bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The angle of femoral torsion: An impossible measurement?
Authors: Stirland A. J. 
Published: June 2005

AbstractTorsion of the femur (ante‐ or retroversion) is a normal feature of the bone. It is related to the angular difference in orientation between the proximal and distal articulations. Torsion has been studied, bothin vivoand in dry bone, using a variety of techniques, from a traditional goniometer to radiographs and tomography. Problems with the accurate measurement of the angle of femoral torsion have been encountered by many workers, resulting in a wide range of reported values. A pilot study was undertaken to attempt to demonstrate the difficulties in measuring the angle in dry bone. It was demonstrated that, using standard equipment, measurement of this angle has very poor reproducibility. Is it possible, therefore, to measure the angle of femoral torsion accurately?
Accuracy of age estimation from developing teeth of a population of known age (0–5.4 years)
Authors: Liversidge Helen M. 
Published: June 2005

AbstractThe accuracy of several methods of age estimation based on developing teeth was tested on 63 individuals of known age between 0 and 5.4 years from the Spitalfields Collection. The following methods of age estimation were tested: atlas method of Schour and Massler; diagram of Gustafson and Koch; mineralization age of some deciduous and permanent teeth, Moorrees, Fanning and Hunt, a modified method of Moorrees et al. by Smith, and quantitative methods using deciduous tooth length and weight regression equations, Deutsch, Tam and Stack. Accuracy was measured as the difference between dental age from the developing teeth and actual chronological age available from parish records.Results show that the atlas and diagram methods are considerably more accurate for this population and age group than methods based on mineralization stages of formation. Accuracy for the atlas method was 0.11 (± 0.30) year and diagram method 0.10 (± 0.37) year. The accuracy for methods based on mineralization stages of formation were considerably less accurate: 0.52 (± 0.62) year for deciduous teeth, 0.57 (± 0.42) year for permanent teeth and 0.29 (± 0.39) year for the same method but modified specifically for prediction. Significant differences (P<0.01) between dental and chronological age were apparent for methods based on mineralization stages.Accuracy of the quantitative methods during the first year of postnatal growth was high, the most accurate being deciduous molar length at 0.02 (± 0.15) year.Factors influencing accuracy and the problems encountered with the methods tested are discussed. The Schour and Massler atlas remains the recommended method of dental age estimation for this age group for reasons of accuracy and ease.
Osteometric scoring of adult residual rickets skeletal plasticity in two archaeological populations from southeastern England: Relationship to sunshine and calcium deficits and demographic stress
Authors: Ivanhoe Francis 
Published: June 2005

AbstractAn osteometric scoring technique is developed for the quantification of rickets deformational effects persisting in the healed adult skeleton. Termed RR‐15 scoring (for residual rickets estimate, based on 15 main diagnostic osteometric traits), the method is first validated for sunshine deficit, and is then tested in a comparison of three climatically distinct archaeological populations from southeastern England. Two well‐dated cemetery series were sampled: the Saint Bride's Church columbarium collection (SBC) from London at the time of the Industrial Revolution, for which the sex, age, and calender year at death of each individual are known; and the early Anglo‐Saxons from Abingdon, near Oxford (AAS). Estimates of insolation in the past were developed indirectly by reference to δ18O mass spectrometer analyses of dated layers of the Greenland ice sheet. In SBC and AAS, the RR‐15 score varies primarily as a direct function of computed sunshine deficit, but is also incremented by deficits of bioavailable calcium in their reconstructed diets, and by demographic stress in AAS, the inferred result of a high birth rate. The amounts of interglobular dentine present in the permanent first and third molar crowns of SBC and AAS have been shown to correlate similarly with sunshine and calcium deficits. The relatively high RR‐15 score obtained in a small sample of northwestern European neanderthals lends quantitative support to the bioenvironmental hypothesis that sunshine‐deficit rickets accounts for much of their paranormal gross morphology.
Non‐union of the epiphysis of the acromion in the skeletal remains of a Scottish population of ca. 1700
Authors: Miles A. E. W. 
Published: June 2005

