Bone mineral densities in the prehistoric, Viking‐Age and medieval populations of Norway

Abstract

Osteoporosis is a prevalent condition in Norway, as evidenced by the fact that this country has the highest reported incidences of hip and distal forearm fractures. Because recent studies suggest a higher bone density in rural populations compared with urban ones, increased physical activity is believed to be an important factor in reducing fracture incidence. In the present investigation, 185 femoral necks from the Schreiner Collection in Oslo were measured by means of a bone-mass scanner. The bones, anthropological specimens ranging from the Stone Age to the Middle Ages, were separated into three groups: prehistoric (n ¼ 36), Viking Age (n ¼ 38) and medieval (n ¼ 111). The medieval group was further separated into urban, rural and monastic populations. The examination showed that: (a) there was no significant difference at a 5% level in average bone mineral density (BMD) between the male and female material; (b) there was no significant difference in average BMD among the prehistoric, Viking Age, and medieval periods (P ¼ 0.151); (c) there was no significant difference in average BMD between the rural and urban medieval material; (d) there was a significant difference in average BMD only between the monastic and the rural medieval material; (e) only the medieval material showed a significantly higher average BMD than that of today (P ¼ 0.001). These findings may indicate that factors in addition to physical activity are important for normal BMD maintenance.

Activation of Diboron Reagents with Brønsted Bases and Alcohols: An Experimental and Theoretical Perspective of the Organocatalytic Boron Conjugate Addition Reaction

“…While this study focused on femora, the Meul Index could very likely also be applied to metacarpals, long bones that can also be used to derive CI. Finally, future research should establish the relationship between the MI and other measures of bone loss and osteoporosis such as Dual Energy X‐ray Absorptiometry (Thompson, 1980; Mays et al ., 1998; Mays, 2000; McEwan et al ., 2005; Mays et al ., 2006; Holck, 2007).…”

Age-Related Cortical Bone Maintenance and Loss in an Imperial Roman Population

“…This is unexpected as postmenopausal women in modern Western populations show a dramatic decline in CI compared with men (Maggio et al, 1997;Böttcher et al, 2006). However, postmenopausal sex differences in bone loss have not been seen to be necessarily universal in other bioarchaeological studies that have explored age-and sex-related trends with measures of both cortical and trabecular bone (Lees et al, 1993;Ekenman et al, 1995;Mays, 1996;Agarwal et al, 2004;Agarwal & Grynpas, 2009;Holck, 2007;Glencross and Agarwal, 2011). The smaller overall bone size (Böttcher et al, 2006) and steady depletion of endosteal bone with age in women should result in a significant sex difference in the Velia population in old age, if modern postmenopausal changes are taken as a human universal, but none was detected.…”

“…Historical archaeological skeletal samples have shown conflicting patterns of bone loss, with some demonstrating similar patterns of age-and sex-related bone loss whereas others do not, and many differing from the typical age-and sex-related patterns of bone loss and fragility observed in modern Western populations (Agarwal, 2008). For example, bone loss is often seen in young age and in both men and women, and there is a low prevalence of fragility fracture in comparison with modern populations (Lees et al, 1993;Ekenman et al, 1995;Holck, 2007;Agarwal and Grynpas 2009). The explanation for the conflicting patterns in the bioarchaeological record is complex, and the use of often incomplete and biased skeletal samples is an ongoing issue in the study of health and disease in the past (Jackes, 2011).…”

The Meul Index: A non‐destructive method for estimating the cortical index in skeletal samples

“…While this study focused on femora, the Meul Index could very likely also be applied to metacarpals, long bones that can also be used to derive CI. Finally, future research should establish the relationship between the MI and other measures of bone loss and osteoporosis such as Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (Thompson, 1980;Mays et al, 1998;Mays, 2000;McEwan et al, 2005;Mays et al, 2006;Holck, 2007).…”