Alfred Czarnetzki

The form of the supraorbital margin as a criterion in identification of sex from the skull: Investigations based on modern human skulls

Sexual dimorphism in the shape of the supraorbital margin was reported by Broca and various subsequent authors, but no consistently applied, precise definition has been established. In this study of modern human skulls, the value of our definition of the sex-related difference in this area in the identification of sex from the skull was investigated. It was found that this feature can be assessed reliably, is strongly related to sex, and is independent of the side. The accuracy of identification of sex using this method alone was found to be about 70%.

Basics in Paleodemography: A Comparison of Age Indicators Applied to the Early Medieval Skeletal Sample of Lauchheim

Recent advances in the methods of skeletal age estimation have rekindled interest in their applicability to paleodemography. The current study contributes to the discussion by applying several long established as well as recently developed or refined aging methods to a subsample of 121 adult skeletons from the early medieval cemetery of Lauchheim. The skeletal remains were analyzed by 13 independent observers using a variety of aging techniques (complex method and other multimethod approaches, Transition Analysis, cranial suture closure, auricular surface method, osteon density method, tooth root translucency measurement, and tooth cementum annulation counting). The age ranges and mean age estimations were compared and results indicate that all methods showed smaller age ranges for the younger individuals, but broader age ranges for the older age groups.

Genomic Differentiation of Neanderthals and Anatomically Modern Man Allows a Fossil-DNA-Based Classification of Morphologically Indistinguishable Hominid Bones

Southern blot hybridizations of genomic DNA were introduced as a relatively simple fossil-DNA-based approach to classify remains of Neanderthals. When hybridized with genomic DNA of either human or Neanderthal origin, DNA extracted from two Neanderthal finds-the Os parietale, from Warendorf-Neuwarendorf, Germany, and a clavicula, from Krapina, Croatia-was shown to yield hybridization signals that differ by at least a factor of two compared to the signals obtained with the use of fossil DNA of an early Homo sapiens from the Vogelherd cave (Stetten I), Germany. When labeled chimpanzee DNA was used as a probe, Neanderthal and human DNA, however, revealed hybridization signals of similar intensity. Thus, the genome of Neanderthals is expected to differ significantly from the genome of anatomically modern man, because of the contrasting composition of repetitive DNA. These data support the hypothesis that Neanderthals were not ancestors of anatomically modern man.

Paleopathological Features of the Cervical Spine in the Early Middle Ages: Natural History of Degenerative Diseases

OBJECTIVETrauma and degenerative joint disease are the most common pathological conditions observed in archaeological skeletal remains. We describe the prevalence of different types of cervical bone diseases observed in the early Middle Ages (6th to 8th centuries AD). METHODSHuman skeletons were excavated from Germanic row graves in southwestern Germany. One hundred ninety-six cervical spines thus obtained were examined for bone disease. The degenerative changes were classified into Grades 1 (marginal osteophytes), 2 (uneven joint surfaces), and 3 (osseous ankylosis). Cervical spinal canal stenosis was defined as anteroposterior diameters of <11 mm and intervertebral foraminal stenosis as <3.0 mm in the smallest diameter. RESULTSOf the skeletons, 27.5% demonstrated degenerative changes of the cervical spine. The mean age of the skeletons at the time of death was 33.4 years, compared with 43.7 years for those with degenerative disease. Degenerative changes of the vertebral bodies (usually Grades 1 and 2) were most common in the C5–C6 (12.4%, P < 0.05) and C6–C7 (15.3%, P < 0.05) segments. The medial (6.1%) and lateral (0.6%) atlantoaxial joints were rarely involved in degenerative disease. The facet joints from C3–C4 to C6–C7 demonstrated degenerative changes (usually Grades 1 and 2) in 8.0 to 11.8% of cases. The C2–C3 facet joints were significantly involved in degenerative disease in 19.7% of cases (P < 0.05), one-fourth of which demonstrated osseous ankylosis. We observed cervical spinal canal stenosis in 5 skeletons (2.6%) and osseous intervertebral foraminal stenoses in 12 (6.1%). Isolated cases of other pathological processes, i.e., spondylitis ankylopoietica, occipitalization of the atlas and axis, and an odontoid fracture with pseudoarthrosis, were also recorded. CONCLUSIONIn the early Middle Ages, the prevalence of degenerative cervical spine disease was the same as that observed today. The C2–C3 facet joints demonstrated high rates of degenerative disease.