AbstractA separation across the acromion is found in 3–8 per cent of adults and can be fibrous union of a fracture, or non‐union of the epiphysis. The only descriptions, based on dissected specimens, derive from the last century and show that the separations are pseudarthroses, or intra‐acromial joints, with synovial cavities. Examples occur of double epiphyses with two joints.Eleven skeletalized examples, two bilateral and two through the acromio‐clavicular articular facet, are described. The moderately congruent surfaces of separation showed features consistent with pseudarthrosis but gave no indication of any consistent type of movement in the joints. It is concluded that all were probably due to non‐union of the epiphysis although, especially as they occurred in a population in which injuries were commonplace, some could have derived from fractures.One specimen showed evidence of derangement of the shoulder joint, with impingement of the greater tuberosity of the humerus against the undersurface of the free part of the acromion producing eburnated attrition facets.
The conundrum of castration in the archaeological record: An interpretation of Roman cattle horn‐cores from Chelmsford, Essex
Authors: Luff Rosemary Margaret 
Published: June 2005

AbstractCurrent methods of sexing archaeological cattle bones, in particular the metapodials, are based upon past research into contemporary breeds and this work embraces a limited sample size, spread across a vast geographical area. Although the separation of cows and bulls is not in question, there appears a great deal of subjectivity in the literature concerning the identification of castrated beasts.Living bone is in a dynamic state of equilibrium with the rest of the body and responds to increased loading, that is, an increase in weight of the beast or stress/strain through strenuous movement, by remodelling. If cows and oxen are performing the same work, as for example in ploughing, then loading on the bones will be similar. These bones will thus respond by remodelling in corresponding fashion, and hence any morphological and metrical distinctions will be clouded. Horn‐cores are less subject to these constraints, although in some cultures there may be loading on these bones, for example through attaching the harness to the horns for ploughing.The Chelmsford cattle horn‐cores constitute waste from some industrial activity and it is argued in the text that horn‐working is the most likely candidate, together with possibly tanning. Sexing of the bones strongly indicated male animals, with few females being present. A procedure for detecting castrated cattle (oxen) is presented, the results of which suggest an equivalent ratio of oxen to bulls.
New evidence of prehistoric arrow wounds in the Iberian Peninsula
Authors: Armendariz J. , Irigarai S. , Etxeberria F. 
Published: June 2005

AbstractRecent excavations carried out in the Iberian Peninsula have revealed some skeletons with arrow wounds at sites dating from the neolithic to the Bronze Age. The discovery of burials in which the human remains have not been moved and the methodical nature of the excavation have made an in situ examination possible, and have confirmed this evidence as testimony of violent action, of which there are many other examples all over Europe. Four cases of silex arrowheads found in different human bones from the excavation of the hypogeum of Longar (Navarra, Spain), carried out between 1991 and 1993, are described.
Stapedial footplate fixation in a 4000‐year‐old temporal bone from Franzhausen II, Austria
Authors: Ziemann‐Becker Bärbel , Pirsig Wolfgang , Teschler‐Nicola Maria E. , Lenders Herbert 
Published: June 2005

AbstractIn one of 185 temporal bones from 100 individuals excavated from the Bronze Age cemetery Franzhausen II in Lower Austria, stapedial footplate fixation was detected, in a 16–20‐year‐old male. Examination by surgical microscope, flexible endoscope and computed tomography revealed that the stapes footplate is almost completely fixed into the oval window, with abnormal bone formation in its anterior end. As shown by computed tomographic imaging there were no radiolucent zones around the cochlea, which can sometimes be seen in modern patients with cochlear otosclerosis. Most findings lead to the conclusion that this case of a stapes ankylosis nearly 4000 years ago is probably due to otosclerosis.
Rheumatoid arthritis in a medieval skeleton
Authors: Hacking Peter , Allen Tim , Rogers Juliet 
Published: June 2005

AbstractOsteoarthritis in human skeletons from archaeological sites is common but there have been very few convincing descriptions of rheumatoid arthritis. We present a case of a near symmetrical erosive polyarthropathy in a medieval skeleton which we believe fulfils the criteria for typical rheumatoid arthritis.
Age attribution in domestic sheep by skeletal and dental maturation: A pilot study of available sources
Authors: Moran N. C , O'Connor T. P. 
Published: June 2005

