Dennis P. Van Gerven

Factors Influencing the Etiology of Cribra Orbitalia in Prehistoric Nubia

Abstract The present research represents an attempt to explain the occurrence of cribra orbitalia in Nubian skeletal remains associated with Meroitic, X-Group and Christian cultural horizons. The distribution of cribra orbitalia among 285 crania examined revealed a concentration of lesions among infants and aged individuals. While earlier studies have suggested cribra orbitalia may reflect the occurrence of abnormal hemoglobins such as sickle cell anemia or thalassemia, a consideration of the environmental context in which the lesions occurred makes an alternative hypothesis more likely. Particularly in Nubia (past and present), where parasitic infection is high, the diet is poor in iron, weanling diarrhea is frequent and multiparity is the norm, chronic iron deficiency anemia is a more likely causal factor. This interpretation is also compatable with clinical observations of cribra orbitalia among modern individuals suffering from chronic iron deficiency anemia.

Bone growth and development in prehistoric populations from Sudanese Nubia

The analysis of a large sample of skeletons from a number of Sudanese Nubian cemeteries demonstrates the usefulness of this material in the study of bone growth and development. A skeletal series from the Meroitic (B.C. 350-A.D. 350), X-Group (A.D. 350–550), and Christian (A.D. 550–1400) period were utilized in determining the rate of bone development and age related changes in the internal structure of the femur. Specifically, we have been able to demonstrate the following: 1. (i) The growth velocity determined from the long bones in the Nubian sample was similar but somewhat more irregular than the growth velocity of long bones in American boys studied longitudinally. 2. (2) Growth symmetry of long bones determined by the ratio of lengths shows a greater stability than that which occurs in American boys. 3. (3) Decrease in femoral cortical thickness with age was significant in Nubian females (P < 0·001), while the decrease in males was not significant. The loss of cortical bone tissue in Nubian females appears to begin earlier than similar changes in modern females. 4. (4) The density of femoral head trabecular bone organ volume decreases with age at similar rates in both males and females, but the females lose a larger percentage of density since they enter the age period (17 years) with a lower density. 5. (5) The average thickness of femoral head trabeculae decrease with age in males, while in females there is an increase in thickness. It appears that as cross-members decrease in thickness with age, struts increase in thickness. 6. (6) Microradiographic analysis of archeological material may provide an additional dimension to the study of bone turnover rates.

Mortality and culture change in Nubia's Batn el Hajar

Throughout antiquity, Nubia has existed on the interface between history and prehistory. The first written record from Nubia may date from the fourth millennium B.C. while her last dark age lasted until 1813. Significantly, this last dark age was the time when Nubia made the final transition from Christianity to Islam. The present research represents an analysis of mortality among one of the last known Christian populations of Nubia—a population from a region previously uninvestigated by physical anthropology known as the Batn et Hajar (“belly of rock”). A comparison of earlier and later Christian populations from two cemeteries at the site of Kulubnarti in the Batn et Hajar suggests that the large Christians, isolated in one of the most hostile and forbidding regions of the Nile Valley, experienced lower rates of childhood mortality and morbidity than their ealier Christian forebears. Our data also suggest that population comparison based on cumulative survivorship may be seriously biased by initial differences in childhood mortality.

Palaeoepidemiological Patterns of Trauma in a Medieval Nubian Skeletal Population

Evidence of trauma was investigated in a well-preserved skeletal sample from the Medieval Sudanese Nubian site of Kulubnarti. The skeletal materials derive from two temporally over-lapping Christian cemeteries, dating from the sixth to circa the sixteenth century. The available sample consisted of the skeletons of 146 adults which were investigated for fractures of the long bones, crania and the hands and feet, as well as for dislocations and muscle pulls. Results showed a high incidence of long bone fractures, seen especially in the forearm, and involving 33.5 per cent of individuals. Many of these lesions indicated quite severe injury, and an unusually high number of affected individuals (27 per cent) showed multiple long bone involvement. Conversely, only one possible cranial fracture was apparent. Fractures were also found in 13 hand and seven foot elements. In addition, one hip dislocation and evidence of pulled tendons in 11 individuals were also observed. Compared to other similarly controlled samples, the Kulubnarti population stands out for its high prevalence of healed fractures, the high proportion of multiple involvement and the severity of numerous lesions. The forbiddingly harsh and uneven terrain of this region of Nubia was most likely a major influence on the unusually high prevalence and pattern of traumatic lesions in this group.

