biologists because those collections provide significant time depth to numerous variables that document global biological change. Many of those same variables can be, and have been, identified in the palaeozoological record. Those variables are of major value to conservation biology, whether their values are taken from 100-year-old NHCs or from palaeozoological remains. Empirical examples in which the identified variables are measured in palaeozoological contexts indicate that the palaeozoological record should indeed be consulted by conservation biologists and can no longer be considered unsatisfactory for modern resource management.

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“…A series of studies investigating enamel hypoplasia in Pleistocene and early Holocene bison (Niven 2000;Niven et al 2004;Byerly 2007) suggest that enamel hypoplasia in ancient bison can be potentially related to a range of regular seasonal stresses including post-rut nutritional deficiencies, weaning, coldseason forage quality, availability and seasonally dependent mineral deficits. Kierdorf et al (2006), however, questioned the fundamental data underpinning this work, suggesting that the observations of enamel hypoplasia were actually developmental defects in coronal cementum.…”

Section: Climate and Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

More Than Just Mad Cows: Exploring Human‐Animal Relationships through Animal Paleopathology

Upex

Dobney

2011

A Companion to Paleopathology

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From the earliest hunters, through the advent of domestication to the most recent outbreak of swine flu, animals and humans have had a long and complex relationship. Anthropology and archaeology (more specifically the disciplines of zooarchaeology and paleopathology) provide a key temporal framework for the exploration and understanding of this relationship and the wide range of questions that are encompassed by it. Paleopathological studies in ancient human and nonhuman species can be broadly defined as the study of past health, disease and injury, through the analysis of calcified tissue, primarily bones and teeth. However, compared to human paleopathology, animal paleopathology has received little or no serious attention within the wider fields of archaeology and even zooarchaeology. The reasons for this are varied (and discussed in more detail below), but are principally related to the more complex, intensive taphonomic processes that animal bone assemblages often undergo compared to human remains. As we hope this brief chapter will highlight, the study of animal paleopathology has the potential to add a great deal of information to our understanding of the past. Whilst perhaps the most obvious area of study relates to the spread and management of human diseases, this is just the "tip of the iceberg".

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Palaeopathology in late Pleistocene and early Holocene Central Plains bison: dental enamel hypoplasia, fluoride toxicosis and the archaeological record

Cited by 17 publications

References 53 publications

The Campanian Ignimbrite Eruption: New Data on Volcanic Ash Dispersal and Its Potential Impact on Human Evolution

The Campanian Ignimbrite Eruption: New Data on Volcanic Ash Dispersal and Its Potential Impact on Human Evolution

A warrant for applied palaeozoology

More Than Just Mad Cows: Exploring Human‐Animal Relationships through Animal Paleopathology

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