An Exploration of Adult Body Shape and Limb Proportions at Kellis 2, Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt (original) (raw)
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Variation in Ancient Egyptian Stature & Body Proportions
Stature and the pattern of body proportions were investigated in a series of six time-successive Egyptian populations in order to investigate the biological effects on human growth of the development and intensification of agriculture, and the formation of state-level social organization. Univariate analyses of variance were performed to assess differences between the sexes and among various time periods. Significant differences were found both in stature and in raw long bone length measurements between the early semipastoral population and the later intensive agricultural population. The size differences were greater in males than in females. This dis-parity is suggested to be due to greater male response to poor nutrition in the earlier populations, and with the increasing development of social hierarchy, males were being provisioned preferentially over females. Little change in body shape was found through time, suggesting that all body segments were varying in size in response to environmental and social conditions. The change found in body plan is suggested to be the result of the later groups having a more tropical (Nilotic) form than the preceding populations. Am
American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2008
Trotter and Gleser's (Trotter and Gleser: Am J Phys Anthropol 10 (1952) 469–514; Trotter and Gleser: Am J Phys Anthropol 16 (1958) 79–123) long bone formulae for US Blacks or derivations thereof (Robins and Shute: Hum Evol 1 (1986) 313–324) have been previously used to estimate the stature of ancient Egyptians. However, limb length to stature proportions differ between human populations; consequently, the most accurate mathematical stature estimates will be obtained when the population being examined is as similar as possible in proportions to the population used to create the equations. The purpose of this study was to create new stature regression formulae based on direct reconstructions of stature in ancient Egyptians and assess their accuracy in comparison to other stature estimation methods. We also compare Egyptian body proportions to those of modern American Blacks and Whites. Living stature estimates were derived using a revised Fully anatomical method (Raxter et al.: Am J Phys Anthropol 130 (2006) 374–384). Long bone stature regression equations were then derived for each sex. Our results confirm that, although ancient Egyptians are closer in body proportion to modern American Blacks than they are to American Whites, proportions in Blacks and Egyptians are not identical. The newly generated Egyptian-based stature regression formulae have standard errors of estimate of 1.9–4.2 cm. All mean directional differences are less than 0.4% compared to anatomically estimated stature, while results using previous formulae are more variable, with mean directional biases varying between 0.2% and 1.1%, tibial and radial estimates being the most biased. There is no evidence for significant variation in proportions among temporal or social groupings; thus, the new formulae may be broadly applicable to ancient Egyptian remains. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Mobility in Ancient Egypt from the shape and strength of the femurs
Anthropological Review, 2021
The aim of the study was to establish the degree of robustness and to infer the level of mobility of a group from ancient Thebes (Middle Egypt). Seventy-one left femurs of adult individuals from the 1st century AD from the tomb of Monthemhat (Luxor) were studied. Metrical, non-metrical variables, shape and size indices of femur were considered. Stature, body mass and Body Mass Index were calculated. All variables showed higher values in males, the vertical diameter of the femoral head was the variable with the highest sexual dimorphism. Non-metric variables also indicated low robustness, with heterogeneous sex distribution. The robustness, pilastric and platymeric indices indicated that the values were close to those of gracile populations in both sexes. Subtrochanteric size and shape showed no sexual dimorphism. The robustness, size and shape in the middle of the diaphysis suggested a mobility related to a daily occupation without intense physical activity in the legs. The results ...
One of the main events in the history of our species has been our expansion out of Africa. A clear signature of this expansion has been found on global patterns of neutral genetic variation, whereby a serial founder effect accompanied the colonization of new regions, in turn creating a within-population decrease in neutral genetic diversity with increasing distance from Africa. This same distinctive pattern has also been described for cranial and dental morphological variation in human populations distributed across the globe. Here, we used a data set of postcranial linear measurements for 30 globally distributed human populations, and a climatic data set of minimum annual temperature, maximum annual temperature, and precipitation in order to separate for the first time the relative effect of neutral demographic processes and climatic selection on four long (limb) bones (femur, tibia, radius, and humerus) versus the pelvic bones of the human appendicular skeleton. We implemented a stepwise regression procedure in which phenotypic variance is assumed to be affected by the iterative founder events that accompanied human expansion from Africa, as well as by climate. This model included, as independent factors, geographic distance from central Africa, the three climatic variables, and all possible interactions between the three climatic variables. We excluded all nonsignificant factors by backward stepwise elimination with the aim of identifying the minimal model significantly explaining variation in the phenotypic data.
2021
Inferences in bioarchaeology and forensic contexts require mathematical stature estimation using long bone lengths. This study is in hand to identify predictors of femur length (FL) from epiphyseal and diaphysial width measurements that are not bound to assumptions of sex or laterality. Both standard and new measurements around dominant foramen nutricium (NF) were collected on modern femora (n=64) from Alexandria university unidentified skeletal Collection to compute linear regression models. Four equations were then validated on Ancient Egyptian sample (n=73) from Goldman’s Osteometric dataset to evaluate effect of sex subdivision on the prediction accuracy of FL and indirect stature estimation using Raxter’s formulae. Most of models reflected significant positive association r\u3e0.60) between width variables and FL. Oddly, the distance from proximal end to NF correlated weakly with FL (r=0.34). The stepwise selected equations preferred measurements around NF to midshaft where the...
