In sickness or in health? Assessment of Early Iron Age human skeletons from Toutswe sites, east central Botswana

Abstract

The general health of Early Iron Age (AD 700 to 1300) mixed farmers in east central Botswana has not been studied before. In this study the bones and teeth of 84 individuals from ten Toutswe sites were analysed for osteological manifestations of disease, with the aim of assessing the general health of the Toutswe communities. These individuals were aged between newborn and 75 years old, and include both sexes. Results indicate the presence of diseases commonly found in archaeological populations such as osteoarthritis, spina bifida occulta, cribra orbitalia, porotic hyperostosis and enamel hypoplasias. One possible case of DISH was found. The frequency of lesions was comparable with or even lower than at other similar sites, such as K2 and Mapungubwe and other parts of southern Africa. The samples represent communities with relatively low levels of stress and infections. This seems to support the results of the palaeodemographic analysis, which indicated that the Toutswe people were better off than those of neighbouring K2 and Mapungubwe.

A meal on the hoof or wealth in the kraal? Stable isotopes at Kgaswe and Taukome in eastern Botswana

“…With the exception of a few recent osteological analyses (Morris, 1992; Steyn & Henneburg, 1995; Steyn, 2003), previous investigations of Iron Age skeletons in southern Africa have dealt mainly with questions of typology or biological distance, analysed through discrete trait analysis and osteometrics (Galloway, 1937; Singer, 1958; Rightmire, 1981; de Villiers, 1968; Fatti, 1986; Grine, 1986; Morris, 1986). However, questions about diet and health remain largely unaddressed until more recently (Denbow et al ., 2008; Huffman, 2009; Mosothwane & Steyn, 2009). Archaeological remains from these areas (Denbow, 1999; Denbow et al ., 2008) indicate a variety of subsistence strategies including farming, herding and/or foraging, but the actual dietary contributions of any one of these economies is still unclear.…”

Étude des restes humains de Kindoki (République démocratique du Congo, fin xviie–début xixesiècle)

“…Les données actuelles montrent qu'environ 4 % des Noirs africains présentent cette pathologie [65]. Des cas archéologiques de DISH ont été décrits en Afrique du Nord [74,75] et au Botswana [76], mais encore jamais en Afrique centrale.…”

Health Patterns of the Etruscan Population (6th–3rd Centuries bc) in Northern Italy: The Case of Spina

“…vitamins A, B12, B6, C, D and folic acid), chronic diarrhoea and parasite infections, pregnancy, etc. (Lallo et al, 1977;Mensforth et al, 1978;Facchini et al, 2004;Cucina et al, 2006;Mosothwane & Steyn, 2009;Walker et al, 2009).…”