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Long bone lengths and gestational age distributions of post‐contact period Arikara Indian perinatal infant skeletons
Author(s) -
Owsley Douglas W.,
Jantz Richard L.
Publication year - 1985
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.1330680303
Subject(s) - context (archaeology) , perinatal period , gestational period , gestational age , medicine , fetus , socioeconomic status , malnutrition , obstetrics , pregnancy , population , geography , biology , environmental health , archaeology , genetics
Prenatal growth is adversely affected by poor socioeconomic conditions where disease and chronic undernutrition prevail. Premature and small‐for‐gestational‐age births occur at higher frequency. Post‐contact Arikara Indian populations of South Dakota experienced a rapidly changing and disruptive environment that included deterioration of the subsistence base and increased morbidity. This research tests resulting fetal growth effects through comparative analysis of two perinatal infant samples of the early (A. D. 1600–1733) and the late (A. D. 1760–1835) post‐contact period. Perinatal infants recovered from late cemeteries include a higher percentage of smaller skeletons, as determined using long bone diaphyseal lengths, than is documented for the earlier time period. This contrast shows that it is possible to detect fetal growth differences in samples of archaeological context.