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1. Sex differences in adult famine mortality in medieval London

   https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.23930  

   DeWitte, Sharon_N ; Yaussy, Samantha_L ( October 2019 , American Journal of Physical Anthropology)

   Recurrent famine events during the medieval period might have contributed to excess mortality during the Black Death in London, England (c. 1349–1350). Previous research using conventional methods of age estimation revealed that adult males experienced lower risks of mortality under “normal” (attritional) but not famine mortality conditions following the Black Death. However, given the biases inherent in conventional age estimation methods, this study reassesses sex differences in risks of medieval adult famine mortality using ages estimated via transition analysis, which avoids some of the limitations of conventional age estimation methods.

   We apply hazards analysis (the Gompertz model of adult mortality) to ages estimated for human skeletal remains (n= 1245) from London cemeteries dated to the pre‐Black Death (c. 1000–1250 CE) and post‐Black Death (c. 1350–1540 CE) periods.

   The results reveal no sex differences in risks of mortality before the Black Death but indicate that adult males faced lower risks of mortality after the Black Death during conditions of normal and famine mortality.

   These findings largely support those of our previous research, which suggested that selective mortality during the Black Death or sex‐biased improvements in standard of living following the epidemic reduced risk of mortality for adult males in the post‐Black Death period under normal mortality conditions. However, the use of transition analysis age estimates also revealed a reduced risk of mortality for post‐Black Death adult males under famine conditions.

    

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2. Survivorship and the second epidemiological transition in industrial‐era London

   https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24797  

   Yaussy, Samantha L. ; DeWitte, Sharon N. ; Hughes‐Morey, Gail ( June 2023 , American Journal of Biological Anthropology)

   The second epidemiological transition describes a shift in predominant causes of death from infectious to degenerative (non‐communicable) diseases associated with the demographic transition from high to low levels of mortality and fertility. In England, the epidemiological transition followed the Industrial Revolution, but there is little reliable historical data on cause of death beforehand. Because of the association between the demographic and epidemiological transitions, skeletal data can potentially be used to examine demographic trends as a proxy for the latter. This study uses skeletal data to examine differences in survivorship in London, England in the decades preceding and following initial industrialization and the second epidemiological transition.

   We use data (fromn = 924 adults) from London cemeteries (New Churchyard, New Bunhill Fields, St. Bride's Lower Churchyard, and St. Bride's Church Fleet Street) in use prior to and during industrialization (c.1569–1853 CE). We assess associations between estimated adult age at death and time period (pre‐industrial vs. industrial) using Kaplan–Meier survival analysis.

   We find evidence of significantly lower adult survivorship prior to industrialization (c.1569–1669 and 1670–1739 CE) compared to the industrial period (c.1740–1853 CE) (p < 0.001).

   Our results are consistent with historical evidence that, in London, survivorship was improving in the later 18th century, prior to the recognized beginning of the second epidemiological transition. These findings support the use of skeletal demographic data to examine the context of the second epidemiological transition in past populations.

    

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3. Variation in obstetric dimensions of the human bony pelvis in relation to age‐at‐death and latitude

   https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.23690  

   Auerbach, Benjamin M. ; King, Kathyrn A. ; Campbell, Ryan M. ; Campbell, Meadow L. ; Sylvester, Adam D. ( August 2018 , American Journal of Physical Anthropology)

   Previous studies associate females who died in young adulthood with narrower obstetric pelvic dimensions, presumably in association with obstetric insufficiency (though this causal relationship is unresolved). In this study, we examine whether females within groups living at higher latitudes present this pattern, as high‐latitude groups have larger pelvic dimensions than groups previously examined. These patterns are compared with males. We assess whether there is evidence for younger ages‐at‐death in females to have been in response to natural selection against narrower true pelvis dimensions.

   We measured 14 pelvic dimensions in 327 adults (188 females, 139 males), representing archaeological sites from mid‐latitude and high‐latitude North America. Individuals were placed into a “young” or “not young” age‐at‐death category. Latitude, sex, and age‐at‐death groups were compared using ANOVAs and scaled variance, and evidence for selection was examined withF‐tests.

