Papers by Patty Stuart-Macadam
American Journal of Physical Anthropology, May 1, 1992
West African journal of archaeology, 1982
Routledge eBooks, Sep 29, 2017
American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Dec 1, 1987
Skull lesions known as porotic hyperostosis have been of interest to researchers since the mid-19... more Skull lesions known as porotic hyperostosis have been of interest to researchers since the mid-19th century. The etiology of porotic hyperostosis has long been a matter for speculation yet there has never been complete acceptance or substantiation of any one of the many theories proposed. Today the most widely accepted theory suggests that anemias of either acquired or genetic origin are responsible for porotic hyperostosis. The present study tests this hypothesis using criteria which were chosen after the examination of clinical radiographs of patients with various types of anemia. These criteria are: the presence of "hair-on-end" trabeculation, outer table thinning, texture changes, diploic thickening, orbital roof thickening, orbital rim changes, and the underdevelopment of frontal sinuses. A comparison of these criteria from the clinical X-rays with X-rays of skulls with porotic hyperostosis provides a more rigorous, repeatable, and standardized method upon which to base a diagnosis. This approach enables radiography to provide the necessary link between the clinical and anthropological with which to investigate the origin of porotic hyperostosis.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Dec 1, 1987
The etiology of skull lesions known as porotic hyperostosis has long been a matter for speculatio... more The etiology of skull lesions known as porotic hyperostosis has long been a matter for speculation. The most widely accepted theory at present suggests that an anemia, either acquired or genetic, is responsible for lesion development. However, acceptance of this theory is not universal and the nature of the relationship between orbital and vault lesions remains a controversial issue. This paper provides a much broader field of supportive evidence on which to base the anemia theory. This involves a synthesis of information from the clinical and anthropological literature as well as new data from two skeletal collections: Poundbury Camp, a Romano-British series, and the Hodgson collection, a 19th century East Asian series. A comparison is made between clinical and anthropological data at the macroscopic, microscopic, radiographic, and demographic levels of analysis. This approach reveals the similarities in expression between clinically diagnosed anemias and porotic hyperostosis.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Oct 1, 1989
The exact nature of the relationship between orbital and skull vault lesions of porotic hyperosto... more The exact nature of the relationship between orbital and skull vault lesions of porotic hyperostosis has remained a controversial issue among anthropologists. Many researchers believe that lesions in both areas are related and have a common etiology; others remain unconvinced of any relationship and prefer to consider orbital and vault lesions as separate conditions with their own etiology. This paper explores the issue by comparing data on microscopic, macroscopic, radiographic, and demographic aspects of orbital and vault lesions from both clinical and anthropological studies. The results of these comparisons support the views that there is a relationship between lesions on both areas and that they share a common etiology.
American Journal of Archaeology, Apr 1, 2000
American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Apr 1, 1985
Porotic hyperostosis is currently considered to be one of several stress markers available for as... more Porotic hyperostosis is currently considered to be one of several stress markers available for assessing the health and nutritional status of past human populations. The present study questions one of the basic assumptions underlying its use; that is, that the occurrence of porotic hyperostosis in an individual represents an episode of anemia that was current or had occurred within a relatively short period prior to death. A synthesis of data from a Romano-British site Poundbury Camp, anthropological and clinical studies, and information on bone physiology suggests that lesions of porotic hyperostosis seen in adults are most probably representative of a childhood episode of anemia. Lesions seen in adults are the result of bone changes occurring in the growth period that have not undergone complete remodelling. This viewpoint has implications for future interpretation of data on porotic hyperostosis obtained from skeletal collections.
