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Harris Lines as Indicators of Physiological Stress in the Middle Holocene Cis-Baikal

Date

2022-12-19

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

ORCID

0000-0001-7382-9379

Type

Thesis

Degree Level

Masters

Abstract

Harris lines (HL) are thought to represent osteological indicators of physiological stress during early life but are often critiqued by scholars. Recent research, including this study, continues to challenge critiques such as a lack of standardized observational methods, loss of HL due to natural bone remodeling processes, and unclear relationships between physiological stress and HL formation. Including only individuals aged 0–25 years at time of death, this study examined differences in HL presence and frequency across three mortuary populations from the Middle Holocene Cis-Baikal (Russia). Of the three populations, two date to the Early Neolithic (EN) and one to the Late Neolithic (LN). Previous research demonstrates that EN individuals experienced more frequent and repetitive stress events, likely reflecting reduced access to or availability of resources. In order to test the effect of radiographic orientation on HL visibility, X-rays for this study were captured in both the standard clinical view (anterior-posterior; A-P) as well as an alternative view (medial-lateral; M-L) suggested to result in the identification of more HL. In total, radiographs were collected from 104 individuals (Shamanka II, n=52; Lokomotiv, n=23; Ust’-Ida I, n=29). However, 22 individuals were removed from the sample size prior to final statistical analyses due to misidentification by burial number or cultural period (i.e., some individuals from Ust’-Ida I belonged to the Early Bronze Age instead of the targeted LN). Lastly, the subsequent analyses showed two outliers from Ust’-Ida I that impacted the final data set and were thus removed for retesting and final interpretations (final n=80 individuals; Shamanka II, n=34; Lokomotiv, n=22; Ust’-Ida I, n=24). With the two hypotheses that 1) EN individuals will display higher prevalence and frequency of HL than LN individuals, and 2) images captured in the M-L orientation will display a higher number of visible HL, this study compared HL prevalence both from an inter-site perspective across the three cemeteries as well as from an intra-site perspective with consideration for age at death and sex. Findings from this study indicate a significantly higher number of visible HL in the M-L view but no statistically significant differences in HL prevalence across mortuary populations. Instead, the results of age category comparison found that 6–12-year-olds show the highest count of HL regardless of which mortuary site they originate from. There was also no statistically significant result when HL counts were compared between males and females, with respect to age or site. Given the limited final sample size (n=80), and the indeterminate sex of most younger individuals, the results nonetheless advocate for an age-centered approach when examining HL in conjunction with known indicators of physiological stress. Thus, this study approaches critiques regarding HL validity while actively contributing to understandings of overall stress experiences in the Middle Holocene Cis-Baikal.

Description

Keywords

Harris lines, transverse lines, Lake Baikal, hunter-gatherers, Middle Holocene, Early Neolithic, Late Neolithic, Physiological Stress, Stress, Osteological indicators of Stress

Citation

Degree

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Department

Archaeology and Anthropology

Program

Archeology

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DOI

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