Chronic Maxillary Sinusitis: A comparison of osteological and CT methods of diagnosis.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the differences between endoscopic and radiological methods of analysis for diagnosing chronic maxillary sinusitis (CMS) in archaeological skeletal remains. MATERIALS: 32 crania from a Dutch post-medieval rural population. METHODS: We assessed the presence of bone changes indicative of CMS (i.e., bone growth and bone resorption) both endoscopically and through computed tomography (CT), and then compared results. RESULTS: We observed moderate agreement between bone growth scores obtained through endoscopy and CT, and fair agreement when assessing bone resorption. CONCLUSIONS: CMS prevalence rates observed through CT may be comparable to rates assessed endoscopically, although caution is needed when making direct comparisons. SIGNIFICANCE: This is the first study comparing data obtained through endoscopy and radiological methods in the study of CMS, informing paleopathologists about potential biases in data comparison. LIMITATIONS: Our small sample size likely impacted results. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH: Further research is advised to fully explore the comparability of endoscopic and radiological method of analysis in the study of sinusitis. DATA AVAILABILITY: The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are available upon request.

Osteological, multi-isotope and proteomic analysis of poorly-preserved human remains from a Dutch East India Company burial ground in South Africa.

Skeletal remains discovered in Simon's Town, South Africa, were hypothesised as being associated with a former Dutch East India Company (VOC) hospital. We report a novel combined osteological and biochemical approach to these poorly-preserved remains. A combined strontium (87Sr/86Sr), oxygen (δ18OVPDB) and carbon (δ13CVPDB) isotope analysis informed possible childhood origins and diet, while sex-specific amelogenin enamel peptides revealed biological sex. Osteological analyses presented evidence of residual rickets, a healed trauma, dental pathological conditions, and pipe notches. The combined isotope analyses yielded results for 43 individuals which suggested a diverse range of geological origins, including at least 16% of the population being non-local. The inclusion of δ13CVPDB had intriguing implications for three individuals who likely did not have origins in the Cape Town region nor in Europe. Peptide analysis on the dental enamel of 25 tested individuals confirmed they were all biologically male. We suggest that isolated enamel may provide crucial information about individuals' pathological conditions, geographical origins, diet, and biological sex. These data further demonstrated that a combined approach using multiple osteological and biochemical methods is advantageous for human remains which are poorly preserved and can contextualise a site with little direct evidence.

A distant city: Assessing the impact of Dutch socioeconomic developments on urban and rural health using respiratory disease as a proxy.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the prevalence of respiratory disease in several populations from the Netherlands across different time periods and socioeconomic conditions. MATERIALS: We analyzed 695 adult individuals from six different Dutch contexts of urban and rural settlements dating to different time periods (i.e., early-medieval, late-medieval, post-medieval). METHODS: For each individual, the presence/absence of chronic maxillary sinusitis, otitis media, and inflammatory periosteal reaction on ribs was recorded macroscopically according to accepted methods. RESULTS: Statistically significant associations were found in the presence of sinusitis diachronically (early-medieval to late-medieval period, and early-medieval to post-medieval period) both in rural and urban environments. Differences in prevalence rates of otitis media were found statistically significant when comparing rural to urban environments in the early-medieval and late-medieval periods. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that factors such as increased contact between towns and countryside, higher population densities, and intensification of agricultural production impacted the respiratory health of past populations both in rural and urban settings. SIGNIFICANCE: Our study provides new insights into the impact of environmental changes and urbanization on respiratory disease prevalence, shedding light on the relationship between health and changing social and environmental contexts. LIMITATIONS: Research limitations included the complex etiology of respiratory diseases, and the impact of uncontrollable factors such as hidden heterogeneity, selective mortality, and rural-to-urban migration. FUTURE RESEARCH: Further research in different contexts is advised in order to continue exploring urbanization and its impact on human health across both time and space.

Getting Rid of Dichotomous Sex Estimations: Why Logistic Regression Should be Preferred Over Discriminant Function Analysis.

