Spongy Bones in Prehistoric America

El-Najjar, Mahmoud Y.; Robertson, Abel L.

doi:10.1126/science.779029

Cited by 52 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Maize, the protein-poor cereal, accounted for 80-85% of the total [13]. The diet provided vitamins A and C; vitamin D was obtained predominantly from sunlight.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in intracortical bone remodeling in three aboriginal American populations: Possible dietary factors

1979

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Cross sections of intracortical bone revealed differences among three early American populations--Eskimo, Arikara, and Pueblo--in the frequency of a form of remodeling called, here, type II. This remodeling appears to occur exclusively within the walls of haversian canals of well-mineralized osteons. The populations are known to have differed in their nutrition. The Eskimo, with a high-protein diet, exhibited the most frequent type II remodeling, whereas the Pueblo, with a low-protein diet, showed the least. Type II remodeling probably reflects the physiological state of the group. Variation in frequency of classic intracortical bone remodeling was not apparent.

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“…Maize, the protein-poor cereal, accounted for 80-85% of the total [13]. The diet provided vitamins A and C; vitamin D was obtained predominantly from sunlight.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in intracortical bone remodeling in three aboriginal American populations: Possible dietary factors

1979

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“…There have been different explanations for the aetiology of iron deficiency. An iron-poor diet was often regarded as the most important factor (Williams, 1929;El-Najjar, 1976;El-Najjar & Robertson, 1976;El-Najjar et al, 1975, 1982. There were scarce data on European populations because most of the studies had been realised with American populations and had been linked to nutritional deficiencies as a result of maize dependence and low iron content (El-Najjar et al, 1975Robledo et al, 1995).…”

Section: Cribra Orbitaliamentioning

confidence: 99%

Porotic lesions in immature skeletons from Stara Torina, late medieval Serbia

Djurić

Milovanović

Janović

et al. 2008

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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Porotic lesions of immature skeletons have been attracting scientific attention for more than a century. These changes have been documented worldwide and are considered to be one of the indicators of health and/or nutritional status of past human populations. These lesions have frequently been referred to as a nutritional stress indicator, a manifestation of iron-deficiency anaemia, and a condition caused by chronic infections. In this study, 327 immature skeletons from the medieval graveyard of Stara Torina (Serbia) were examined for macroscopic signs of four types of porotic lesions: cribra orbitalia, femoral cribra, humeral cribra, and porotic hyperostosis. Femoral cribra was observed in 83.25% of femora, humeral cribra in 58.46% of cases, cribra orbitalia in 46.12% of orbits, while porotic hyperostosis was recorded in only 2.94% of skulls. The majority of skeletons affected by cribra presented symmetrical lesions. Association between all types of cribra was recorded in 33.33% of skeletons. Historical data supported the hypothesis that the investigated population was exposed to frequent infections, especially parasitic ones, which led to the development of porotic bone lesions via several mechanisms: parasite-induced blood loss and diarrhoea (both iron and magnesium malabsorption) or anaemia as a hepcidin-mediated body adaptive response to infection.

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“…Angel (1964) suggests that hereditary hemolytic anemia may have caused the porotic lesions noted in Mediterranean skeletal samples. However, the vast geographic, temporal, and racial variability of skeletal populations exhibiting the pathology encouraged other researchers to explore the associaticn between acquired anemia (iron-deficiency anemia) and porotic hyperostosis (Henschen, 1961;Nathan and Haas, 1966;Hengen, 1971;Lanzkowsky, 1968Lanzkowsky, ,1976El-Najjar et al, 1975;El-Najjar and Robertson, 1976;Cybulski, 1977;Mensforth et al, 1978;Huss-Ashmore et al, 1982;Hummert and Van Gerven, 1983).…”

Section: Porotic Hyperostosismentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns of anemia and infection from medieval York, England

Grauer

1993

American J Phys Anthropol

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An assessment of the presence and patterns of porotic hyperostosis and periosteal reactions in the skeletal population (n = 1,014) from St. Helen-on-the-Walls, York, are used to examine health and disease in urban medieval England. The analyses of these two lesions indicate that 58% of the population display evidence of porotic hyperostosis and that 21.5% of the population display periosteal reactions. Through differential diagnosis it is asserted that porotic hyperostosis is associated with iron-deficiency anemia, and that periosteal reactions may be the result of endemic treponematosis and/or non-specific infection, including parasitic infestation. An association between the presence of remodeled lesions and adulthood is noticeable for both porotic hyperostosis and periosteal reactions, as is a pattern of increased average age at death for those displaying both conditions.

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Spongy Bones in Prehistoric America

Cited by 52 publications

References 13 publications

Differences in intracortical bone remodeling in three aboriginal American populations: Possible dietary factors

Differences in intracortical bone remodeling in three aboriginal American populations: Possible dietary factors

Porotic lesions in immature skeletons from Stara Torina, late medieval Serbia

Patterns of anemia and infection from medieval York, England

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