AbstractThe aim of the study was to assess the quality of the available evidence pertaining to the effects of sex and castration on the timing of skeletal and dental maturation in sheep. The initial premise was that our present knowldge of the effects of these factors is inadequate, and that currently available published sources and reference specimens are insufficient to allow confident interpretation of archaeological data. A literature survey was carried out, and adequately documented sheep skeletons in a number of major collections were recorded. The results show that the published evidence is contradictory and ambiguous, particularly with regard to the effects of castration, and that currently available reference material is mostly too diverse in origin and in quality of documentation to allow comparison of well‐controlled samples. Some evidence was found to suggest that castration may delay epiphysial fusion during the second year, without delaying fusion of earlier‐ and later‐fusing elements. Overall, it is concluded that much of the received wisdom on skeletal maturation in sheep is poorly founded and unreliable, and that tightly controlled test populations are needed if better data are to be obtained.
DNA of Mycobacterium leprae detected by PCR in ancient bone
Authors: Rafi A. , Spigelman M. , Stanford J. , Lemma E. , Donoghue H. , Zias J. 
Published: June 2005

AbstractWe report the extraction and amplification of DNA of Mycobacterium leprae, from ancient skeletal material. The significance of the extraction of ancient bacterial DNA is discussed, as are future directions of research into ancient disease.
Dental calculus and other dental disease in a human skeleton of the Okhotsk Culture unearthed at Hamanaka‐2 site, Rebun‐Island, Hokkaido, Japan
Authors: Hanihara Tsunehiko , Ishida Hajime , Ohshima Naoyuki , Kondo Osamu , Masuda Tetsuo 
Published: June 2005

AbstractA human skeleton of the Okhotsk Culture from the Hamanaka‐2 site of Rebun Island, northern part of Hokkaido, was found with abnormally large deposits of dental calculus, especially on the right upper 2nd and 3rd molars. This may relate to the early loss of the corresponding right lower molars. Root apex cementum hyperplasia and resorption of alveolar bone due to periodontal disease were also observed; these may have been associated with the calculus. The severe dental calculus and other diseases observed appear to have nothing to do with the subsistence pattern and ethnological background of the Okhotsk Culture, but rather with the individual's poor oral hygiene and digestive dysfunction.
A comparison of different non‐destructive methods of age estimation in skeletal material
Authors: Kvaal S. I. , Sellevold B. J. , Solheim T. 
Published: June 2005

AbstractThe skeletal remains of unidentifiable persons, recovered in recent years from the churchyard adjoining the House of Correction in Oslo, included 91 instances in which the maxillae and/or mandibles had been preserved, and these were examined. The length of the apical translucent zone in unsectioned teeth and the amount of secondary dentine deposit have been regarded as two of the most reliable factors in odontological age estimation. This study has used two methods, each using one of these factors, on single‐rooted teeth from, respectively, 78 and 76 individuals. The distribution of age at death, as estimated from the two dental methods and from anthropological criteria, was then compared with the distribution of age at death of 380 individuals recorded in the church register for the House of Correction. Age calculations from secondary dentine, measured indirectly on dental radiographs of premolars, and estimates based on anthropological criteria both seemed to approximate to the chronological age distribution better than age estimates based on the length of the apical translucent zone. Statistical analyses indicated that all three methods of age estimation were significantly different (p<0.05). When compared with the church register, each method assigned a lower percentage of individuals to the younger and older age‐groups and a higher percentage to those in the middle. No statistical difference could be found between the age distribution from the church register and estimates from either anthropological criteria or dental radiographs; but when age estimates based on these two latter methods were compared, 39.5 per cent differed by more than 10 years.
A temporal bone lesion in a modern subject to explain a defect in the Kabwe skull
Authors: Slater Charles P. 
Published: June 2005