   Pelvic dimensions were larger in high‐latitude females and males. Females but not males who died at younger ages had smaller pelvic canals than older individuals, especially in the mediolateral inlet and anteroposterior outlet dimensions. Variance in all pelvic dimensions is equal between the two female age‐at‐death groups.

   We found narrower obstetrical dimensions in the female pelvis among individuals who died at younger ages. However, statistically equivalent variances in the two female age‐at‐death groups does not support natural selection on pelvic dimensions as leading to younger ages at death. We instead argue that this difference is result of continued growth due to remodeling in the pelvis occurring in females, but not males, after early adulthood.

    

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4. The intersections of industrialization: Variation in skeletal indicators of frailty by age, sex, and socioeconomic status in 18th‐ and 19th‐century England

   https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.23881  

   Yaussy, Samantha L. ( June 2019 , American Journal of Physical Anthropology)

   Intersectionality theory argues that various categories of identity and forms of systemic oppression interact and produce inequalities in resource access, economic opportunities, and health outcomes. However, there has been little explicit engagement with this theory by bioarchaeologists examining disparate health outcomes in the past. This study examines the associations among frailty, age at death, sex, and socioeconomic status (SES) in 18th‐ and 19th‐century England.

   The sample for this study comes from four industrial‐era cemeteries from England, ca. 1711–1857. The associations among adult age (18+ years), SES, sex, and three skeletal indicators of stress (dental enamel hypoplasia [DEH,n= 293], cribra orbitalia [CO,n= 457], periosteal lesions [PNB,n= 436]) are examined using hierarchical log‐linear analysis.

   Significant interactions existed among the variables examined for two skeletal indicators: high SES females had lower frequencies of CO relative to other groups and males between ages 30–45 years exhibited higher frequencies of PNB compared to females or males of older or younger ages, regardless of SES. Additionally, sex and SES were consistently associated with age at death.

   These results suggest that patterns of stress indicators cannot be examined solely across unilateral axes of age, SES, or sex. Intersecting axes of privilege, marginalization, and structural oppression may have buffered high SES females from some negative health outcomes (CO) while predisposing them to others (risk of maternal mortality). Likewise, the hazardous working conditions relegated to adult males may have heightened the risk of injury, infection, and death for middle‐aged men in industrial‐era England.

    

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5. Ancient human dental calculus metadata collection and sampling strategies: Recommendations for best practices

   https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24871  

   Gancz, Abigail S. ; Wright, Sterling L. ; Weyrich, Laura S. ( November 2023 , American Journal of Biological Anthropology)

   Ancient human dental calculus is a unique, nonrenewable biological resource encapsulating key information about the diets, lifestyles, and health conditions of past individuals and populations. With compounding calls its destructive analysis, it is imperative to refine the ways in which the scientific community documents, samples, and analyzes dental calculus so as to maximize its utility to the public and scientific community.

   Our research team conducted an IRB‐approved survey of dental calculus researchers with diverse academic backgrounds, research foci, and analytical specializations.

   This survey reveals variation in how metadata is collected and utilized across different subdisciplines and highlights how these differences have profound implications for dental calculus research. Moreover, the survey suggests the need for more communication between those who excavate, curate, and analyze biomolecular data from dental calculus.

   Challenges in cross‐disciplinary communication limit researchers' ability to effectively utilize samples in rigorous and reproducible ways. Specifically, the lack of standardized skeletal and dental metadata recording and contamination avoidance procedures hinder downstream anthropological applications, as well as the pursuit of broader paleodemographic and paleoepidemiological inquiries that rely on more complete information about the individuals sampled. To provide a path forward toward more ethical and standardized dental calculus sampling and documentation approaches, we review the current methods by which skeletal and dental metadata are recorded. We also describe trends in sampling and contamination‐control approaches. Finally, we use that information to suggest new guidelines for ancient dental calculus documentation and sampling strategies that will improve research practices in the future.

    

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