Linear growth variation in the archaeological record

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511542565.006

6 - Linear growth variation in the archaeological record

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 August 2009

Edited by

G. E. Krovitz and

L. T. Humphrey: Affiliation:
Natural History Museum, London
J. L. Thompson: Affiliation:
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
G. E. Krovitz: Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
A. J. Nelson: Affiliation:
University of Western Ontario

Book contents

Get access

Summary

Introduction

The evaluation of physical development in terms of percentage of mature state attained at a given age measures the tempo of development (Eveleth & Tanner, 1990). For some parameters such as tooth crown and root formation, or fusion of the diaphysis and epiphyses of a long bone, the final adult state is comparable for all individuals and the main difficulty is to define consistent intermediate states of maturation in terms of percentage of final adult state. For measures of skeletal growth the problem lies with the fact that the endpoint, or final adult size, is not always known. In cross-sectional studies, such as those that are conducted on any past population, whether fossil or more recent, the final growth attainment of any immature individual in the sample is both hypothetical and unknown. The mean value for mature individuals in the population under study can be used as an estimate of final growth attainment if this information is available. If other statistical parameters are known for the distribution of size in the adult population concerned, an estimate of error can also be made.

The evaluation of growth in terms of percentage of adult size has several advantages over straightforward measurement of absolute size attainment, particularly in a comparative context. The method adjusts for differences in adult size, and places the emphasis on the rate of progress towards adult size rather than actual size attained at any given age.

Type: Chapter
Information: Patterns of Growth and Development in the Genus Homo , pp. 144 - 169

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511542565.006 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Armelagos, G. J., Mielke, J. H., Owen, K. H., Gerven, D. P., Dewey, J. R., and Mahler, P. E. (1972). Bone growth and development in prehistoric populations from Sudanese Nubia. Journal of Human Evolution, 1, 89–119CrossRef Google Scholar

Bogin, B. (1999). Patterns of Human Growth, 2nd edn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Calder, P. C., & Jackson, A. A. (2000). Undernutrition, infection and immune function. Nutrition Research Reviews, 13, 3–29CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Demirjian, A. (1986). Dentition. In Human Growth: A Comprehensive Treatise, vol. 2, Postnatal Growth and Neurobiology, 2nd edn., eds. F. Falkner & J. M. Tanner, pp. 269–298. New York: Plenum PressCrossRef

Eveleth, P. B., & Tanner, J. M. (1990). Worldwide Variation in Human Growth, 2nd edn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Feldesman, M. R. (1992). Femur/stature ratio and estimates of stature in children. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 87, 447–459CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Fildes, V. A. (1995). The culture and biology of breastfeeding: An historical review of Western Europe. In Breastfeeding: Biocultural Perspectives, eds. P. Stuart-Macadam & K. A. Dettwyler, pp. 1–37. New York: Aldine de Gruyter

Garofalo, R. P., & Goldman, A. S. (1998). Cytokines, chemokines, and colony-stimulating factors in human milk: The 1997 update. Biology of the Neonate, 74, 134–142CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Hummert, J. R., & Gerven, D. P. (1983). Skeletal growth in a medieval population from Sudanese Nubia. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 60, 471–478CrossRef Google Scholar

Humphrey, L. T. (1998). Patterns of growth in the modern human skeleton. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 105, 57–723.0.CO;2-A>CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Humphrey, L. T. (2000). Growth studies of past populations: An overview and an example. In Human Osteology in Archaeology and Forensic Science, eds. S. Mays & M. Cox, pp. 25–38. Greenwich: Medical Media Ltd

Johnston, F. E. (1962). Growth of the long bones of infants and young children at Indian Knoll. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 20, 249–254CrossRef Google Scholar

Katzenberg, M. A., Herring, D. A., & Saunders, S. R. (1996). Weaning and infant mortality: Evaluating the skeletal evidence. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology, 39, 177–1993.0.CO;2-2>CrossRef Google Scholar

King, S. E., & Ulijaszek, J. (1999). Invisible insults during growth and development: Contemporary theories and past populations. In Human Growth in the Past: Studies from Bones and Teeth, eds. R. Hoppa & C. Fitzgerald, pp. 161–182. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Littleton, J. (1998). Skeletons and Social Composition: Bahrain 300 bc – ad 250, British Archaeological Reports International Series no. 703. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports

Lovejoy, C. O., Russell, K. F., & Harrison, M. L. (1990). Long bone growth velocity in the Libben population. American Journal of Human Biology, 2, 533–542CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Maresh, M. M. (1955). Linear growth of long bones of extremities from infancy through adolescence. American Journal of Diseases of Childhood, 89, 725–742Google Scholar PubMed