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Dec 7, 2000
International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 2000
International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 2001
Today, distal humeral fractures occur most frequently in children and adolescents, and are usuall... more Today, distal humeral fractures occur most frequently in children and adolescents, and are usually the result of a fall onto extended arms, or less often on flexed elbows. Trauma to the distal humerus at the physis and epiphyses often produces non-displaced or mildly displaced fractures that are difficult to recognize radiographically. To help identify these types of injuries, clinicians have developed two measurement techniques that are applied to the X-rays of the injured bones. In a preliminary attempt to assess the usefulness of these measurement techniques for recognizing trauma in archaeological skeletal remains, 25 humeri from two Ontario ossuary samples were submitted to radiography. Clinical data on distal humeral fractures, their incidence, and mechanisms of injury were also used to interpret the lifestyles and cultural activities of the aboriginal individuals under study. While only one healed fracture was suspected after gross observation, a total of four fractures were ultimately identified using the two measurements, the humerotangential-angle (HTA) and the anterior humeral line (AHL). Our results provide indirect, but telling, evidence of accidental childhood injuries to distal humerus in an archaeological population.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 1993
The multifactorial aging method has been shown to be a highly reliable method of skeletal aging b... more The multifactorial aging method has been shown to be a highly reliable method of skeletal aging because it incorporates age information from as many age indicators as are available for each skeleton (Lovejoy et al.; Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 68:1–14, 1985). The present study was a blind test to assess its accuracy on a skeletal sample composed of 55 individuals with verified death certificates (Grant Collection, University of Toronto). Three authors (C. O. L., M. E. B., and K. F. R.), with no access to the death certificate ages, independently seriated and aged the sample using three to four criteria: auricular surface, pubic symphysis, and radiographs of the proximal femur and clavicle. Summary ages were then calculated for each individual in the sample.The authors' independent summary age estimates showed strong correlations with one another (r = 0.84–0.89). Multifactorial age estimates correlated better with real age than did those from any single indicator used. The mean error...
American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 1992
Porotic hyperostosis is a paleopathologic condition that has intrigued researchers for over a cen... more Porotic hyperostosis is a paleopathologic condition that has intrigued researchers for over a century and a half. It is now generally accepted that anemia, most probably an iron deficiency anemia, is the etiologic factor responsible for lesion production. Although there can be a number of factors involved in the development of iron deficiency anemia, a dietary explanation has often been invoked to explain the occurrence of porotic hyperostosis in past human skeletal populations. In fact, porotic hyperostosis has been referred to as a “nutritional” stress indicator. Traditionally those groups with a higher incidence of porotic hyperostosis have been considered to be less successful in adapting to their environment or more nutritionally disadvantaged than other groups.A new perspective is emerging that is challenging previous views of the role of iron in health and disease, thus having profound implications for the understanding of porotic hyperostosis. There is a new appreciation of ...
Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 1994
Anemia of infection and chronic disease has traditionally been considered a disorder associated w... more Anemia of infection and chronic disease has traditionally been considered a disorder associated with infections/inflammation. We instead propose that the anemia of infection and chronic disease confers protection from pathogen or neoplastic invasion. There is substantial microbiological and medical research that indicates that the anemia of infection and chronic disease may be a non-specific immunological defense. We suggest it is analogous to fever, which was also originally considered to be a disorder in need of treatment but which is now seen as a positive response of the host to microbial invasion. We suggest that these two non-specific defenses against microorganism proliferation may have evolved together as complementary strategies the body employs to ward off disease.
Man, 1994
This volume serves to challenge the conventional views of the relationship between health, diseas... more This volume serves to challenge the conventional views of the relationship between health, disease, and iron; of the symptomatic role of low iron levels; of cultural imperatives related to diet, such as daily meat intake; and of prescribed iron fortification. The contributors are leading researchers in ethnography, archaeology, physical anthropology, microbiology, and medicine.
Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association, 2008
American Journal of Human Biology, 2000
Breastfeeding is a biocultural phenomenon: not only is it a biological process, but it is also a ... more Breastfeeding is a biocultural phenomenon: not only is it a biological process, but it is also a culturally determined behavior. As such, it has important implications for understanding the past, present, and future condition of our species. In general, scholars have emphasized either the biological or the cultural aspects of breastfeeding, but not both. As biological anthropologists the editors of this volume feel that an evolutionary approach combining both aspects is essential. One of the goals of their book is to incorporate data from diverse fields to present a more holistic view of breastfeeding, through the inclusion of research from a number of different disciplines, including biological and social/cultural anthropology, nutrition, and medicine. The resulting book, presenting the complexity of the issues surrounding very basic decisions about infant nutrition, will fill a void in the existing literature on breastfeeding.
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Papers by Patty Stuart-Macadam