Better teeth, better health? The relationship between enamel hypoplasia and osteological stress markers in EBA population from Northern Serbia

Abstract

The Early and Middle Bronze Age Maros culture has been the subject of many archaeological studies aiming to answer questions related to social differentiation, status, and life histories. Archaeological and skeletal material from the necropolises of Mokrin and Ostojićevo has been employed numerous times to answer questions on status, diet, activity and kinship. Even though some things have become clearer, further information on the health status of these Bronze Age populations is needed for a deeper understanding of the social mechanisms and norms of the Maros culture. This paper examines the health status of a Bronze Age population from two archaeological sites, Mokrin and Ostojićevo, using osteological markers of stress and enamel hypoplasia. We hypothesise that individuals who experienced childhood stress, as evidenced by enamel hypoplasia, would exhibit greater vulnerability to infections and disease, as indicated by the presence and frequency of osteological stress markers. The analysis was conducted on a sample of skeletal remains, controlled for age-at-death, and assessed the correlation between enamel hypoplasia and cribra orbitalia, porotic hyperostosis, and periostosis. The findings indicate that reducing the health status to a single osteological stress marker is not a viable approach for this sample size. The analysis of consolidated variables, considering the presence and frequency of any osteological stress markers, yielded more promising results. The frequency of osteological markers showed a statistically significant positive correlation with both the presence and frequency of enamel hypoplasia; so we highlight the importance of considering multiple osteological markers of stress when assessing health status in the past populations.

Rano i srednjebronzanodopska kultura Maroš bila je predmet mnogih arheoloških istraživanja koja su imala za cilj odgovoriti na pitanja društvenog usložnjavanja, statusa i načina života. Arheološki i skeletni materijal s nekropola Mokrin i Ostojićevo više puta je korišćen da odgovori na pitanja o statusu, ishrani, fizičkoj aktivnosti i srodstvu. Iako su neki aspekti života nosioca maroške kulture postali jasniji, neophodne su detaljnije informacije o zdravstvenom stanju ovih bronzanodopskih populacija za dublje razumevanje društvenih mehanizama i normi kulture Maroš. Ovaj rad bavi se pitanjem zdravstvenog statusa populacija sahranjenih na nekropolama Mokrin i Ostojićevo oslanjajući se na skeletne markere stresa i hipoplaziju zubne gleđi. Naša hipoteza drži da su individue koje su u detinjstvu preživele epizodu stresa, koja je ostala zabeležena kao defekat gleđi, posledično imale veće šanse da svoju uvećanu osetljivost na infekcije i bolesti ispolje kroz veću prisustnost skeletnih markera stresa. Analiza je uređena uzimajući u obzir teoriju osteološkog paradoksa, te uz kontrolisanje starosti inidividua, prateći korelacije između hipoplazije zubne gleđi i kribre orbitalije, porotične hiperostoze i periostoze. Rezultati ukazuju da svođenje zdravstvenog statusa na praćenje samo jednog skeletnog markera stresa nije odgovarajući pristup, posebno kod relativno malih skeletnih serija. Analize koje su se koristile konsolidovanim varijablama prisustva i frekvencije skeletnih markera pokazale su se kao bolji pristup. Učestalost osteoloških markera stresa dalo je statistički značajnu korelaciju sa prisustvom i učestalošću hipoplazije zubne gleđi, te ukazuje na važnost praćenja više različitih markera stresa prilikom procenjivanja skeletnog statusa populacija u prošlosti.