Muscle marking morphology and labour intensity in prehistoric Khoisan foragers

Churchill, Steven E.; Morris, Alan

doi:10.1002/(sici)1099-1212(1998090)8:5<390::aid-oa435>3.0.co;2-n

Cited by 76 publications

(88 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Previous research suggests size and complexity of tendon insertions are indicative of strain magnitude resulting from habitual physical activity (Lane, 1887;Kennedy, 1989;Hawkey and Merbs, 1995;Churchill and Morris, 1998;Hawkey, 1998;Steen and Lane, 1998;Stirland, 1998;Wilczak and Kennedy, 1998;Capasso et al, 1999;Weiss, 2003Weiss, , 2004Weiss, , 2007 alOumaoui et al, 2004;Molnar, 2006;Cardoso and Henderson, 2010;Thara et al, 2010;Havelkova et al, 2011). Using both qualitative and quantitative data to assess the expression of insertion morphology along long bone diaphyses, inferences are frequently made regarding both generalized and specific activities past humans participated in throughout their daily lives.…”

Section: Keymentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Entheses: Bridging the Gap Between Clinical and Anthropological Perspectives

Schlecht

2012

The Anatomical Record

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An enthesis is the interface where tendon meets bone, providing both muscle anchorage and stress dissipation. Previous anthropological research suggests size and complexity of entheses observable in osteological material, are indicative of the strain magnitude resulting from repetitive muscle contractions during the performance of daily routines. These proposed ''musculoskeletal stress markers'' are routinely incorporated into bioarcheological studies as evidence of general activity patterns past human populations participated in. However, much of how this complex osteotendinous interface develops and responds to mechanical strains is poorly understood. The following review seeks to shed light on this structural enigma by synthesizing current findings in both the clinical and anthropological literature, in the interest of generating new conversations in how entheses respond to contractual forces and the systemic influences (i.e., genetics, hormones), that surround their morphological development. Only once we truly understand the etiology of tendon insertion sites, will the value of enthesial research in reconstructing human behavior be determined. Anat Rec, 295:1239Rec, 295: -1251Rec, 295: , 2012. V C 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Keywords: musculoskeletal stress markers (MSM); fibrocartilaginous; tendon anatomy; tendon insertion; bone morphology Anthropologists regularly implement bone remodeling principles in response to mechanical loads to infer a causal relationship between muscle tendon insertions and activity levels. Previous research suggests size and complexity of tendon insertions are indicative of strain magnitude resulting from habitual physical activity (Lane, 1887;Kennedy, 1989;Hawkey and Merbs, 1995;Churchill and Morris, 1998;Hawkey, 1998;Steen and Lane, 1998;Stirland, 1998;Wilczak and Kennedy, 1998;Capasso et al., 1999;Weiss, 2003Weiss, , 2004Weiss, , 2007 alOumaoui et al., 2004;Molnar, 2006;Cardoso and Henderson, 2010;Thara et al., 2010;Havelkova et al., 2011). Using both qualitative and quantitative data to assess the expression of insertion morphology along long bone diaphyses, inferences are frequently made regarding both generalized and specific activities past humans participated in throughout their daily lives. Recognition of this potential relationship between mechanical strain and the osteotendinous interface has led many to refer to tendon insertions sites as musculoskeletal stress markers (MSM). However, more empirical analyses exploring the factors responsible for these proposed MSM are needed before we can confidently begin to assess individual behavior and draw population-based inferences from series of skeletal remains. With this lack of understanding in the etiology of periosteal tendon insertion morphology, particularly in the mechanical and structural relationship between soft and hard tissues, this interface should be referred to by the clinical term, enthesis.

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Section: Keymentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Entheses: Bridging the Gap Between Clinical and Anthropological Perspectives

Schlecht

2012

The Anatomical Record

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“…When a bone avulsion injury occurs, new bone formation may be incorporated into the muscle tissue, and result in an exostosis. These osseous changes are relatively prevalent in adults after the growth of the skeletal system has been fully completed, and are often considered to reflect physical activities based on daily subsistence or habits during the lifetime of the individual (Hawkey and Merbs, 1995;Chapman, 1997;Churchill and Morris, 1998;Peterson, 1998;Steen and Lane, 1998;al-Oumaoui et al, 2004;Eshed et al, 2004;Molnar, 2006Molnar, , 2010Weiss, 2007;Lieverse et al, 2009Lieverse et al, , 2013Havelková et al, 2011;Schrader, 2012;Stefanović and Porčić, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Age changes of musculoskeletal stress markers and their inter-period comparisons

