Discernment of mortality risk associated with childbirth in archaeologically derived forager skeletons.

Autor: Pfeiffer S; Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, 19 Russell Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 2S2; Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa. Electronic address: susan.pfeiffer@utoronto.ca., Doyle LE; Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, 19 Russell Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 2S2., Kurki HK; Department of Anthropology, University of Victoria, P.O. Box 1700, STN CSC, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada V8W 2Y2., Harrington L; Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta, 13-15 H. M. Tory Building, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2H4., Ginter JK; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Sheridan Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning, Oakville, Ontario, Canada L6H 2L1; Trent University Archaeology Research Centre (TUARC), 2120 East Bank Dr., Peterborough, Ontario, Canada K9J 7B8., Merritt CE; Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, 19 Russell Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 2S2.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: International journal of paleopathology [Int J Paleopathol] 2014 Dec; Vol. 7, pp. 15-24. Date of Electronic Publication: 2014 Jun 18.
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpp.2014.05.005
Abstrakt: An obstetric dilemma may have been a persistent characteristic of human evolution, in which the bipedal female's pelvis is barely large enough to accommodate the birth of a large-brained neonate. Evidence in the archaeological record for mortality risk associated with childbirth is rare, especially among highly mobile, immediate return hunter-gatherer populations. This research explores the idea that if excess mortality is associated with first pregnancy, females will outnumber males among young adult skeletons. The sample is of 246 skeletons (119 males, 127 females) representing Later Stone Age (LSA) foragers of the South African Cape. Young adults are distinguished through incomplete maturation of the medial clavicle, iliac crest and vertebral bodies. With 26 women and 14 men in the young category, a higher mortality risk for women is suggested, particularly in the Southern Cape region. Body size does not distinguish mortality groups; there is evidence of a dietary protein difference between young and older women from the Southern Cape. Possible increased mortality associated with first parturition may have been linked to morphological or energetic challenges, or a combination of both. Exploration of the sex ratio among young adult skeletons provides a tool for exploring the antiquity of an important evolutionary factor.
(Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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