Evaluation of the obstetric significance of some pelvic characters in an 18th century british sample of known parity status

Abstract

The excavations at Christ Church, Spitalfields (1984-86) produced a sample of 968 human skeletons which were interred between 1729 and 1859. Of these, 387 were recovered in association with coffin plates stating name, age at death, and date of death. There are 138 adult females in the named sample and the obstetric histories of 94 have been reconstructed from historical documentation. Such variables as birth spacing, number of children, and age at first and last births are known for the majority of this sample. Any individual about whose history there is any doubt has been excluded from the analysis. A middle-class group, they were largely of high nutritional status and, by the standards of the day, lived in sanitary and comfortable conditions. Both males and females have a mean age at death of 56 years. The presence or absence, the typology, the severity, the width and the length of the preauricular sulcus, the presence or absence and the number of pits on the dorsal aspect of the pubic body, sulci along the anterior sacrum adjacent to the auricular facet, and the extension of the pubic tubercle were evaluated in relation to the obstetric histories of these females. Statistical analysis has demonstrated a relationship between the presence of pubic tubercle extension and parity status and between the degree of extension and the number of children borne (P < .02). Statistically there is no significant relationship (P > .05) between either the preauricular sulcus or pubic pitting and parity status. Sacral scarring is significantly associated (P < .05) with parity status, but as it was evident in only eight females it has little practical application. Sample sizes are small, and it must be considered that statistical evaluation of larger samples might detect associations between variables not demonstrated here. There is no significant relationship between any of the cortical variants under consideration and age at death.

The Identity of the St Bees Lady, Cumbria: An Osteobiographical Approach

“…Application of the more recent revised Buckberry and Chamberlain method produced an older age range of 53-92 with a sample mean of 72 years from one observer and suggested a range of 18 O'Sullivan 1982. 19 Scheuer andBlack 2007, 202. 20 Bass 1987;Buikstra and Ubelaker 1994;Cox and Scott 1992. 21 Hillson 1996;Scott and Turner 1997, 127. 22 Stewart 1957cited in Bass 1987 23 Scheuer and Black 2007, 205-7. 24 After the method of Lovejoy et al 1985;after Brothwell 1981;after Meindl and Lovejoy 1985. 25 And very similar to the 47 year old depicted in Krogman and Iscan 1986. fig 7 Sk100 in situ beside the lead-wrapped St Bees Man. Note the absence of the hand and foot bones.…”

Sexual dimorphism, asymmetry, and the effect of reproduction on pelvis bone in the bank vole, Myodes glareolus

“…Pregnancy and parturition are one of the most important factors that influence the form of female pelvis (Johnson et al 1988;Tague 1990;Cox and Scott 1992). The main function of female pelvis shape is to enable the passage of young through the aperture.…”

“…Locomotion affects pelvic form through demand for limb orientation and muscle attachment (Carrier et al 2005). Finally, anatomical changes are associated with pregnancy and parturition, resorption and remodelling edge of the pubic bone (Putschar 1976), losses or thickening of pubic bone (Ubelaker and De La Paz 2012), the extension of the pubic tubercle (Cox and Scott 1992), and changes in the pubic symphysis area (Angel 1969).…”

Archaeological Demography

“…The material traces of the birth process are ephemeral in the archaeological record; birth events do not often result in a recognizable depositional event, and neonatal mortality especially is often underrepresented in mortuary assemblages (Lewis and Gowland 2007). Proposed skeletal indicators of maternal parity, such as pitting on the posterior aspect of the pubic symphysis, are thought to be insuffi ciently reliable to be used as direct indicators of fertility (Cox and Scott 1992;Snodgrass and Galloway 2003).…”