American Journal of Physical Anthropology

doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330770301pmid: N/A

Ubelaker, Douglas H.

doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330770302pmid: N/A

Production of the Smithsonian's Handbook of North American Indians has enabled new tribe‐by‐tribe estimates of North American Indian population size. Collectively these data suggest that population numbered about 1,894,350 at about A.D. 1500. Epidemics and other factors reduced this number to only 530,000 by 1900. Modern data suggest that by 1985 population size has increased to over 2.5 million.

Ikoma, Eiki; Kanda, Sanae; Nakata, Shuji; Wada, Yo; Yamazaki, Keisuke

doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330770303pmid: 3228169

Bi‐iliac breadth, the frontal maximum diameter between right and left iliac crests, was measured in 1,547 male and 2,085 female residents of a rural area in Japan. All subjects were over 14 years of age. The bi‐iliac breadth showed an increase related to age but little sex difference. Modification of age and sex variations from the measured value was obtained by calculation of the score, represented by arithmetical means and standard deviations. Distribution of these scores appeared to be binomial, and since binomial distribution approaches normal distribution when n is large, it is presumed that this trait gains normal distribution. Thus variation of bi‐iliac breadth in subjects 20–79 years of age enables us to analyze inheritance.

Pennington, Renee; Harpending, Henry

doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330770304pmid: 3228170

In this paper we develop a model that examines fertility and childhood mortality patterns and their relationship to environmental variables. Interactions among environmental variables can account for different fertility patterns and different mixes of these variables can produce similar patterns of fertility. Our model attempts to quantify the idea that there is a trade‐off between producing a few children likely to survive to reproductive age and producing a greater number of children with lower chances for survival. The optimum mix of these strategies depends on environmental characteristics. We use the model to make predictions about fertility and mortality patterns among two Bushmen populations of southern Africa—the Ghanzi and Ngamiland !Kung—using data collected by Harpending in 1967–1968. The results do not support explanations of the low fertilities observed among !Kung Bushmen women, in whom it is thought that fitness is maximized by limiting fertility, and show no relationship between mortality and family size in either !Kung population. Instead, the number of offspring reaching reproductive age in both populations increases as their completed family size increases.

Gradie, Margaret I.; Jorde, Lynn B.; Bouchard, Gérard

doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330770305pmid: 3067584

The Saguenay is a region in northeastern Québec populated in the second half of the 19th century through migration from other parts of Québec. The present‐day population of nearly 300,000 is the result of both immigration and high rates of intrinsic growth. This population has been of interest to geneticists because of the high incidence of certain hereditary diseases, notably spastic ataxia, tyrosinemia, agenesis of the corpus callosum, vitamin D‐dependent rickets, and myotonic dystrophy.

O'Brien, Elizabeth; Jorde, L. B.; Rönnlöf, Björn; Fellman, Johan O.; Eriksson, Aldur W.

doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330770306pmid: 3067585

Pedigree data are analyzed in order to determine the factors responsible for the high frequencies of certain genetic disorders in an isolated Swedish‐speaking population of Finland's Å land archipelago. The founders of Sottunga are identified, and the genetic contributions of each founder to descending birth cohorts are estimated. Founders born before 1700 have far more descendants in the contemporary gene pool than do more recent founders. However, because of migration and depopulation since 1900, the expected genetic contributions of the early founders to the present‐day population are similar to those of later founders.

Buschang, Peter H.; Tanguay, Richard; Demirjian, Arto; Lapalme, Lise; Goldstein, Harvey

doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330770307pmid: 3067586

Two‐level polynomial models are used to summarize the amount Sella‐Gnathion (S‐Gn) and direction Nasion‐Sella‐Gnathion (N‐S‐Gn) of growth changes for the cephalometric landmark gnathion. Growth descriptions pertain to a mixed longitudinal sample of 209 French‐Canadian children 10–15 years of age. The boy's growth curve attains mean minimum prepubertal velocity at 10.8 years and maximum pubertal velocity at 14.1 years. The girl's curve follows a cubic pattern, attaining maximum pubertal velocity at 12.1 years. Boys are larger than girls throughout the age range. Variation between‐subjects increases with age in a curvilinear fashion. Growth direction of gnathion is more horizontally directed for girls than boys. Small but significant changes in growth direction occur between 10 and 15 years of age.

Reinhard, Karl J.

doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330770308pmid: 3067587

The study of coprolites (desiccated feces) is recognized as a viable method for analyzing parasitism of prehistoric peoples. Eight species of helminth parasites, including nematodes, cestodes, and acanthocephalans, have been recovered from archaeological sites on the Colorado Plateau. The comparative analysis of parasitological findings illustrates the effects of changing subsistence strategies and varying life‐style on prehistoric human parasitism. This comparative study is based on the analysis of coprolites recovered from one Archaic hunter‐gatherer site and two Anasazi agricultural villages. Hunter‐gatherers are represented by coprolites from Dust Devil Cave in southeastern Utah. Coprolites of prehistoric agriculturalists from Antelope House in Canyon de Chelly, Arizona, and from Salmon Ruin in northwestern New Mexico were studied. The results demonstrate that helminth parasitism increased with the advent of agriculture. Between the agricultural sites, differences in patterns of excreta disposal, foraging behavior, and local ecology resulted in pronounced variations in both percentage of coprolites containing parasite remains and the number of parasite species represented.

Stoney, David A.

doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330770309pmid: N/A

The distribution of epidermal ridge minutiae on the distal portion of male human thumbprints has been characterized. For each of 412 thumbprints, a centrally located focal minutia was chosen and neighboring minutiae were sampled. Minutiae were considered to be neighbors if there were no other minutiae appearing in the intervening region defined by the two minutia events and the ridge system. For each neighbor minutia, the total ridge distance between the focal and neighbor minutiae was measured. This distance is the total length of ridges appearing in the intervening region.

Harrison, Mary L.; Tardif, Suzette D.

doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330770310pmid: 3147598

Field studies on callitrichid primates have suggested that some species may exhibit a communal breeding system in which two or more males mate with a single female and cooperatively participate in infant rearing. However, high levels of aggression have been observed between males under both laboratory and field conditions. In avian models for communal breeding, cooperating males are often closely related. In a laboratory test of a hypothesis of the amelioration of aggression based on kinship, four mated pairs of both Saguinus oedipus and Callithrix jacchus were introduced to both novel male conspecifics and to their own male siblings, from whom they had been separated for a minimum of 4 months. Significant differences (P < .01) were seen in the responses of the two species to male conspecifics generally: S. oedipus males responded to intruders with overt aggression significantly more frequently than did marmosets while C. jacchus males more frequently scent‐marked than did tamarins. Evidence of preference for kin males was seen in the significantly decreased frequencies of these behaviors in the presence of kin males over those observed in the presence of novel males. It is argued that, under field conditions, cooperation between male callitrichids may be facilitated by kinship. Further, twin births, short gestation lengths, and interbirth intervals seen in callitrichid primates all contribute to the number of socially familiar kin with which an individual animal might cooperate.