AbstractThe skull of a dissection room subject was noted to have a hole in the left squamous temporal bone similar to a lesion in the Kabwe (Broken Hill) skull. Kabwe man has an 8 × 8 mm hole situated 2 cm above and slightly anterior to the left external auditory meatus (EAM). This report describes a possible mechanism for the causation of that lesion, which is illustrated by features on a modern skull.The subject is a 55‐year‐old man who died from carcinoma of the stomach in 1942. The skull was macerated, defatted and stored after the cadaver had been dissected by medical students. In the squamous temporal bone there was an oval shaped 9 × 8 mm hole. The base of the oval was situated 11 mm above the superior margin of the EAM with the central axis of the hole being in line with the anterior margin of the EAM. This hole forms the base of a larger intracranial pit measuring 21 mm in diameter. The hole has an irregular margin except superiorly where it is smooth and rounded, indicative of healing.Intracranially, the petrous temporal bone displayed a marked exophytic, bony outgrowth suggestive of a chronic infective condition. The tegmen tympani contained a hole 3 mm in diameter in the middle of the exophytic area. No sign of disease in the mastoid process was noted. These findings are compatible with advanced chronic ear disease which has tracked into the extradural space through the tegmen tympani, become loculated, and then eroded the squamous temporal bone.The Kabwe skull shows signs compatible with chronic ear disease. It is suggested that a mechanism similar to the one described in the modern skull could explain the lesion in the left squamous temporal bone of Kabwe man.
Growth curves of immature bones from a Scottish island population of sixteenth to mid‐nineteenth century: Shoulder girdle, ilium, pubis and ischium
Authors: Miles A. E. W. , Bulman J. S. 
Published: June 2005

AbstractGrowth curves were prepared for length and various other dimensions, including some innovative ones, of the scapula, clavicle, first rib, ilium, pubis and ischium of ages up to 20 years including several immature and many full‐term fetuses.Most curves showed, like the previously reported diaphyses of the limb bones, what appears to be a consistent adolescent growth spurt at about 17 years, but the number of specimens supporting these parts of the curves is too small for the validity of this growth spurt to be beyond doubt.The fetal dimensions were similar to those of Fazekas and Kósa and of other recent populations. For the post‐natal stages of growth, no data are available for comparison but there was close correspondence with the growth curves of some ancient peoples, Amerindian, caucasoid and negroid, whose limb‐bone growth rates had also been shown previously to be well below those of contemporary caucasoids. Thus it is argued that the shoulder‐girdle and hip‐bone data provided further evidence that this Scottish island population was affected by stunting factors. Although there is no skeletal evidence of malnutrition, there is plenty of evidence that the way of life was full of hardship in which the children shared. They took a full part in the arduous work involved in farming marginal‐quality land; the houses were damp, cold, smoky and dark; they were overcrowded although, mainly because of the high infantmortality rate, families were not large.
Handedness and directional asymmetry in the long bones of the human upper limb
Authors: Steele James , Mays Simon 
Published: June 2005

AbstractThe long bones of the human upper limb usually show lateral asymmetries of length. This pattern can be attributed either to the mechanical consequences of handedness bias or to genetic or hormonal factors acting directly on longitudinal bone growth. Length data was obtained from the long bones of the upper limbs of a large skeletal assemblage from Wharram Percy, Yorkshire (England), predominantly deriving from the 11th‐16th centuries A.D. The Wharram Percy adult skeletons had a population distribution of lateral asymmetries of length in the humerus and in the humerus‐plus‐radius (a proxy arm length index) which closely parallels the pattern of behavioural handedness found in modern populations. This pattern was developing in the skeletons from the infant and juvenile age ranges, but was absent in the neonates (of whom 12 out of 14 had longer left humeri). We argue that this supports the environmental hypothesis that the ontogeny of long bone length asymmetry is consequent to the earlier development of lateral bias in mechanical loading of the upper limbs.
Early fetal maturity assessed from patterns of ossification in the hand and foot
Authors: Maclaughlin‐Black Sue , Gunstone Anthony 
Published: June 2005

AbstractThe assessment of fetal age at death is fraught with many complications and often the determination of the maturity of the fetus is a more realistic solution to the question of fetal viability. This study examines the pattern of appearance of primary centres of ossification in the fetal hand and foot, in an attempt to construct a maturity continuum. The results show that completion of ossification in the hand precedes that in the foot and generally occurs in a more regular pattern. The method proves useful at assessing fetal maturity between the third and tenth months of intra‐uterine life. In addition, the relationship to other major centres of ossification is considered.
Biological continuity between the A‐ and C‐groups in lower Nubia: Evidence from cranial non‐metric traits
Authors: Prowse Tracy L. , Lovell Nancy C. 
Published: June 2005

