BODY SIZE INDICATORS AND THE EXAMINATION OF STRESS FROM A GROWTH AND DEVELOMENT PERSPECTIVE: A NEW METHOD OF BIOARCHAEOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT

• Main Author: Scott, Amy B.
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Scholarship@Western 2009
• Subjects: growth and development; skeletal stress; body size; body size indicators; bioarchaeological methods; skeletal lesions; Sadlermiut Inuit; Sacred Heart Cemetery; regression analysis; environmental stress; cold climate adaptations; Sacred Heart; Southampton Island; inuit
• Online Access: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/digitizedtheses/3849; https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/context/digitizedtheses/article/7665/viewcontent/2023_02_04_Body_Size_Indicators_and_Stress__A_Growth_and_Development_Perspective_OCR.pdf

The purpose o f this thesis research is to introduce a new method to examine childhood stress episodes from adult skeletal remains. Through the use of indicators of adult body size and regression analysis, stress patterns were analyzed in two climatically different populations, the Sadlermiut Inuit of Southampton Island and the Sacred Heart Cemetery population from southwestern Ontario. By comparing body size indicators to one another in sequential order, it was possible to assess at what time during growth and development that certain individuals deviated from their normal growth patterns and experienced stress. As expected, the Sadlermiut and Sacred Heart samples demonstrated different stress patterns that can be linked to the different environmental contexts in which they lived. This research demonstrated the potential utility o f this new methodology and the use o f growth and development patterns to assess stress, especially when considered in conjunction with other methods.