Sébastien Villotte

Subsistence activities and the sexual division of labor in the European Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic: evidence from upper limb enthesopathies.

Studies of cultural artifacts and faunal remains from European Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic sites indicate a shift in hunter gatherer subsistence strategies, involving an intensification and diversification of resource exploitation relative to earlier foragers during the Tardiglacial and Postglacial periods. This trend has been recognized as well through the analysis of non-pathological skeletal adaptations of the upper limbs of European Upper Paleolithic human fossils. These paleoanthropological studies of adaptive bone modeling also raise the question of female use of throwing-based weapon technology in the Upper Paleolithic. Here, we studied another type of osteological marker of activity, enthesopathies, of the upper limb remains of 37 European Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic human fossils, with the goal of testing two hypotheses: 1) that activity levels were heightened at the end of Upper Paleolithic and into the Mesolithic relative to earlier foragers of the Gravettian, and 2) that there was an absence of a marked sexual division of labor in European hunter-gatherers during this time span. Our results are consistent with the first hypothesis; upper limb enthesopathies are significantly less frequent in the Gravettian group, but raise doubts about the second hypothesis. Four males exhibit lesions that can be confidently associated with throwing activities, while no females exhibit such lesions.

The Coimbra Workshop in Musculoskeletal Stress Markers (MSM): an annotated review

The Workshop in Musculoskeletal Stress Markers (MSM): limitations and achievements in the reconstruction of past activity patterns, was held at the University of Coimbra, in Portugal (2 nd-3 rd July 2009). The chief goal of the organizing committee was to provide a productive environment where researchers could discuss the methodologies and terminology employed for the study of MSM as well as assessing how well these enthesopathies serve as markers of occupational stress. The Workshop was organized in three major sessions, each one introduced by a keynote lecture: (1) Methodological issues; (2) MSM studies of archaeological samples and Identified Skeletal Collections; and (3) The multifactorial etiology of enthesopathies. The meeting was concluded with a Plenary Session where two annotators discussed the presentations; this was followed by a general discussion and the formation of three working groups focused on the topics of Methods, Terminology, and Occupations. Details of the Workshop and the presentations presented are available for download at) was created to facilitate communications about individual experiences and to share knowledge among researchers in this field. We hope that this Workshop will help to standardize methodologies and terminology and promote the creation of a more integrated scientific approach to future studies of MSM.

In search of consensus: Terminology for entheseal changes (EC)

This article presents a consensus terminology for entheseal changes that was developed in English by an international team of scholars and then translated into French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and German. Use of a standard, neutral terminology to describe entheseal morphology will reduce misunderstandings between researchers, improve the reliability of comparisons between studies, and eliminate unwarranted etiological assumptions inherent in some of the descriptive terms presently used in the literature.

External auditory exostoses and hearing loss in the Shanidar 1 Neandertal

The Late Pleistocene Shanidar 1 older adult male Neandertal is known for the crushing fracture of his left orbit with a probable reduction in vision, the loss of his right forearm and hand, and evidence of an abnormal gait, as well as probable diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis. He also exhibits advanced external auditory exostoses in his left auditory meatus and larger ones with complete bridging across the porus in the right meatus (both Grade 3). These growths indicate at least unilateral conductive hearing (CHL) loss, a serious sensory deprivation for a Pleistocene hunter-gatherer. This condition joins the meatal atresia of the Middle Pleistocene Atapuerca-SH Cr.4 in providing evidence of survival with conductive hearing loss (and hence serious sensory deprivation) among these Pleistocene humans. The presence of CHL in these fossils thereby reinforces the paleobiological and archeological evidence for supporting social matrices among these Pleistocene foraging peoples.

In situ study of the Gravettian individual from Cussac cave, locus 2 (Dordogne, France)

OBJECTIVES Cussac cave, discovered in 2000, is characterized by the exceptional presence of monumental engravings and human remains deposited in bear nests. Both the style of the art and a direct radiocarbon date indicate a Gravettian age. As the cave is protected as a national heritage site, only very limited access to and restricted direct interventions involving the human remains are possible. Here, we present the results of observations and measurements of Cussac L2A, represented by a virtually complete skeleton covered with a layer of clay. MATERIALS AND METHODS A portion of the clay that covered some bones was removed in order to undertake a study of the skeleton in situ. The age-at-death was assessed using several indicators, especially changes on the auricular surface of the ilium. The sex was assessed using the morphology and morphometrics of the coxal bones. Cussac L2A stature, humero-femoral index, and crural index were also estimated. The dimensions of the Cussac L2A skeletal remains are compared with the other European Gravettian and Late Upper Paleolithic human remains using adjusted Z-Scores. RESULTS The analysis indicates that Cussac L2A is probably a male who died aged between 20 and 50 years. If the sex assessment is correct, with an averaged estimated stature of 1.64 m, Cussac L2A would be one of the shorter Gravettian males. DISCUSSION These results raise the importance of the new discoveries to better understand the variability of Upper Paleolithic skeletal morphology and stress the difficulties in marrying heritage preservation and scientific investigations.