Takigawa

2014

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This study examines the changes with age of 15 musculoskeletal stress markers (MSMs) in the upper and lower limb bones of modern Japanese with documented ages-at-death, on the basis of original scoring criteria corresponding to each advanced stage. The procedure investigated significant differences of mean scores among five age classes at intervals of 10 years from 20 to 69 years for each MSM, and also calculated Pearson's correlation coefficients between MSM scores and age-at-death. These examinations found that most MSMs had significant correlations with aging in both sexes. MSM data of the people from the Yoshigo shell-mound in the Jomon period (Yoshigo Jomon, c. 3000-2300 BP), the Doigahama site in the Yayoi period (Doigahama Yayoi, c. 2100-1800 BP), and modern Japanese were then compared between the 20-39 and 40-59 age categories (younger adult and older adult groups, respectively) for both sexes. Kruskal-Wallis tests found that many MSMs showed significant differences between periods in each age category. Mann-Whitney tests revealed that many MSMs of the prehistoric Yoshigo Jomon and Doigahama Yayoi showed few significant differences, whereas those of many modern Japanese differed significantly. Principal component analysis indicated that the results of a scatter diagram in the younger adult group were considerably different from those of the older adult group. These findings suggest that MSMs are age structured within human populations, but that differences also arise in association with intensity of activity.

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“…reconstruct a variety of parameters, including muscle size (Aiello, 1994;Churchill and Morris, 1998;Trinkaus, 1976), frequency of muscle use (Davidson, 1992;Hawkey and Merbs, 1995;Kelley and Angel, 1987;Stern and Susman, 1983;Wilczak, 1998b) and the magnitudes of forces produced during muscle contractions (Churchill and Morris, 1998;Kelley and Angel, 1987;Rathbun, 1987;Trinkaus, 1976). Again, the justifications for connecting enthesis morphology to these aspects of muscle morphology or activity are rarely stated (with one notable exception in Davidson, 1992).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The morphological parameters traditionally used to reconstruct behavior are the size (Churchill and Morris, 1998;Davidson, 1992;Stirland, 1993;Wilczak, 1998a) and complexity (Hawkey, 1988;Hawkey and Merbs, 1995;Robb, 1998;Steen and Lane, 1998) of attachment sites. This study tests the hypothesis that moderate endurance exercise by a large mammal increases the size and complexities of the attachment sites of certain muscles that are active during the gait cycle.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of endurance exercise on the morphology of muscle attachment sites

Zumwalt

2006

Journal of Experimental Biology

134

188

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SUMMARY The morphology of muscle attachment sites, or entheses, has long been assumed to directly reflect in vivo muscle activity. The purpose of this study is to examine whether variations in muscle activity that are within normal physiological limits are reflected in variations in external attachment site morphology. This study tests the hypothesis that increased muscle activity (magnitude, number and frequency of loading cycles) results in the hypertrophy of muscle attachment sites. The attachment sites of six limb muscles and one muscle of mastication (control) in mature female sheep were measured and compared in exercised (weighted treadmill running for 1 h per day for 90 days) and sedentary control animals. Attachment site surface morphology was assessed by quantifying the size (3D surface area) and complexity (fractal dimension parallel and perpendicular to soft tissue attachment) of the surfaces. The results of this study demonstrate no effect of the exercise treatment used in this experiment on any measure of enthesis morphology. Potential explanations for the lack of exercise response include the mature age of the animals, inappropriate stimulus type for inducing morphological change, or failure to surpass a hypothetical threshold of load for inducing morphological change. However, further tests also demonstrate no relationship between muscle size and either attachment site size or complexity in sedentary control animals. The results of this study indicate that the attachment site morphological parameters measured in this study do not reflect muscle size or activity. In spite of decades of assumption otherwise, there appears to be no direct causal relationship between muscle size or activity and attachment site morphology, and reconstructions of behavior based on these features should be viewed with caution.

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Muscle marking morphology and labour intensity in prehistoric Khoisan foragers

Cited by 76 publications

References 41 publications

Understanding Entheses: Bridging the Gap Between Clinical and Anthropological Perspectives

Understanding Entheses: Bridging the Gap Between Clinical and Anthropological Perspectives

Age changes of musculoskeletal stress markers and their inter-period comparisons

The effect of endurance exercise on the morphology of muscle attachment sites

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