Predynastic egyptian stature and physical proportions
Human Evolution, 1986
Predynastie Egyptian stature and physical proportions An attempt has been made to estimate male and female Egyptian stature from long bone length using TROTTER & GLESER negro stature formulae, previous work by the authors having shown that these rather than white formulae give more consistent results with male dynastic material. Evidence is presented that the tibia length should include the spine in the later (1958) formulae and should exclude it in the earlier (1952) formulae. It is also shown that better results are obtained if the constants in the stature formulae are modified so as to conform more exactly with the basic data published by TROTTER & GLESER. When consistency has been achieved in this way, predynastic proportions are founded to be such that distal segments of the limbs are even longer in relation to the proximal segments than they are in modern negroes. Such proportions are termed ~super-negroi&~.
Human Biology, 2020
Inferences in bioarchaeology and forensic contexts require mathematical stature estimation using long bone lengths. This study is in hand to identify predictors of femur length (FL) from epiphyseal and diaphysial width measurements that are not bound to assumptions of sex or laterality. Both standard and new measurements around dominant foramen nutricium (NF) were collected on modern femora (n=64) from Alexandria university unidentified skeletal Collection to compute linear regression models. Four equations were then validated on Ancient Egyptian sample (n=73) from Goldman's Osteometric dataset to evaluate effect of sex subdivision on the prediction accuracy of FL and indirect stature estimation using Raxter's formulae. Most of models reflected significant positive association r>0.
Cross-sectional analysis of long bones in a sample of ancient Egyptians
The Egyptian Journal of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, 2015
Background: As diaphyseal shape is predominantly influenced by mechanical loading history, long bone cross-sections can be used to access activity patterns. The aim of this study was to evaluate long bone cross-sectional properties in a sample of ancient Egyptians from two socioeconomic classes with different habitual activities. Material and methods: The material of the present study consisted of 174 skeletons, 71 Workers and 103 High Officials. Measurements of cross-sectional properties from CT images were taken for humerus, femur, and tibia. Cross-sectional images were obtained in the transverse plane of each bone, perpendicular to both coronal and sagittal planes. Results: Cross-sectional thickness and cortical areas of long bones were higher in male Workers than in male High Officials; the differences were significant in anterior thickness of the femur and total cross-sectional areas of both humerus and tibia, and the cortical area of the tibia. Moreover, female Workers had significantly higher values of humeral medullary area and femoral total and cortical areas than High Officials. Conclusions: Workers had higher level of skeletal robusticity than High Officials which could reflect their higher levels of mobility and physical workload. The study suggests that different activity patterns can significantly affect the bone structure.
Estimating the sex of Ancient Egyptian skeletal remains: Methods from Tell el-Amarna
2020
e objective of this paper is to provide univariate and multivariate metric sex estimation techniques developed and tested specifically on New Kingdom Egyptian skeletal remains, which the literature lacks. ree samples from Tell el-Amarna were used. e South Tombs Cemetery development sample (STCDS n=155; nf=99, nm=56) was used to establish sectioning points for univariate metric standards and multivariate equations using discriminant function analysis (stepwise 0.05 to enter, 0.10 to exit). e sectioning points and equations were tested on the cross-validated development sample and on a random hold-out sample from the South Tombs Cemetery (STCTS n=59; nf=34; nm=25) and the totality of adult individuals with metric data from the North Tombs Cemetery (NTCTS n=70; nf=57; nm=13). Univariate sectioning points identify sex in concordance with sex estimates based on pelvic and cranial morphology in 63.2–89.4% (cross-validated STCDS) of cases. Test samples showed similar levels of concorda...
This paper is the second of two that explore metric sex estimation of ancient Egyptian human skeletons. The purpose of the study is to create metric sex estimation methods that are specific to ancient Egyptians, and to ensure the methods will be of value to other researchers by testing them on a dissimilar sample from the same population. The population-specific methods were created using a reference sample consisting of 318 adult individuals. The majority of individuals were recovered from cemeteries in Giza, which date to the Old Kingdom (n=106) or the Late Period (n=154). In addition, 43 individuals date to Predynastic Period Keneh, 13 individuals to Middle Kingdom Sheikh Farag, and two individuals to Ramesside Period Thebes. Sex was estimated using standard morphological techniques. Discriminant function analysis with a stepwise approach was used to create the metric methods. The test sample consists of the skeletal remains of 119 (81 male, 38 female) adult individuals recovered from the Saqqara-West cemetery site. This site consists of burials dated to both the late Old Kingdom (n=28) and the Ptolemaic Period (n=91). The results of this test demonstrate that a number of the population-specific methods presented herein might be of value to other researchers working in Egypt, provided their sample derives from the same time period(s) and geographic locations as the reference and test samples used in this study.