Archaeology and Prevalence of Paget's Disease

Rogers et al. presented data on the prevalence of Paget’s disease of bone (PDB) in an archeological population comprising 2770 individuals from northeast England in the Journal. Their study showed an increase in the rate of the disease over time. In March 2004 Waldron concluded after recalculation of the data from Rogers et al. that the disease prevalence had not changed over the 1500 years covered by these burials. We now finished a study on a large skeletal assemblage comprising >8500 individuals from central Europe that provided the opportunity to examine the prevalence of PDB over a period of five millennia of human history (5600 BP to 1500 AD). The prevalence of PDB in our archeological population was only 0.03% (entry criteria as described in ref. 1), with no occurrence of pagetic bones before 1400 AD. We consider this a valid estimation, because PDB cannot be overlooked in skeletal material and because it is based on the greatest number of skeletal remains examined to date. Although PDB was first described in 1877 by the British surgeon Sir James Paget (1814–1899), PDB is in fact a very old condition with few (but controversially discussed) cases being known from the archeological record. Today, it is a fairly common disease with ∼1–3% in middle and advanced adulthood being affected. The infrequency of PDB in our study collection remarkably contrasts the figures of today’s disease prevalence. Despite environmental factors playing a role in the etiology of PDB, we favor the explanation that the late-onset and slowly developing manifestation of PDB prevented people in former times from affliction. Whereas only a few centuries ago the average life expectancy was <30 years, it is now at >75 years in industrialized countries. In our subset of specimens dating from the early Middle Ages, we determined a percentage of only 26% being >40 years (40–52 years maximum), whereas for modern populations, this figure is 84%. Consistently, reports of low prevalence of PDB suggest that the disease is uncommon in Africa, where people die earlier because of unfavorable living conditions. The longer human life spans, including a prominent proportion of elderly, enables PDB to appear more frequently nowadays. Our study thus contrasts the recent conclusion published by Waldron, but may grossly illustrate spatial and temporal differences in the disease etiology of PDB.

Acquired sagittal suture diastasis in an infant skull from the early medieval period: a sign of raised intracranial pressure

In a review of cases of hydrocephalus in the paleopathological literature, 30 possible congenital cases worldwide have been reported, ranging from 10 000 B.C. to 1670 A.D. [2]. When considering patients of all ages nowadays, hydrocephalus occurs in only 40% of cases with elevated intracranial pressure (ICP) [4]. We present the first case in terms of historical antiquity in which acquired, not congenital, raised ICP was produced in an infant skull by topographically welldefined cranial lesion.

Methode zur Untersuchung des Margo supraorbitalis als Kriterium zur Geschlechtsdiagnose — Reliabilität und Validität

Since Broca noted a “sharpness” of the supraorbital margin of the female skull, this has been included among the features used for identification of sex, although there is no consistently applied, precise definition. We have investigated skulls from an anthropological collection and confirmed that part of this structure in the male is evenly rounded and trough-shaped in cross-section, whereas in the female the inner surface was found to be angular along the whole of its length. The reliability of this feature in the identification of sex from the skull was evaluated using impressions taken from 50 modern human skulls for which the age and sex were known (19 females and 31 males). The two different forms proved to be reliably identifiable, strongly related to sex, and the same on both left and right. The accuracy of identification of sex with this method was 75%.ZusammenfassungSeit Broca wird bei den geschlechts-differenten Merkmalen am Schädel eine „Schärfe” des weiblichen Orbitaorberrandes beschrieben, jedoch uneinheitlich und ungenau definiert. Aufgrund von Untersuchungen an Schädeln einer anthropologischen Sammlung konnte nachvollzogen werden, daß bei den männlichen Schädeln ein Teil des Oberrandes im Querschnitt einen gleichmäßig runden, trogförmigen Verlauf aufweist, während bei den weiblichen am Oberrand im gesamten Verlauf eine durchlaufende Knickbildung an der Innenseite ausgebildet ist. Mithilfe der vorgestellten Abdruck-methode wurde das Merkmal an 50 geschlechts- und altersbekannten rezenten Schädeln (19 ♀ ♀, 31 ♂ ♂) hinsichtlich seiner Wertigkeit bei Identifizierungsarbeiten am Schädel überprüft. Der Geschlechtsdimorphismus zeigte sich reliabel beurteilbar, streng geschlechtsbezogen und seitenunabhängig. Die Wahrscheinlichkeit einer richtigen Diagnose liegt bei ca. 75%.

Lumbar spine fracture in a 34,100-year-old skeleton: the oldest known prehistoric spine fracture.

WE EXAMINED SPECIAL pathological changes of the lumbar spine from skeleton remains referred to as “Stetten 1,” one of the earliest specimens of modern humans dating from the Early Stone Age (Upper Paleolithic). The skeleton was discovered during archaeological excavations under Riek in 1931 in the Vogelherd Cave near Stetten, close to the Lone Valley of southwestern Germany. The archaeological context is the so-called Aurignacian period (40,000–30,000 yr ago), representing the earliest cultural step of modern humans in Europe. Accelerator mass spectrometry with 14C measurement yields a calibrated age of these remains averaging 34,100 years before the present. The L3–L4 vertebrae exhibit marginal bone fusion on the right side with a smooth surface. They show 20- to 30-degree kyphosis secondary to wedge impaction of the L4 vertebral body. The facet joints and vertebral bodies reveal small marginal osteophytes with even joint surfaces, indicating low degenerative changes. Stetten 1 is characterized by the presence of a healed lumbar spine fracture. It documents the earliest known case thus far of spine fracture among modern humans.