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Transverse lines in long bones of prehistoric California Indians
Author(s) -
McHenry Henry
Publication year - 1968
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/ajpa.1330290110
Subject(s) - prehistory , horizon , subsistence agriculture , archaeology , sample (material) , culture of the united states , transverse plane , geography , geology , demography , history , biology , anatomy , art , mathematics , sociology , chemistry , geometry , agriculture , literature , chromatography
Radiopaque transverse lines (lines of arrested growth, Harris's lines) were counted on X‐rays of the distal end of 102 adult femurs from prehistoric California Indian populations representing three archaeological Horizons. The sample from Early Horizon has the highest frequency of lines, the Middle Horizon the next, and the sample from Late Horizon has the lowest frequency of lines. These differences are statistically significant. Archaeological evidence indicates that the Indians improved and broadened their subsistence economy from Early to Late Horizon. It is concluded that the differences in the frequency of lines among the three California Indian populations probably are associated with differences in morbidity and/or nutritional status of the people. If this hypothesis is correct, then frequency distribution of transverse lines represents a valuable tool for the paleopathologist and the archaeologist.