Asymmetry in context: Examining heterogeneity in femoral cross-sectional geometry at Medieval Pieve di Pava (Tuscany, Italy).

Cross-sectional geometry (CSG) studies yield important insights into past people’s behavior, labor practices, limb use, and mobility. Here we aimed to identify the relationship between biocultural factors, such as sex-gender and age, with cross-sectional geometry in the femur and historical evidence about labor and activity at the rural Medieval site of Pieve di Pava in Tuscany, Italy. CSG from 110 individuals’ femurs was used to examine trends in bone quantity, shape, and bending strength and rigidity between and among age and sex groups, as well as in emergent clusters identified through Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA). We found that population-level analyses of cross-sectional geometry data obscured within-group differences and variation, especially for bilateral asymmetry. Overall, our study sample showed remarkable heterogeneity, especially amongst males and our HCA revealed that males can be more precisely described in terms of three distinctive groups, possibly indicating that males had more specialized behavior or differential participation in physical activities. Females had less heterogeneity and were more similar to each other, suggesting females were “generalists” in their physical activities. Our results suggest that males had more varied experiences of labor and work during their lives and emphasize the importance of carefully considering asymmetry in Medieval populations. Gender roles and norms for men in Medieval Europe, particularly Medieval Italy, were more heterogeneous and these differences likely influence the divergent trends we see in their cross-sectional geometry.