Mobility in Central European Late Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age: Femoral cross-sectional geometry (original) (raw)
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Mobility in Central European Late Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age: tibial cross-sectional geometry
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2006
An absence of settlement features during the Central European Corded Ware period (Late Eneolithic, 2900e2300 BC) has been interpreted as a reflection of mobile pastoral subsistence. Recent analyses of the Late Eneolithic archeological context reveal that the Late Eneolithic exhibit evidence of sedentary agricultural activities similar to the Early Bronze Age. Since the archeological analyses are not clear cut, we tested mobility pattern differences between the Late Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age using biomechanical analysis of the tibial midshaft cross-sections. The total sample of the 130 tibiae representing five archaeological cultures was used. The results of the tibial midshaft geometry do not support the hypothesis about different mobility in the Late Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age. This conclusion is supported by nonsignificant differences between the Corded Ware females and the Early Bronze Age females. Higher absolute values for the Corded Ware males should be explained either by stochastic variation or by differing amounts of physical demands despite a generally similar pattern of subsistence of the Late Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age. One of the Early Bronze Age samples, the Wieselburger group, is an exception because the individuals show both reduced overall size and bending resistance of the tibial parameters not only in comparison with the Late Eneolithic but also to the rest of the Early Bronze Age. The results suggest that the behavioral processes which affected the tibial midshaft biology operated during the Late Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age as a mosaic across time and between/within cultures.
Central Europe is a region with a rich agricultural history that dates back to the emergence of the first Neolithic cultures here during the second part of the 6th millennium BC. The effects of prolonged cultural change on the skeletal morphology of agricultural populations in this region have not yet been fully reported. This study investigates diachronic trends in lower limb cross-sectional geometry among preindustrial Central Europeans spanning over 6000 years from the initial spread of agriculture in the region (~5300 cal BC) to the Early Medieval (~850 AD). Midshaft diaphyseal cross-sectional geometric (CSG) properties were derived from 443 three-dimensional laser scans of femora and tibiae. Results documented temporal change that was particularly pronounced in the tibia relative to the femur, indicative of declining compressional strength (males), bending and torsional rigidity (males), and increasingly more circular cross-sections (both sexes). When examined chronologically by cemetery, a major shift towards lower tibial rigidity was identified in the Late Bronze Age among males, after which time sexual dimorphism also declined. Regional variation in tibial rigidity was identified among males, being consistently low in males from modern-day Vojvodina (Serbia) relative to contemporaneous males elsewhere in Central Europe. In contrast, female temporal trends by cemetery were indicative of progressive but gradual declines in tibial loading. Results report systematic change in lower limb crosssectional geometry among preindustrial Central European agriculturalists that are likely indicative of declining terrestrial mobility through 6000þ years of cultural change in the region.
"This study investigates the relationships between lower limb robusticity and mobility in a Neolithic sample (LIG) from Italy (6th millennium BP). This study tests the hypothesis that the high femoral robusticity previously observed in the LIG sample is a consequence of the subsistence strategy (i.e., high mobility on uneven terrain) practiced by LIG. Cross-sectional geometric properties of the femur and tibia at midshaft of LIG (eight males and eight females) were collected and results compared to Late Upper Paleolithic (12 males, five females), Mesolithic (24 males, 8 females), and Eneolithic (28 males, 17 females) samples from other sites throughout Europe. The results show that the LIG sample does not show the reduction of lower limb robusticity that is characteristic of the Eneolithic sample, but rather that the LIG sample is most similar to the earlier, highly mobile, populations. This high level of robusticity in the LIG sample could reflect both their pastoral subsistence strategy combined with a rugged environment, as well as their earlier temporal position within the Neolithic. The results of this study further point to significant variation in male-female mobility patterns in the region, also possibly related to pastoral behavioral patterns."