Patterns of femoral bone remodeling dynamics in a medieval Nubian population

The relationship between age, sex and histomorphometry in femoral cortical bone was examined in a skeletal population of late Medieval antiquity (AD 1250-1450) from Kulubnarti, in Sudanese Nubia. These skeletal remains are naturally mummified and in an excellent state of preservation. The study sample consisted of femoral cross sections from 24 females and 19 males ranging in age from 20 to 50+ years. Femoral cross sections were examined using an image analysis system. Numbers of secondary osteons and osteon fragments were counted, osteon area and Haversian canal area were measured, and several variables were calculated to assess differences between sexes and among age groups in bone remodeling variables. The results indicate significant differences between the sexes in osteon number and size. Males had significantly more intact osteons than females, whereas females had significantly larger osteons than males. Haversian canal dimensions were not statistically significant between the sexes. Sex differences in activity patterns in which males were involved in more physically strenuous tasks may have contributed to differences in remodeling variables. Interpopulational comparisons suggest that mechanical strain affects the microstructural features examined in this study. In particular, small Haversian canals in some archaeological skeletal populations are associated with higher bone volume, which may result from high levels of mechanical strain.

Intra-Tooth Stable Isotope Analysis of Dentine: A Step Toward Addressing Selective Mortality in the Reconstruction of Life History in the Archaeological Record

Intra-tooth stable isotope analysis of dentine provides a more sensitive means to examine infant and childhood life history in the past than conventional cross-sectional analyses that rely on age-at-death. In addition, reconstructions of early diet and life history using an intra-tooth approach circumvent potential problems associated with mortality bias, which may operate strongly during infancy and childhood. We present new intra-tooth stable carbon and nitrogen isotope profiles in dentine collagen of early forming permanent teeth in a sample of adults from the Medieval Nubian site of Kulubnarti. We interpret the profiles in terms of weaning behavior and dietary history, and we compare profiles generated from first molars and canines to explore the degree to which these tooth types correspond. We then compare the profiles to the occurrence of linear enamel hypoplasia to assess the relationship between the timing of the weaning process and stress events. Finally, we compare the longitudinal profiles to cross-sectional stable isotope data obtained from rib collagen to investigate how life histories might differ between those that survived into adulthood and those that did not. Results suggest that canine and first molar profiles are in broad agreement, that hypoplastic stress events occurred during rather than before or after the weaning process in our sample, and that survivors appear to have weaned earlier than the average non-survivor. We suggest that this approach may be useful for addressing the effects of selective mortality on reconstructions of early life history and the relationship between early life history and morbidity.

Continuity and Change in Cranial Morphology of Three Nubian Archaeological Populations

The results of analysis of craniometric variation in Meroitic, X-Group and Christian remains from Wadi Halfa Sudan utilising discriminant function and principal components techniques revealed a general pattern of morphological continuity between the three cultural horizons. These Nubian remains represent a broadly homogeneous population undergoing an evolutionary trend towards facial reduction associated with increasing height and breadth in the cranial vault. This pattern of morphological continuity and change is consistent with the archaeological evidence for in situ cultural evolution.

Racial History and bio-cultural adaptation of Nubian archaeological populations

A principal role of the physical anthropologist has been the analysis of the human skeleton. Such analysis has traditionally utilized similarities in skeletal morphology and, in some instances, hypothetical racial affinities, to establish the biological relationships between populations. Established biological relationships are then assumed to reflect cultural affinities. As a result of this approach to the skeletal remains of Nubian populations, the culture history of Nubia has been explained in terms of type, hybridization, and atavism, rather than the more biologically and culturally meaningful units of variation, evolution and development. Our analysis of skeletal remains associated with Meroitic, X-Group and Christian cultural horizons in Sudanese Nubia has emphasized a bio-cultural approach to detectable patterns of mortality, skeletal growth and pathology. Rather than seeking to reconstruct cultural history from such biological evidence, this approach utilizes independently established evidence of culural adaptation as the principal environmental context within which these biological processes occur. From this conceptual framework, it becomes possible to gain new insight into the biological and cultural dynamics of variation, evolution and development within the Nubian corridor.