Bioarchaeological Evidence for the Basis of Small Adult Stature in Southern Africa

Pfeiffer, Susan; Harrington, Lesley

doi:10.1086/659452

Cited by 31 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Small adult stature is thus the result of slow growth rates and not stunting (Harrington & Pfeiffer, 2008;Pfeiffer & Harrington, 2010). Therefore, it seems likely that the small body size and short stature of the Khoesan is not the result of early maturation as seen in the African pygmy groups but characteristic of a group whose genetic potential and adaptation for growth and adult stature were established as early as the Holocene (Pfeiffer & Harrington, 2011;Pfeiffer, 2012). The growth of the subadults resulting in petite adult statures observed in this study is most likely due to a combination of genes and physiological stress.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 66%

A Palaeopathological Assessment of the Late 19th and Early 20th Century Khoesan

Botha

Steyn

2014

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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Since the arrival of Dutch colonists in the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, Khoesan populations were subjected to severe political and economic marginalisation and often fell prey to racial conflict. These circumstances persisted until the early 20th century, during which an astonishing number of Khoesan skeletons were transported from South Africa to various locations in Europe, as at the time, different institutions competed to obtain these remains. The purpose of this study was to assess the health status of the late 19th and early 20th century Khoesan. Skeletal remains housed in two different European institutions were studied. The sample comprised 140 specimens from the Rudolf Pöch Skeletal Collection in Vienna, Austria, and 15 specimens from the Musée de l'Homme in Paris, France. These individuals represent both sexes and were aged between newborn and 75 years, with 54 being younger than 20 years of age. Results indicated high levels of typical disease conditions associated with groups under stress, such as periostitis, cribra orbitalia and porotic hyperostosis. Treponemal disease, rickets, osteoarthritis and trauma were also encountered amongst other more specific indicators of health and disease. This study provided additional knowledge on the health status and lives of the Khoesan people during this turbulent period and created new awareness regarding a group of severely mistreated individuals.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 66%

A Palaeopathological Assessment of the Late 19th and Early 20th Century Khoesan

Botha

Steyn

2014

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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“…One such study explored the evolution of small body size in hunter‐gatherers from South Africa to understand whether this morphotype was attributable to an earlier achievement of adult body size . Adult body size in the South African sample was achieved close to age of sexual maturation in living populations with higher levels of subadult mortality.…”

Section: Bioarchaeological Approachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The modal periodicity of striae of Retzius in human populations is 7-8 days. 97,98 These structures along with knowledge of cusp formation and crown initiation times provide anthropologists with a developmental clock of tooth formation. Importantly, striae of Retzius outcrop onto the labial surface of teeth as perikymata.…”

Section: Crypt Fenestration Enamel Defectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bioarchaeological evidence for adaptive plasticity and constraint: Exploring life‐history trade‐offs in the human past

Temple

2018

Evolutionary Anthropology

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The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease paradigm evaluates the consequences of early life stress on health at later stages of life. Interacting with this paradigm represents a profound opportunity to leverage the lifespan and contextual approaches to human skeletal remains adopted by bioarchaeological research. Teeth and bone provide evidence for stressors experienced early in life. These events represent evidence for adaptive plasticity as Individuals survive the events through reallocation of energy to essential physiological functions, which inhibits enamel and skeletal growth. Age‐at‐death, adult body size, chronic infection, or childhood mortality may be used as covariates to better understand the physiological constraints operating on individual bodies following survival of early life stress. Contextual evidence from cemeteries provides clues to the ecological and cultural contingencies that exacerbate or mitigate the expression of these trade‐offs. Future studies should incorporate newly derived methods that provide reproducible and precise ways to evaluate early life stress, while incorporating populations that are often neglected.

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“…Although it has been argued that the unique biological attributes of the Khoesan are a Holocene development (Morris, ), the dearth of skeletal remains from the Late Pleistocene makes it difficult to trace when this small bodied pattern arose. Comparably small remains are present at Middle Stone Age sites such as Klasies River (Rightmire and Deacon, ; Pfeiffer and Harrington, ). Other specimens from this time period are average sized and even large, however, indicating morphological variability in pre‐Holocene populations (Pfeiffer, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Terminal Pleistocene Later Stone Age Human Remains from the Mlambalasi Rock Shelter, Iringa Region, Southern Tanzania

Sawchuk

Willoughby

2013

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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This paper introduces research at the Mlambalasi rock shelter in the Iringa Region of southern Tanzania. The deposits are composed of a historic and Iron Age occupation, a microlithic Holocene Later Stone Age (LSA), and then a macrolithic Late Pleistocene LSA. Middle Stone Age deposits are also present on the slope in front of the rock shelter. Excavations in A.D. 2002, 2006, and 2010 yielded fragmentary human remains as well as pottery, iron, stone tools, faunal bone, and glass and ostrich eggshell beads. Among the human remains, four individuals are present: two adults and a juvenile were found in the same LSA context, and another adult associated with the Iron Age/historic period. The most complete skeleton is an adult of indeterminate sex that was found in situ in an LSA deposit. Charcoal in proximity to the bone was AMS radiocarbon dated to 12,925 cal BC (OxA‐24620), which is consistent with radiocarbon dates on giant land snail shells from above and below the remains. The skeleton exhibits a series of pathological changes such as extensive dental wear and carious lesions, as well as damage most likely caused by termites, post‐mortem. The most striking aspect of this individual is its small size; stature and body mass estimations place it in the range of historic Khoesan from southern Africa. Consequently, this research adds to the discourse regarding the existence of small‐bodied people in the East African LSA. Findings from this new skeletal sample will contribute to studies of human biology and variation in Africa during the terminal Pleistocene and Holocene. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Bioarchaeological Evidence for the Basis of Small Adult Stature in Southern Africa

Cited by 31 publications

References 41 publications

A Palaeopathological Assessment of the Late 19th and Early 20th Century Khoesan

A Palaeopathological Assessment of the Late 19th and Early 20th Century Khoesan

Bioarchaeological evidence for adaptive plasticity and constraint: Exploring life‐history trade‐offs in the human past

Terminal Pleistocene Later Stone Age Human Remains from the Mlambalasi Rock Shelter, Iringa Region, Southern Tanzania

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