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Arriaza, Bernardo T.; Merbs, Charles F.; Rothschild, Bruce M.
doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330920302pmid: 8291616
The paleopathological study of human osteological remains from the site of Semna South, of northern Sudan, revealed that about thirteen percent of this ancient Nubian population had diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH). As in modern cases, males were more affected than females. Two thousand years ago, ancient Nubian males had the same spinal problems elderly men have today. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330920303pmid: 8291617
Examination of five central Gulf Coast Florida archaeological skeletal series (n = 547) from the late prehistoric and early historic periods reveals the presence of pathological lesions characteristic of treponemal infection. These skeletal remains of native American populations represent a crucial time regarding hypotheses about the exchange of syphilis between the Old and New World or the mutation of one treponemal infection into another. Comparison of the lesions with those observed in modern studies of treponemal infection does not support an interpretation of veneral syphilis. The data from this study and from other archaeological skeletal series indicate the presence of a treponemal disease prior to European contact. The skeletal elements from Florida do not suggest that the disease changed dramatically following contact with Europeans. It is possible that cases of nonspecific postcranial pathology can be explained by the presence of this disease in the Florida populations. This study indicates that a treponemal disease was endemic throughout the region by at least A. D. 1000. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Paoli, Giorgio; Tarli, Silvana M. Borgognini; Klír, Premysl; Strouhal, Eugen; Tofanelli, Sergio; Del Santo Valli, Maria T.; Pavelcová, Bela
doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330920304pmid: 8291618
A paleoserological study of human remains from the Christian cemeteries of Sayala (Lower Nubia, 6th–11th centuries A. D.) was carried out by applying two techniques (absorption‐elution and haemagglutination‐inhibition), on two types of substratum (bones and hair), in separate laboratories (Pisa and Prague). The aim of research was to evaluate the degree of repeatability of the results and the reliability of the final paleoserological diagnoses. The results indicated different degrees of repeatability depending on the differential sensitivity of the two techniques and on the nature of the substratum. The frequencies of concordant and discordant final diagnoses within and between the two laboratories and by the two methods were significantly different from those expected under the conditions of random distribution, indicating a consistency in results from different laboratories and methods. The reliability of the resulting gene and phenotype distributions is also supported by their consistency both with the theoretical Hardy‐Weinberg equilibrium and with the present distribution of the ABO gene frequencies in Egyptian, Sudanese, and Nubian populations. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Little, Michael A.; Gray, Sandra J.; Leslie, Paul W.
doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330920305pmid: 8291619
Turkana tribespeople reside in a semi‐arid savanna ecosystem in northwest Kenya. For over a decade, Ngisonyoka Turkana nomads have been studied within a multidisciplinary framework that embraces ecology, anthropology, and human population biology. Original research objectives of the South Turkana Ecosystem Project were to study nomads longitudinally and within the context of the dry savanna ecosystem. These objectives have been expanded to incorporate settled Turkana who were nomads in the recent past, but who, for a variety of reasons, have taken up a life of sedentary cultivation.
doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330920306pmid: 8291620
A new partial skeleton of Proconsul nyanzae from Mfangano Island, Kenya (KNM‐MW 13142) includes five lumbar vertebrae, a partial sacrum, and nearly complete hipbone. Until recently, little was known of the axial and pelvic skeletons of Proconsul, or any early Miocene hominoid. Because torso morphology directly reflects locomotor behavior, these elements provide important new information about posture and locomotion of P. nyanzae. Two basic patterns of locomotor behavior and corresponding torso morphology exist among extant anthropoids. Monkeys have long, flexible spines with powerful epaxial muscles and mediolaterally narrow thoraces. This morphology represents a response to the mechanical requirements of habitual pronograde quadrupedalism. In contrast, hominoids, particularly great apes, have shorter, stiffer spines and broader torsos than do monkeys. The hominoid pattern reflects an emphasis on forelimb abduction‐adduction, and on stability and control of the lower back during forelimb‐dominated arboreal locomotion. KNM‐MW 13142 had craniocaudally elongate vertebral bodies, and probably six lumbar vertebrae, reflecting a long, flexible vertebral column. The narrow, laterally facing iliac blades of KNM‐MW 13142 imply the presence of a mediolaterally narrow, dorsoventrally deep thorax. Its wide iliac tuberosities, ventrally located lumbar transverse processes, and distinct accessory processes suggest that Proconsul nyanzae also had strap‐like epaxial muscles similar to those characterizing most monkeys. Axial and pelvic morphology of KNM‐MW 13142 indicate that P. nyanzae had not undergone an ape‐like rearrangement of its torso to adapt to forelimb‐dominated arboreality. Instead, P. nyanzae probably retained a more primitive pattern of pronograde quadrupedalism. This morphology indicates that the extant hominoid pattern of torso anatomy arose subsequent to the establishment of the hominid clade. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Benefit, Brenda R.; McCrossin, Monte L.
doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330920307pmid: 8291621
Recently discovered Craniofacial fossils of the middle Miocene cercopithecoid Victoriapithecus are described. The frontal, zygomatic, maxilla, and premaxilla anatomy differ from the previously proposed colobine‐like ancestral cercopithecoid morphotype in several significant respects. This morphotype was based on the assumption that features held in common by subordinate hominoid and cercopithecoid morphotypes (Colobinae and Hylobatidae) are primitive for Old World monkeys. Cranial similarities between Victoriapithecus, which represents the sister‐group of both colobine and cercopithecone monkeys, and the shorter‐snouted Cercopithecinae (Macaca and Cercopithecus) indicate that the last common ancestor of Old World monkeys possessed the following features: a narrow interorbital septum, moderately long snout, moderately long and anteriorly tapering premaxilla, large procumbent upper central incisors set anterior to and with longer roots than lateral incisors, moderately tall face below the orbits, teardrop‐shaped nasal aperture of low height and moderate width, and probably long and narrow nasal bones. The Victoriapithecus cranium is also characterized by features not present in modern cercopithecids. These include a deep malar region of the zygomatic and the presence of a frontal trigon due to the occurrence of temporal lines that merge with supraorbital costae close to the midline of each orbit and converge anterior to bregma. These features are interpreted as primitive retentions from the basal catarrhine condition as indicated by the occurrence of these features among primitive catarrhines (Aegyptopithecus) and Miocene hominoids (Afropithecus). © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Corner, Brian D.; Richtsmeier, Joan T.
doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330920308pmid: 8291622
With the exception of the work of Schultz (1960), cranial growth in Ateles is not well documented. This paper describes the results of a detailed quantitative study of cranial ontogeny in male and female Ateles geoffroyi. Using Euclidean Distance Matrix Analysis (EDMA), local areas of form change due to growth within spider monkey crania are identified. We found substantial change local to the zygomatic region in the face, identified mediolaterally directed changes in the palate, detected relatively larger amounts of change local to the anterior neurocranium compared to the posterior neurocranium, and demonstrate a greater amount of basicranial growth along a mediolateral axis than previously reported. Cranial sexual dimorphism is also examined. A. geoffroyi is noted for being monomorphic, and we found a general similarity between male and female cranial forms at all developmental ages. However, differences in overall cranial size between the sexes were found in the oldest subadult age group but not between male and female adults. This difference suggests that A. geoffroyi females attain their adult cranial form slightly before males and implies a pattern of earlier onset of female maturity relative to males. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Sciulli, Paul W.; Giesen, Myra J.
doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330920309pmid: 8291623
We present regression equations to estimate skeletal height and stature for prehistoric Native Americans of Ohio. The regression equations are based on skeletal height as the dependent variable and various postcranial elements and combinations of elements as the independent variables. A total of 171 individuals, 95 males and 76 females, make up the sample.
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