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Dynamic bone remodeling in later Pleistocene fossil hominids
Author(s) -
Abbott Stephen,
Trinkaus Erik,
Burr David B.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1096-8644(199604)99:4<585::aid-ajpa5>3.0.co;2-t
Subject(s) - pleistocene , osteoclast , bone remodeling , population , resorption , biology , bone histomorphometry , anatomy , paleontology , osteoporosis , trabecular bone , medicine , in vitro , endocrinology , biochemistry , environmental health , genetics
Abstract Histomorphometric analysis of femoral and tibial diaphyseal fragments from seven Late Archaic and three Early Modern humans are compared with those of the Pecos, a pre‐Columbian Native American population. The ten samples, from Broken Hill (EM‐793), Shanidar 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, Tabun 1, and Skhul 3, 6, and 7, provide age‐at‐death results consistent with earlier estimates for most individuals. The Pleistocene groups exhibit less bone turnover and smaller osteons than Recent populations. Resorption and formation were both coupled and balanced in these Pleistocene populations, but the overall vigor of individual cells from both the osteoclast and osteoblast cell lines was less than in Recent populations. Thus the greater bone mass in Later Pleistocene members of the genus Homo is not the result of higher levels of bone turnover, at least among adults. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.