Long bones respond to mechanical loading through functional adaptation in a suite of morphological characteristics that together ensure structural competence to in vivo loading. As such, adult bone structure is often used to make inferences about past behavior from archaeological remains. However, such biomechanical approaches often investigate change in just one aspect of morphology, typically cross-sectional morphology or trabecular structure. The relationship between longitudinal bone curvature and mobility patterns is less well understood, particularly in the tibia, and it is unknown how tibial curvature and diaphyseal cross-sectional geometry interact to meet the structural requirements of loading. This study examines tibial curvature and its relationship with diaphyseal crosssectional geometry (CSG) and body size in preindustrial Central Europeans spanning 6150 years following the introduction of agriculture in the region. Anteroposterior centroid displacement from the proximo-distal longitudi-
2011
Previous research on the transition from hunting and gathering to production economy has suggested some general trends in past populations, i.e. decreased diaphyseal robusticity, increased cross-sectional circularity and decreased sexual dimorphism in the lower limb bones (femur and tibia), generally explained as a consequence of decreased levels of mobility. Previous results from the study of the Ligurian Neolithic populations from North-Western Italy (6th millennium BP) provide an exception to these trends. In particular, the Ligurian Neolithic lower limb robusticity and diaphyseal shape reflect high levels of terrestrial mobility throughout a rugged terrain. These results argue in favour of the growing consensus that the Neolithic transition was a region-specific process. In this work we expand the sample to include remains from caves from the same area, all within the same pastoral system, and extend the analysis to include the fibula. These new results show that the diaphyseal morphology of the Ligurian sample is more similar to highly mobile European Late Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic populations. Furthermore, the degree of sexual dimorphism for mechanical properties indicates behavioural differences between sexes, with males being more mobile than females. The results found here also indicate that inclusion of the fibula may contribute to a better understanding of past population mobility especially when it is considered in association with the tibia.
The Influence of Body Proportions on Femoral and Tibial Midshaft Shape in Hunter-Gatherers
American Journal of Physical Anthropology
"Variation in femoral and tibial diaphyseal shape is used as an indicator of adaptation to patterns of terrestrial mobility. Recent experimentation has implied that lower limb diaphyseal shape may be primarily influenced by lower limb length, and less so by mobility patterns. If valid, this would, at most, render previous interpretations of mobility patterns based on analyses of diaphyseal shape questionable, and, at least, require additional standardization that considers the influence of limb length. Although the consequences could be profound, this implication has yet to be directly tested. Additionally, the influence of body breadth on tibial shape (and to a lesser extent femoral shape) remains uncertain. Tibial and femoral cross-sectional midshaft shape measurements, taken from nine Pleistocene and Holocene skeletal populations, were compared against lower limb length, limb segment length, and bi-iliac breadth. Generally, limb length and limb segment length do not significantly influence femoral or tibial midshaft shape. After controlling for body mass greater bi-iliac breadth is associated with a relative mediolateral strengthening of the femoral midshaft, while the influence of a wider body shape (BIB/length) is associated with a relative M-L strengthening of the tibia and femur of males, and the tibia of females. We conclude that; (1) mechanical interpretations of lower limb diaphyseal shape are most parsimonious due to the lack of evidence for a consistent relationship between segment length and shape; however, (2) further work is required to investigate the influence of bi-iliac breadth on both femoral and tibial midshaft shape."
2014
In this chapter we investigate the lower limb structural rigidity (using cross-sectional geometric properties of the diaphyseal midshaft) within a sample of 124 individuals from the Late Upper Paleolithic, Neolithic and Iron Age from Italy, Medieval Germany, and twenty-first Century Britain (long distance runners, field hockey players, and sedentary controls). Late Upper Paleolithic, Neolithic and Iron Age samples were settled in rugged areas, whereas the other samples inhabited plain areas. The aim of this study is to assess whether fibular diaphyseal properties reflect mobility patterns or terrain properties in past populations. Both fibular rigidity and relative fibular rigidity ratio (fibula/tibia) have been analyzed. Results reveal that Late Upper Paleolithic, Neolithic and Iron Age samples show high fibular rigidity and have values of relative fibular rigidity that are most similar to modern hockey players. The relative fibular diaphyseal rigidity of hockey players has been previously explained as the consequence of their dynamic and repetitive change of direction. Late Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic individuals are thought to have been highly terrestrially mobile, while Iron Age people were probably fairly sedentary. However, all of the three groups lived in areas of uneven terrain. We concluded that fibular rigidity and relative fibular rigidity are influenced by factorsthat increase foot eversion/inversion such as frequent directional changes and uneven terrain. The results of this study suggest that inclusion of the fibula provides a valuable additional perspective that complements traditional predictions of mobility patterns based on the femur or the tibia alone.