The new Coimbra method for recording entheseal changes and the effect of age-at-death

Entheseal changes have been widely used in anthropology to study activity patterns, but there is an increasing awareness that ageing is associated with these changes. The aim of this study was to test each feature of the new Coimbra method for its variability, side asymmetry and its relationship with age. In addition to this, an overall relationship with age was tested for a larger sample. Males 16 and over from the Coimbra skeletal collection of historically identified individuals were recorded using the new method (N = 260). To reduce the impact of occupation, side variability in asymmetry and age were only tested in the labourers (N = 51). All occupation groups were included to test the overall relationship with age using a random forest test. The results show that scores lack variability for many of the features and entheses. Where there is side asymmetry this is typically in favour of higher scores in the right side, excepting the biceps brachii insertion. Most of the features scored show a relationship with ageing, but this is not uniform for all features or entheses. Some features are associated with an increase in age (bone formation and erosions), while others generally occur in younger individuals (fine porosity and textural change). Logistic regression showed that ageing explains at most 44% of the variability. This alongside the side asymmetry may indicate that biomechanics has an explanatory role.RésuméLes changements au niveau des enthèses ont été largement utilisés en anthropologie biologique pour discuter des patterns d’activités, malgré les études de plus en plus fréquentes associant ces changements principalement au vieillissement. L’objectif de cette étude est d’illustrer, pour chacune des modifications enregistrées avec la nouvelle méthode de Coimbra, la distribution générale des scores, l’asymétrie et leur relation à l’âge. Une étude plus globale sur l’effet du vieillissement a également été menée. L’analyse porte sur un échantillon de squelettes de sujets masculins décédés à 16 ans ou plus issus de la collection de squelettes identifiés de Coimbra (n = 260). Pour réduire l’influence de l’activité physique, seuls les sujets avec la profession de « trabalhador » (travailleur) ont été utilisés dans les tests sur l’asymétrie et l’âge (n = 51). Pour l’étude globale sur l’effet du vieillissement, toutes les professions ont été incluses dans une analyse utilisant les forêts aléatoires. Les résultats montrent que la variabilité des scores est faible pour la plupart des changements et des enthèses. Il existe une asymétrie assez claire avec des scores plus élevés du côté droit, sauf pour l’insertion du biceps brachii. La plupart des changements enregistrés présentent une corrélation positive avec l’âge au décès, sans toutefois être systématiques pour tous les changements ou toutes les enthèses considérées. Certains changements sont plus fréquents chez les sujets âgés (formation osseuse, érosion), alors que d’autres se retrouvent plus souvent chez les jeunes sujets (porosité fine et changement mineur de surface). Une régression logistique montre que le vieillissement explique au mieux 44 % de la variabilité perçue. Cela, ainsi que l’asymétrie directionnelle observée, pourrait indiquer que les phénomènes biomécaniques jouent un rôle dans l’apparition de ces changements.

Palaeopathological diagnosis of spondyloarthropathies: Insights from the biomedical literature

In palaeopathology, the diagnosis of spondyloarthropathies traditionally relies on the association of three types of skeletal lesions: erosive and proliferative modifications of the sacroiliac joint, formation of vertebral syndesmophytes and erosive and proliferative changes in peripheral joints. These conditions can therefore be recognised only in well-preserved skeletons that exhibit the most typical pattern of lesions. In order to develop additional criteria for the diagnosis of spondyloarthropathies, a literature survey was conducted as a preliminary step by comparing biomedical data with the palaeopathological literature. We point out musculoskeletal changes and localisations rarely, if ever, used for identification of spondyloarthropathies in skeletal material. Whereas a specific focus has been put on entheseal changes encountered in spondyloarthropathies, the results highlight skeletal changes that may contribute to the diagnosis of the spondyloarthropathies from osseous remains such as erosive lesions of the temporomandibular joint and erosive changes of entheses in the pectoral girdle. Recording of these lesions in future studies of archaeological samples would contribute to discussions of their diagnostic relevance.

Données quantitatives en anthropologie biologique : regards croisés.

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Réévaluation du sexe et de l’âge au décès du sujet azilien Le Peyrat 5, Saint-Rabier (Dordogne, France)

RésuméCette note propose une réévaluation de la diagnose sexuelle et de la détermination de l’âge au décès de l’individu azilien Le Peyrat 5 (LP5) [Dordogne, France] daté directement à 11430 ± 150 BP (GifA-99117; 13566–13017 cal. BP) à partir de méthodes fiables appliquées à l’os coxal. Cette étude confirme que le squelette LP5 est celui d’un homme adulte vraisemblablement décédé entre 30 et 49 ans. La détermination fiable du sexe de vestiges du Paléolithique supérieur est notamment importante pour la construction d’un corpus de référence visant à mieux appréhender le dimorphisme sexuel extra-pelvien des individus de cette période.AbstractThis note proposes reassessment of the sex and age-at-death of the Azilian individual Le Peyrat 5 (Dordogne, France) directly dated to 11,430 ± 150 BP (GifA- 99117; 13,566–13,017 cal. BP) using reliable methods applied to the os coxae. This study confirms that the Le Peyrat 5 skeleton is that of an adult male who was between 30 and 49 years of age at death. Reliable sex determination is especially important for the construction of a reference corpus of Upper Paleolithic individuals which permits a better appreciation of extra-pelvic sexual dimorphism of individuals dating from these periods.

Présentation de l’enquête 2014 concernant la Société d’Anthropologie de Paris (SAP)

Cette enquête a été réalisée pendant un mois, du 4 novembre au 4 décembre 2014, sur la base d’un questionnaire préparé au cours de plusieurs réunions du Conseil d’Administration ; la première partie, consacrée au profil des répondants, reprenait les items de l’enquête réalisée en 2004 [1]. Ce questionnaire (cf. annexe) était disponible en ligne sur internet, accessible depuis la page d’accueil du site internet de la SAP. L’annonce et les informations concernant cette enquête ont été envoyées par email à l’ensemble des membres de la SAP. Il leur était demandé de diffuser le questionnaire le plus largement possible, notamment aux non-membres. Les résultats sont présentés au moyen de statistiques descriptives et sont comparés, lorsque cela est possible, à ceux de l’enquête de 2004.