Maresh, M. M. (1970). Measurements from roentgenograms. In Human Growth and Development, ed. R. W. McCammon, pp. 157–200. Springfield: Charles C. Thomas

Mays, S. A. (1999). Linear and appositional long bone growth in earlier human populations: A case study from Mediaeval England. In Human Growth in the Past: Studies from Bones and Teeth, eds. R. Hoppa & C. Fitzgerald, pp. 290–312. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Menforth, R. P. (1985). Relative tibia long bone growth in the Libben and Bt-5 prehistoric skeletal populations. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 68, 247–262CrossRef Google Scholar

Merchant, V. L., & Ubelaker, D. H. (1977). Skeletal growth of the protohistoric Arikara. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 46, 61–72CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Molleson, T., & Cox, M. (1993). The Spitalfields Project, vol. 2, The Middling Sort, Council for British Archaeology Research Report no. 86. York: Council for British Archaeology

Ryan, A. S. (1976). Long bone growth in a prehistoric population from San Cristóbal, New Mexico. Michigan Discussions in Anthropology, 2, 55–75Google Scholar

Saunders, S. R. (1992). Subadult skeletons and growth related studies. In Skeletal Biology of Past Peoples: Research Methods, eds. S. R. Saunders & M. A. Katzenberg, pp. 1–19. New York: Wiley-Liss

Saunders, S. R., & Hoppa, R. D. (1993). Growth deficit in survivors and non-survivors: Biological mortality bias in subadult skeletal samples. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology, 36, 127–151CrossRef Google Scholar

Saunders, S., Hoppa, R., & Southern, R. (1993). Diaphyseal growth in a nineteenth-century skeletal sample of subadults from St Thomas's Church, Belleville, Ontario. International Journal of Osteoarcheology, 3, 265–281CrossRef Google Scholar

Scheuer, J. L., & Bowman, J. E. (1995). Correlation of documentary and skeletal evidence in the St. Brides's crypt population. In: Grave Reflections: Portraying the Past through Cemetery Studies, eds. S. R. Saunders & A. Herring, pp. 49–70. Toronto: Canadian Scholars' Press

Smith, B. H. (1991). Standards of human tooth formation and dental age assessment. In Advances in Dental Anthropology, eds. M. A. Kelley & C. S. Larson, pp. 143–168. New York: Wiley-Liss

Steegmann, A. T. (1985). 18th-century British military stature: Growth cessation, selective recruiting, selective trends, nutrition at birth, cold and occupation. Human Biology, 57, 77–95Google Scholar PubMed

Steyn, M., & Henneberg, M. (1996). Skeletal growth of children from the Iron Age site at K2 (South Africa). American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 100, 389–3963.0.CO;2-P>CrossRef Google Scholar

Stloukal, M., & Hanáková, H. (1978). Die Länge der Längsknochen altslawischer Bevölkerungen – unter besonderer Berücksichtigung von wachstumsfragen. Homo, 29, 53–69Google Scholar

Stuart-Macadam, P. (1995). Biocultural perspectives on breastfeeding. In Breastfeeding: Biocultural Perspectives, eds. P. Stuart-Macadam & K. A. Dettwyler, pp. 101–126. New York: Aldine de Gruyter

Sundick, R. I. (1978). Human skeletal growth and age determination. Homo, 29, 228–248Google Scholar

Tanner, J. M., Whitehouse, R. H., & Takaishi, M. (1966). Standards from birth to maturity for height, weight, height velocity and weight velocity: British children 1965. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 41, 454–471, 613–635CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Tayles, N. (1999). The People, vol. 5, The Excavation of Khok Phanom Di, a Prehistoric Site in Central Thailand, Reports of the Research Committee no. LXI. London: Society of Antiquaries

Thompson, J. L., & Nelson, A. J. (2000). The place of Neandertals in the evolution of hominid patterns of growth and development. Journal of Human Evolution, 38, 475–495CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Tompkins, R. L. (1996). Human population variability in relative dental development. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 99, 79–1023.0.CO;2-V>CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Wall, C. E. (1991). Evidence of weaning stress and catch-up growth in the long bones of a central Californian Amerindian sample. Annals of Human Biology, 18, 9–22CrossRef Google Scholar

Wood, J. W., Milner, G. R., Harpending, H. C., & Weiss, K. M. (1992). The osteological paradox: Problems of inferring prehistoric health from skeletal samples. Current Anthropology, 3, 343–370CrossRef Google Scholar