Changing Patterns of Health and Disease Among the Aleuts

Abstract

Abstract. Compared to other regions of North America, there have been relatively few paleopathological studies of arctic populations to date, particularly those aimed at elucidating patterns of health and disease prior to contact, and assessing temporal changes in disease patterns. In the present study, four Aleut skeletal samples representing one pre-contact population from Umnak Island in the eastern Aleutian Islands (Nϭ65), and three late pre-contact/early contact period populations from Umnak, Kagamil, and Shiprock Islands (Nϭ227), were examined macroscopically for indicators of health status. The analysis revealed some evidence of declining health in the late pre-contact/early contact period. Statistical comparisons of the earlier and later samples indicated a significantly higher frequency of cribra orbitalia and cranial infection in the later sample compared to the earlier one. Archaeological, epidemiological, and historical data point to several possible explanations for these findings, including the introduction of new pathogens by Europeans.

Refining the Paleo-Aleut to Neo-Aleut transition using a new ΔR for the eastern Aleutian Islands, Alaska

“…Both Coltrain et al (2006) and Misarti and Maschner (2015) cite cultural complexity, increasing population, and escalating conflict as incentives for human movement in Alaska Peninsula, Kodiak, and eastern Aleutians. Post-1000 cal yr BP evidence of fortified refuge rocks, appearance of longhouses (Veltre and McCartney, 2001), and skeletal trauma (Keeneyside, 2003) testify to increasing complexity and social tensions in the Aleutians during late prehistory. At Russian contact in AD 1741, the ‘Akuugun, a distinct Aleut group, inhabited at least a dozen villages and buried their dead in caves and clefts in the Islands of Four Mountains (O’Leary, 1993a).…”

Social contexts, syndemics, and infectious disease in northern Aboriginal populations

“…The opportunities for transmission of diseases of European derivation varied extensively, as did the effects they had on each community, and both of these were conditioned by the time, duration, and nature of the contact experience (Hurlich, 1983). Analyses of Aleut skeletons dating to the time of contact with Russian fur traders, for instance, show a significant increase in the prevalence of infection (Keenleyside, 2003). Introduced acute, directly transmitted diseases, such as smallpox, influenza, and measles, surely contributed to the increased disease burden as well, although direct evidence for them cannot be obtained through skeletal analyses.…”

“…Introduced acute, directly transmitted diseases, such as smallpox, influenza, and measles, surely contributed to the increased disease burden as well, although direct evidence for them cannot be obtained through skeletal analyses. The severity of infection was also almost certainly exacerbated by dietary changes that increased nutritional stress and by brutal policies practiced by Russian traders, including forced labor, resettlements that compelled Aleuts to travel increasingly great distances to hunt waning sea otter populations, and hostilities among Aleuts and Russian traders (Keenleyside, 2003).…”

Ανθρωπολογική Εκτίμηση Της Ηλικίας Σκελετού Από Την Σύγκλειση Των Ραφών Της Σκληρής Υπερώας

“…Η επόμενη ραφή προς εξέταση είναι η οπίσθια μέση υπερώια (ΡΜΡ). τους σελ [102][103][104][105][106]. παρουσιάζονται τα αποτελέσματα των μετρήσεων της (ΡΜΡ) στους άνδρες, στις δέκα ηλικιακές ομάδες του δείγματος.…”