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Normal growth, altered growth? Relationship between Harris lines and bone form within a Modern plague cemetery (Dendermonde, Belgium, 16th century).

par Boucherie, Alexandra ;Castex, Dominique;Polet, Caroline ;Kacki, Sacha
Référence 17th annual conference of the British Association of Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology (BABAO) (14 au 16 septembre 2015: Sheffield)
Publication Publié, 2015-09-14

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Résumé :

Harris lines (HLs), i.e. transverse mineralized lines thought to reflect temporary arrest of growth, are commonly used in paleopathology to reconstruct the health status of past populations. However, the etiology of HLs is still obscure. The aim of this research is to test the reliability of HLs as a marker of arrested growth by investigating their incidence on the metrical parameters of the skeletons from a post-medieval plague cemetery (Termonde, Belgium, 16th century). The study was performed on 69 individuals (28 adults, 41 subadults), for whom HLs were rated on distal femurs and both ends of tibias. Overall prevalence and age-at-formation of each line were calculated. Statistical analyses were conducted within the subadult and adult samples to test if the presence of HLs impacted size and shape of bones. Results show that more than a half of the skeletons exhibit at least one HL. The age-at-formation peak was estimated between 5 and 9 years old for the subadults and between 10 and 14 years old for the adults. Although the presence of HLs did not affect the size of bones, significance differences were found for shape parameters. Subadults with HLs displayed shorter shape parameters than the subadults without HLs whereas the adults with HLs had taller measurements than the ones without. The results suggest that HLs formed at different period did not reveal the same underlying causes. HLs deposited around the puberty are more likely to be physiological lines linked to hormonal secretions.