Sex estimation is an important part of creating a biological profile for skeletal remains in forensics. The commonly used methods for developing sex estimation equations are discriminant function analysis (DFA) and logistic regression (LogR). LogR equations provide a probability of the predicted sex, while DFA relies on cutoff points to segregate males and females, resulting in a rigid dichotomization of the sexes. This is problematic because sexual dimorphism exists along a continuum and there can be considerable overlap in trait expression between the sexes. In this study, we used humeral measurements to compare the performance of DFA and LogR and found them to be very similar under multiple conditions. The overall cross-validated (leave-one-out) accuracy of DFA (75.76-95.14%) was slightly higher than LogR (75.76-93.82%) for simple and multiple variable equations, and also performed better under varying sample sizes (94.03% vs. 93.78%). Three of five DFA equations outperformed LogR under the B index, while all five LogR equations outperformed the DFA equations under the Q index. Both methods saw an improvement in overall accuracy (DFA: 86.74-95.79%; LogR: 86.74-95.76%) when individuals with a classification probability lower than 0.80 were excluded. Additionally, we propose a method for calculating additional cutoff points (PMarks) based on posterior probability values. In conclusion, we recommend using LogR over DFA due to the increased flexibility, robusticity, and benefits for future users of the statistical models; however, if DFA is preferred, use of the proposed PMarks facilitates future analysis while avoiding unnecessary dichotomization.

Elucidating inequality in Nubia: an examination of entheseal changes at Kerma (Sudan).

Located 10 km south of the Third Cataract of the Nile River, the ancient city of Kerma was once capital to the second largest state in Africa. The Eastern Cemetery at Kerma (∼4 km east of city center) encompasses 80+ hectares and was used over a period of 1,500 years (3,200-1,500 BC). Excavated in the early 20th century by George Reisner, the cemetery contained an estimated 20,000-40,000 individuals. Reisner classified these burials into multiple categories, including chiefs and human sacrifices, based on burial position and grave goods. This study investigates the skeletal embodiment of social inequality by examining variation in entheseal severity between the Kerma burial classifications. Seventeen entheses were examined using the Hawkey and Merbs (1995) scoring method (n = 205 individuals); age, sex, and body size variables were considered by employing Mann-Whitney U tests and partial Spearman's correlations. This analysis suggests that significant differences in entheseal changes existed between select burial types. Specifically, "corridor sacrifices" had significantly higher rates of entheseal changes while "chiefs" and "subsidiary burials" had similar entheseal changes; furthermore, within these burial categories, males had higher entheseal scores despite body size controls. The elevated entheseal changes in the sacrificial burials may be due to an intensive agro-pastoral lifestyle or other demanding forms of manual labor. In conclusion, the disparity of entheseal markers between burial subgroups at Kerma might reflect a degree of social inequality within this state level society. This bioarchaeological research informs our understanding of socially-defined categories of persons as well as everyday life in Ancient Kerma.

Activity patterns in New Kingdom Nubia: an examination of entheseal remodeling and osteoarthritis at Tombos.

The effects of Egyptian imperial expansion into Nubia during the New Kingdom Period (1,550-1,069 BC) have been debated. Here, the impacts of the Egyptian Empire are investigated through an examination of osteological indicators of activity at the archaeological site of Tombos. Entheseal changes to fibrocartilaginous attachment sites and osteoarthritis are examined to infer what types of physical activities this colonial town was engaging in. Many of the skeletal remains at Tombos were commingled due to looting in antiquity; undisturbed burials are presented as a subsample of the population (n = 28) in which age, sex, and body size can be considered. The total sample (n = 85) is then analyzed to better understand overall levels of activity. A number of Nile River Valley bioarchaeological samples are used as points of comparison to the Tombos population. Results indicate that the inhabitants of Tombos had relatively low entheseal remodeling scores; this is highlighted when Tombos is juxtaposed with comparative samples, particularly in men. Furthermore, osteoarthritis, as assessed by eburnation, was also markedly infrequent at Tombos. Collectively, these results indicate a relatively low level of activity and support the hypothesis that Tombos may have served as an administrative center.