Development of bilateral asymmetry of the upper limb in children from a medieval population in Central Europe, Hungary

Fogl, Ágnes; Paragh, György; Molnár, Erika; Just, Zsuzsanna; Balázs, János; Maák, István E.

doi:10.1127/anthranz/2022/1478

Cited by 3 publications

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“…Nevertheless, these studies are usually limited to adult skeletal samples, so we have less data on the developmental background of limb-bone directional asymmetry. Reviewing the work done in the last decades on upper limb bones of children demonstrates that directional asymmetry develops gradually during growth as a consequence of mechanical loading on the bones (Steele and Mays 1995;Blackburn 2011;Waxenbaum and Sirak 2016;Fogl et al 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating crossed-symmetry pattern in children from the past

et al. 2023

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In biological anthropology, bilateral asymmetry in living adult samples is a well-studied field. During the last decade, researchers have become more interested in its developmental characteristics in individuals of both living and past populations. It is still the upper limb that gets attention, as handedness and its effects on the bones via biomechanical loading is an obvious and easily measurable marker of bilateral asymmetry. The majority of the population exhibit right bias in the measurements of the upper limb bones and the lower limb behaves the opposite due to its performance in weight- bearing. This pattern is called crossed-symmetry. Despite its marked role in posture, examining the emergence of lower limb bone asymmetry during growth has not been well-researched. To add more information to this field, the present study investigated the developmental pattern of lower limb bone bilateral asymmetry in medieval Hungarian children from one of the country’s biggest anthropological collections.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating crossed-symmetry pattern in children from the past

et al. 2023

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“…Disszertációmban a Bátmonostor-Pusztafalu 14-16. századi középkori temető gyermekmaradványait vizsgálom a végtagi kétoldali aszimmetria szempontjából. A kutatás előzetes eredményei egy publikációban kerültek közlésre (Fogl et al 2022). A vázak a Szegedi Tudományegyetem Embertani Tanszékének embertani gyűjteményének részét képezik.…”

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A kétoldali aszimmetria fejlődésének vizsgálata történeti embertani anyagon

Fogl

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A kétoldali aszimmetria fejlődésének vizsgálata történeti embertani anyagon

Fogl

2023

Anthrop Kozl

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In my dissertation I examined the development of the bilateral asymmetry of the upper and lower limb long bones in nonadult skeletal remains from the Bátmonostor-Pusztafalu site which has been dated to the 14-16th century AD. Examining the averages of the long bone measurements of the upper extremity, the growth of the nonadult skeletons from this site was approximately the same as the sample chosen as a standard, thus they proved to be suitable for the purpose of investigating bilateral asymmetry. In the case of the upper limb, bilateral asymmetry was not present at birth. In older age groups, however, it developed gradually. Based on the time of appearance of bilateral asymmetry, the development of its direction and the change in its magnitude with age I drew conclusions about the lifestyle of the examined children and their relationship with their environment. They probably already participated in farming and handicraft work at the age of 7-8, and the physical activities performed during this influenced the long bones of their upper limbs through the loading of the dominant arm, which was manifested in directional asymmetry shifting to the right. The directional asymmetry of the femur showed a shift to the right side with age, and then to the left side in older age groups; thus crossed symmetry pattern could be observed. In the case of the tibia, I obtained partially opposite results to the femur. Shifting to the right in asymmetry was more common, but as age progressed, the differences between the right and left sides levelled off, just like in the case of the femur. As bipedal walking exerts an equal mechanical effect on the lower limb on both sides, asymmetry is less pronounced in the period of postnatal life from birth to adolescence. The bioarchaeological study of limb bone bilateral asymmetry of nonadult skeletons gave me the opportunity to contribute to the biological reconstruction of the findings from the Bátmonostor-Pusztafalu cemetery.

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Development of bilateral asymmetry of the upper limb in children from a medieval population in Central Europe, Hungary

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Investigating crossed-symmetry pattern in children from the past

Investigating crossed-symmetry pattern in children from the past

A kétoldali aszimmetria fejlődésének vizsgálata történeti embertani anyagon

A kétoldali aszimmetria fejlődésének vizsgálata történeti embertani anyagon

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