skip to main content


Title: Assessment of nutritional stress in famine burials using stable isotope analysis
Abstract Objectives

We compared δ15N and δ13C values from bone and dentine collagen profiles of individuals interred in famine‐related and attritional burials to evaluate whether individuals in medieval London who experienced nutritional stress exhibit enriched nitrogen in bone and tooth tissue. Dentine profiles were evaluated to identify patterns that may be indicative of famine during childhood and were compared with the age of enamel hypoplasia (EH) formation to assess whether isotopic patterns of undernutrition coincide with the timing of physiological stress.

Materials and Methods

δ15N and δ13C isotope ratios of bone collagen were obtained from individuals (n= 128) interred in attritional and famine burials from a medieval London cemetery (c. 1120–1539). Temporal sequences of δ15N and δ13C isotope profiles for incrementally forming dentine collagen were obtained from a subset of these individuals (n= 21).

Results

Results indicate that individuals from attritional graves exhibit significantly higher δ15N values but no significant differences were found between burial types for the sexes. Analyses of dentine profiles reveal that a lower proportion of famine burials exhibit stable dentine profiles and that several exhibit a pattern of opposing covariance between δ15N and δ13C. EH were also observed to have formed during or after the opposing covariance pattern for some individuals.

Conclusions

The results of this study may reflect differences in diet between burial types rather than nutritional stress. Though nutritional stress could not be definitively identified using bone and dentine collagen, the results from dentine analysis support previous observations of biochemical patterns associated with nutritional stress during childhood.

 
more » « less
PAR ID:
10458067
Author(s) / Creator(s):
 ;  ;  ;  
Publisher / Repository:
Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
Date Published:
Journal Name:
American Journal of Physical Anthropology
Volume:
172
Issue:
2
ISSN:
0002-9483
Page Range / eLocation ID:
p. 214-226
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. Abstract Objectives

    The developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) hypothesis describes how early childhood stress affects morbidity and mortality later in life. The role of early childhood stress in mortality from infectious disease is understudied. Stressors in early childhood that weaken the immune system may result in increased susceptibility to infectious disease in adulthood. Weaning is one of the earliest potential periods of significant stress in early childhood. This research investigates the effect of weaning after ~6 months of age on cholera mortality among 18th–19th‐century Italian populations by determining if earlier breastfeeding cessation is associated with earlier mortality, analyzing childhood dietary variation and physiological stress markers, and determining if age‐at‐weaning completion differs between catastrophic and attritional populations.

    Methods

    Serial dentin stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses from canines are compared between catastrophic (n = 45) and attritional groups (n = 23). Canines are sectioned serially from crown to apex, and the increment's δ15N and δ13C are used to estimate age‐at‐weaning completion.

    Results

    Catastrophic and attritional groups exhibit similar age‐at‐weaning completion (~2.8 years). Seventy‐four percent of individuals lack elevated δ15N values in dentin that formed during infancy.

    Conclusions

    Age‐at‐weaning completion was not a predisposing factor in cholera mortality in adulthood in this sample. Age‐at‐weaning completion may not be significantly associated with infectious disease mortality because weaning completion likely occurred after infants had adapted to consuming contaminated weanling foods. Individuals without detectable weaning curves may represent infants who received supplementary foods since birth or were weaned before the age of 6–9 months.

     
    more » « less
  2. Abstract Objectives

    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.

    Materials and 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.

    Results

    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.

    Conclusions

    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.

     
    more » « less
  3. Abstract

    Analysis of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values (δ13C and δ15N) of animal tissues can provide important information about diet, physiology, and movements. Interpretation of δ13C and δ15N values, however, is influenced by factors such as sample lipid content, tissue-specific isotope discrimination, and tissue turnover rates, which are typically species- and tissue-specific. In this study, we generated lipid normalization models for δ13C and investigated the effects of chemical lipid extractions on δ13C and δ15N in Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) muscle, liver, and skin. We also evaluated tissue-specific isotope discrimination in walrus muscle, liver, skin, and bone collagen. Mean δ13Clipid-freeof skin and bone collagen were similar, as were mean δ15N of muscle and liver. All other tissues differed significantly for both isotopes. Differences in δ13Clipid-freeand δ15N among tissues agreed with published estimates of marine mammal tissue-specific isotope discrimination factors, with the exception of skin. The results of this work will allow researchers to gain a clearer understanding of walrus diet and the structure of Arctic food webs, while also making it possible to directly compare the results of contemporary walrus isotope research with those of historic and paleoecological studies.

