Heterochronicity, the differential rates and timing of growth, development, and maintenance processes in skeletal tissue across the body, forms the basis for implementing life course approaches in bioarchaeology. However, how analyses of disparate regions in the skeleton might be meaningfully integrated in a multi-method framework, and whether patterns observed in one region relate to others in a predictable manner still proves challenging. We analyzed matched rib cross-sections, metacarpal radiograms, and femoral CT scans from n=70 individuals from the Medieval rural Italian site Pieve di Pava (8thcentral Italy, 10th-12th centuries AD). Intraskeletal variation in cortical bone was analyzed across several tissue envelopes within the body in relation to potential predictors, such as sex and age using a multivariate approach. In doing so, we consider how metabolic, endocrine, circulatory, and biomechanical factors may influence the patterns observed in cortical area, by controlling for absolute size differences of the different sample regions, as well as individual body mass. While preliminary results indicate stochastic variation by sex and age groups, this approach provides utility in considering differential experiences, biocultural variability, as well as framing life course studies in a more nuanced manner. The theme of futurisms is addressed multivalently. First, we consider methodological congruities and how sampling across different areas of the body using different methods are assessed together, rather than in isolation, and its impacts on the data produced. Second, our exploration of health in the past can offer further insights on the social determinants of biological outcomes, and inspire potentialities for health in the future.
An analysis of intraskeletal cortical bone indices from Pieve di Pava, Southern Tuscany (Italy, 10-12th centuries)
Riccomi G.;Giuffra V.;Minozzi S.;
2022-01-01
Abstract
Heterochronicity, the differential rates and timing of growth, development, and maintenance processes in skeletal tissue across the body, forms the basis for implementing life course approaches in bioarchaeology. However, how analyses of disparate regions in the skeleton might be meaningfully integrated in a multi-method framework, and whether patterns observed in one region relate to others in a predictable manner still proves challenging. We analyzed matched rib cross-sections, metacarpal radiograms, and femoral CT scans from n=70 individuals from the Medieval rural Italian site Pieve di Pava (8thcentral Italy, 10th-12th centuries AD). Intraskeletal variation in cortical bone was analyzed across several tissue envelopes within the body in relation to potential predictors, such as sex and age using a multivariate approach. In doing so, we consider how metabolic, endocrine, circulatory, and biomechanical factors may influence the patterns observed in cortical area, by controlling for absolute size differences of the different sample regions, as well as individual body mass. While preliminary results indicate stochastic variation by sex and age groups, this approach provides utility in considering differential experiences, biocultural variability, as well as framing life course studies in a more nuanced manner. The theme of futurisms is addressed multivalently. First, we consider methodological congruities and how sampling across different areas of the body using different methods are assessed together, rather than in isolation, and its impacts on the data produced. Second, our exploration of health in the past can offer further insights on the social determinants of biological outcomes, and inspire potentialities for health in the future.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
