Population‐specific stature reconstruction for medieval Trondheim, Norway

Hanson, Christine L.

doi:10.1002/oa.1390020404

Cited by 12 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 5 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This small sample size is unlikely to represent the true variance in height of females who died in this age range so the results should be treated with caution (Saunders et al ., 1993). At best stature calculations provide estimates not accurate measurements of living stature (Maat, 2005) and if different calculations have been used this can significantly affect results (Hanson, 1992). These drawbacks have the potential to bias results if they are not taken into account during analysis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non‐specific indicators of stress and their association with age at death in Medieval York: Using stature and vertebral neural canal size to examine the effects of stress occurring during different periods of development

Watts

2011

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Selective mortality can occur towards individuals who survive episodes of physiological stress, such as disease and malnutrition, during development. The skeletal elements affected depend on the timing of these stressful episodes. Studying multiple non-specific indicators of stress can show which periods of development were affected and whether certain periods can be linked with selective mortality. To examine this method a preliminary study of 61 adult individuals from the Medieval population of Fishergate House, York was undertaken to examine small vertebral neural canal size and reduced adult stature. Previous studies have shown that selective mortality occurs towards individuals who display these non-specific indicators of stress. Statistical analysis showed that small transverse neural canal diameter was significantly associated with early adult mortality for males and females and there was evidence of selective mortality towards females with reduced stature. This suggests that individuals who died in early adulthood experienced health insults during late childhood which stunted VNC growth but males in particular were not significantly affected by health insults after this age as they achieved a normal adult stature. Therefore it appears that health insults which occurred during late childhood had a greater influence on adult health in the Fishergate House population. This method could be expanded to provide more detailed information by using a greater variety of non-specific indicators of stress which will allow more specific periods of development to be investigated.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non‐specific indicators of stress and their association with age at death in Medieval York: Using stature and vertebral neural canal size to examine the effects of stress occurring during different periods of development

Watts

2011

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Therefore, even if researchers in general (e.g. Hanson, 1992;Werdelin, 1985) assume that the problem is solved using the same regression formula for all samples/populations compared, such comparisons are in essence comparisons of transformed femur lengths, and not stature as intended. Furthermore, Boldsen (1990) showed that even within one population there can be subgroups, each with its own femurstature relationship, leading to variable inaccuracy of individual stature estimates based on regression.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It should also be mentioned that a third procedure has been employed in previous studies. Hanson (1992) used the 'in situ stature', measured on archaeological plans. This method has not been considered further, partly because no exact description of landmarks are given (Hanson, 1992), partly because of methodological problems using drawings, as acknowledged by Hanson (1992).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the accuracy of estimating living stature from skeletal length in the grave and by linear regression

Petersen

2005

Int. J. Osteoarchaeol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study evaluates a method for obtaining stature estimates for populations represented by skeletal material, with individuals buried in a supine position. During the excavation of a Danish mediaeval cemetery, in situ skeletal length in the grave was measured from a point above the cranial point farthest from the body to the most distal point of the talus. The measurement was made with a folding rule placed on the sagittal midline of the skeleton, allowed to follow any curvature of the skeleton in situ. In the laboratory, stature was reconstructed anatomically, and this stature was regarded as an accurate estimate of living stature. Stature was also reconstructed from femur length by two linear regression procedures: 1) by sample and sex specific formulae, employing a leave-one-out approach, and 2) by sex wise formulae for Euro-Americans from Trotter & Gleser (1952, American Journal of Physical Anthropology 10: 463-514). Skeletal length in the grave and the two stature estimates based on linear regression were compared to anatomically reconstructed stature. Skeletal length in the grave estimated anatomically reconstructed stature with practically no bias (95% CI: À1.3-1.5 cm). Sample specific regression formulae estimated anatomically reconstructed stature also with no bias (95% CI: À1.2-1.1 cm). In contrast, statures calculated from Trotter & Gleser's regression formulae estimated anatomically reconstructed stature with a bias of about 4 cm (95% CI: 3.3-5.0 cm). Estimates of stature variance were biased for all three estimation procedures. However, for samples of adults, an adjusted variance estimate can be obtained by subtracting 8.7 cm 2 from the variance obtained from skeletal lengths in the grave. It is recommended to measure skeletal length in the grave whenever possible, and use this measurement for estimating statures for prehistoric and early historic populations.

show abstract

“…Consequently, regression formulae should be chosen cautiously for bioarcheological remains. Recently, the accuracy of traditionally used regression methods and their usefulness in reconstructing past populations' life conditions has been questioned (Formicola, 1993(Formicola, , 2003Petersen, 2005;Giannecchini and Moggi-Cecchi, 2008) and new, more accurate, population-specific techniques are being sought (Hanson, 1992;.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Stature estimation in an early medieval (XI‐XII c.) Polish population: Testing the accuracy of regression equations in a bioarcheological sample

Vercellotti

Agnew

Justus

et al. 2009

American J Phys Anthropol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Accurate stature estimation from skeletal remains can foster useful information on health and microevolutionary trends in past human populations. Stature can be estimated through the anatomical method and regression equations. The anatomical method (Fully: Ann Med Leg 36 [1956] 266-273; Raxter et al.: Am J Phys Anthropol 130 [2006] 374-384) is preferable because it takes into account total skeletal height and thus provides more accurate estimates, but it cannot be applied to incomplete remains. In such circumstances, regression equations allow estimates of living stature from the length of one or few skeletal elements. However, the accuracy of stature estimates from regression equations depends on similarity in body proportions between the population under examination and those used to calibrate the equations. Since genetic affinity and body proportions similarity are not always clearly known in bioarcheological populations, the criteria for selection of appropriate formulae are not always straightforward. This may lead to inaccurate stature estimates and imprecise accounts of past life conditions. Prompted by such practical and theoretical concerns this study aimed at (1) estimating living stature in an early medieval (XI-XII c.) Polish sample (40 male; 20 female) through the anatomical method and developing population-specific regression formulae; and (2) evaluating the accuracy of estimates obtained with regression methods commonly employed in European populations. Results indicate that when applied to the skeletal remains from Giecz, our formulae provide accurate estimates, with non-age-corrected formulae performing better than age-corrected ones. Our formulae provide better estimates than those calibrated on recent populations and their use in medieval Polish populations is preferable.

show abstract

Population‐specific stature reconstruction for medieval Trondheim, Norway

Cited by 12 publications

References 5 publications

Non‐specific indicators of stress and their association with age at death in Medieval York: Using stature and vertebral neural canal size to examine the effects of stress occurring during different periods of development

Non‐specific indicators of stress and their association with age at death in Medieval York: Using stature and vertebral neural canal size to examine the effects of stress occurring during different periods of development

On the accuracy of estimating living stature from skeletal length in the grave and by linear regression

Stature estimation in an early medieval (XI‐XII c.) Polish population: Testing the accuracy of regression equations in a bioarcheological sample

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About