Despite the potential of a biocultural methodology, osteology and archaeology are often approached separately in some parts of Central Europe. This osteoarchaeological thesis presents a rare comparative study of populations occupying modern-day Slovakia, Moravia, and Bohemia from the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age (EBA). By examining skeletal indicators of health and lifestyle, it aims to contribute to bioarchaeological research within the study region. It also provides new insights into a series of important sites where no osteological evaluation of skeletal remains have previously been performed. Human remains from thirty-four sites in Slovakia, Moravia and Bohemia, 152 adults and 136 subadults, were analysed. Demographic, pathological and metric data were recorded and evaluated, and compared with previously published data for contemporaneous populations in order to create a more comprehensive representation of the populations in the area. The results suggest several differences between the Neolithic and the following periods, mostly as regards health status. Higher dietary and environmental stress was indicated in the Neolithic period, as suggested by lower mortality peak (especially of females and subadults) and about 5 cm shorter stature, and generally worse health status of Neolithic population when compared to the Chalcolithic and EBA individuals. The Neolithic is also the only period where females were more numerous than males. Such a trend is quite common in the Neolithic of the study region. This may be a result of increased migration of Neolithic females, as raids for wives are suggested to have been practiced. As indicated by both the osteological and archaeological record, one of the sites examined, Svodín, could have been a site of contemporary elites and their family members. Chalcolithic populations revealed differences in cranial shape, being mesocephalic (medium-headed) or brachycephalic (short-headed), whereas both the Neolithic and the EBA populations were dolichocephalic (long-headed). Differences in male and female cranial features suggest a possible mixing of indigenous and incoming populations. Such results may contribute to the ongoing discussion about the ‘foreignness‘ of Chalcolithic Bell Beaker people in the area. Traumatic lesions suggest that males were more physically active than females in all three periods, including violent encounters. Even though violence was recorded in all three periods, especially in the western part of the region, and the intensity and brutality of the assaults appears to increase in the Chalcolithic and culminating in the EBA. In addition, poorer health status of EBA children was recorded, possibly related to more marked social differentiation in the period. In general, poorer health was implied for the prehistoric populations of today’s Slovakia. The results of this study can serve as the basis for future research and contribute to a more comprehensive image of lifestyle and development of prehistoric populations in the study area.
Lower limb biomechanics and habitual mobility among mid-Holocene populations of the Cis-Baikal
The mid-Holocene hunteregatherer populations of the Cis-Baikal represent long-term occupation by the Early Neolithic Kitoi Culture (6800e4900 B.C.) and the Middle Neolithic and Bronze Age Isakovo, Serovo and Glazkovo (ISG) cultures (4200e1000 B.C.). While there is considerable evidence for cultural and genetic discontinuity between these populations, differences in habitual activity between these periods remain poorly understood. The current study uses cross sectional geometric (CSG) properties of the femur and tibia in the lower limb, to investigate variation in mechanical loading and terrestrial loco-motion between the Kitoi and ISG cultural groups. The results demonstrate a significant decrease in femoral rigidity and a trend towards more circular femoral diaphyses among the later ISG groups which suggests that there was a significant decrease in terrestrial mobility across this transition. This trend is accompanied by significant declines in tibial rigidity among females, resulting in greater sexual dimor-phism among the ISG than the Kitoi. This indicates a shift towards a sexual division of labour which involved greater sedentism of the ISG than Kitoi women. Overall, the results suggest that shifts in habitual activity throughout the mid-Holocene of the Cis-Baikal involved both increased sedentism, and an increase in sexual differences in logistical mobility.