     
    more » « less
  4. Abstract Objectives

    The mortuary record at Middle Period siteKalawwasa Rummeytak(CA‐SCL‐134) (2600‐1225 cal BP) in California's southern Santa Clara Valley shows pronounced wealth inequality;Olivellashell bead wealth, as well as other grave goods, are concentrated in the burials of several older adult females. The concentration of wealth among women, along with regional strontium isotopic evidence of male‐biased residential shifts in early adulthood, suggests a matrilineal kinship system that practiced matrilocal post‐marital residence patterns. We suggest local resource enhancement effects incentivized keeping women in their natal communities and investing more in female offspring.

    Materials and Methods

    With the consent of, and in collaboration with, the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area, this paper employs isotopic analysis (δ15N andδ13C,86Sr/87Sr) to examine duration of exclusive breastfeeding, weaning age (complete cessation of breastmilk consumption), early childhood diet, and lifetime residential mobility of individuals interred atKalawwasa Rummeytakto test the assumption that the site inhabitants favored matrilocality and that female offspring received greater levels of investment in groups with female wealth/status attainment. First molars, third molars, and bone was sampled from 22 individuals.

    Results

    The average weaning age for females atKalawwasa Rummeytakis 36.3 months ± 9.7 (1 SD), or just over 3 years. The average weaning age for males is 31.2 ± 7.9 months (1 SD), or about 2.6 years. Infants at the site were provisioned with supplemental foods dominated by C3plants and terrestrial herbivores, as well as anadromous fish. After weaning, individuals consumed a diet dominated by acorns, C3plants, and terrestrial herbivores, with periodic inclusion of anadromous fish. 30% of the sampled population of females exhibit local first molar87Sr/86Sr values, suggesting thatKalawwasa Rummeytakis their natal community. None of the males interred at the site are locals.

    Discussion

    Despite the small sample size often unavoidable in archaeological contexts, we find possible female‐biased parental investment strategies. Cessation of breastfeeding (weaning) was, on average, 5 months earlier for males compared to females. There are no differences between females and males in the consumption of supplemental or post‐weaning foods. Strontium data suggest a flexible postmarital residence system that favored matrilocality. This may have incentivized greater investment in female offspring.

     
    more » « less
  5. Abstract Objectives

    Dental plaque is associated with a variety of systemic diseases and mortality risks in living populations. However, bioarchaeologists have not fully investigated the mortality risks associated with plaque (or its mineralized form, calculus) in the past. This study examines the relationship between survivorship and calculus in a medieval skeletal sample.

    Materials and methods

    Our sample (n = 1,098) from four medieval London cemeteries,c. 1000–1540 CE, includes people who died under attritional (normal) and catastrophic (famine and plague) conditions. The associations between age and the presence of dental calculus on the permanent left first mandibular molar are assessed using binary logistic regression and Kaplan–Meier survival analysis.

    Results

    The regression results indicate a significant negative relationship between age and calculus presence for individuals of all ages who died under normal mortality conditions and for adults who died under both normal and catastrophic conditions. Survival analysis reveals decreased survivorship for people of all ages with calculus under normal mortality conditions. Similarly, during conditions of catastrophic mortality, adult males with calculus suffered reduced survivorship compared to males without it, though there was no difference in survivorship between adult females with and without calculus.

    Conclusions

    These results suggest that, as in modern populations, calculus accumulation in the inhabitants of medieval London reflects a greater risk of premature death. The evaluation of calculus, a potential measure of underlying frailty, in the context of a demographic measure of general health suggests that it might provide insights into health in past populations.

     
    more » « less