Premium
The etiology of porotic hyperostosis among the prehistoric and historic Anasazi Indians of Southwestern United States
Author(s) -
ElNajjar Mahmoud Y.,
Ryan Dennis J.,
Turner Christy G.,
Lozoff Betsy
Publication year - 1976
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.1330440311
Subject(s) - prehistory , canyon , population , geography , archaeology , medicine , environmental health , cartography
Porotic hyperostosis was studied in 539 crania from maizegrowing prehistoric and historic groups who occupied two dissimilar ecological zones of the Plateau country of Arizona and New Mexico—canyon bottoms and sage plain. Defined as abnormal localized sieve‐like structural changes involving the hematopoietic areas of the cranium, it was found in 185 (34.3%) of these skulls. More frequent in children than in adults, it shows significant frequency differences between both children and adults of the two ecological zones. The two ecological zones differ in the availability of iron in the diet; the canyon inhabitants depended heavily on maize (which interferes with iron absorption) while the sage plain people consumed more iron‐rich animal products. We hypothesize that an increased dependence on maize produced more iron deficiency anemia and resulted in more porotic hyperostosis. Maize is known to have permitted a food surplus which in turn allowed for increased South‐western population growth in marginal areas like the canyon bottoms. Heavy dependency on a single food type with consequent hematologic problems may have been an important reason for the subsequent abandonment of the Anasazi region.