AbstractData are presented on 45 cranial non‐metric traits in skeletal samples of the Lower Nubian A‐Group (ca. 3100–2500 BC) and C‐Group (ca. 2000–1500 BC) cultural periods. Results, based on the mean measure of divergence statistic, reveal biological continuity, consistent with interpretations of in situ evolution as opposed to models of discontinuity resulting from gene flow. Any differences between the A‐and C‐Group cultural phases that may be evident in the archaeological record are therefore more likely the result of local cultural evolution, rather than the introduction of new ideas, customs, and materials through the migration of a new population into this area. The problem of small samples necessitates that our results be accepted cautiously.
Wild or domestic? On the evidence for the earliest domestic cattle and pigs in south Scandinavia and Iberia
Authors: Rowley‐Conwy Peter 
Published: June 2005

AbstractThe earliest domestic animals in south Scandinavia and Iberia are claimed to be small numbers of pigs and cattle in late mesolithic and (in Iberia) earliest neolithic contexts. This paper examines these claims, and argues that there are no metrical grounds for separating a few bones of these species from the larger number of wild cattle and pigs. All the claimed domestic specimens are therefore most probably wild. Small cattle bones from the Ertebølle of Denmark are now referred to as wild aurochs. Contemporary claimed domestic and ‘transitional’ specimens from Rosenhof and Bregentwedt/Förstermoor in northern Germany are so close in size to these that they too are probably wild; the concept of ‘transitional’ cattle is criticized. Claimed ‘transitional’ pigs in northern Germany are likewise probably wild. In Spain, mesolithic/early neolithic pigs are claimed from Sarsa, Parralejo and Nerja via a comparison with the wild and domestic size ranges from Zambujal in Portugal. It is argued that (i) the wild range at Zambujal is not fully known; and (ii) Zambujal is in any case an inappropriate comparison because prehistoric wild boar were smaller in the south and east of Iberia. Fewer comparanda are available when studying Iberian cattle, so the situation is less clear; but neither the pigs nor the cattle are demonstrably domestic. The paper concludes by mentioning other areas of Europe where a similar approach might be fruitful.
Fusion status of the jugular growth plate: An aid for age at death determination
Authors: Maat George J. R. , Mastwijk Rob W. 
Published: June 2005

AbstractTo assess the feasibility of the fusion (synostosis) status of the jugular growth plate as an age at death indicator, a series of 98 skulls of documented age and sex from the so‐called ‘Utrecht collection’ was examined. Ages at death in the series ranged from 14 to 92 years. Only specimens that could be inspected bilaterally were taken into account. According to the few but conflicting data from the literature, fusion happens at 16–18 years, or starts at ca. 25 years of age. In our sample no fusions were seen before the age of 22 years. Unilateral fusions were found only in the age range 22–34 years. At ages above 34 years in females and above 36 years in males all jugular growth plates were fused bilaterally. These results indicate that examination of the fusion status of the jugular growth plate is of use in age at death determination.
The body weight of AL 288‐1 (‘Lucy’): A new approach using estimates of skeletal length and the body mass index
Authors: Porter Alan M. W. 
Published: June 2005

AbstractA method of estimating the body mass of hominids by use of the skeletal length and physique index is described. The body mass indices (BMI) of female humans and female chimpanzees are known and this permits an estimate of the probable BMI for the female common ancestor and thus for female morphs intermediate between the common ancestor and modern humans. AL288‐1 (‘Lucy’) probably had a BMI of about 22.3 kg m−2 and for a height of 105cm this yields a body weight estimate of about 25 kg. Body weight estimates of 28–29 kg would imply a body mass index similar to female chimps and are improbable. These conclusions will be compromised if the chimp–gorilla–homo phylogenetic relationship proves to be a trichotomy rather than a chimp–homo dichotomy.