Osteobiographical Investigations: The Case of Anomalies in the Spine

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This research reconstructs the osteobiography of an unprovenienced male individual that is part of an anatomical collection house at the University of Oklahoma to get more information about his life. This is done by reconstructing his biological profile and investigating possible habitual activity through skeletal indicators. Specifically, the analysis activity will involve studying underlying causes that could have contributed to the development of an exostosis on the thoracic spinal lamina. The research questions include: (1) What are the structures influencing the development of an exostosis on the spinal lamina? (2) Are these changes consistent with adaptive bone modeling? (3) What can this tell us about the life of this individual? Preliminary results indicate that the rotatores muscle groups act directly on the area. These muscles are responsible for the extension and rotation of the thoracic spine. The presented development of the exostosis corresponds to what is expected from remodeling/modeling of an entheseal attachment site. The development suggests a need for a more precise and efficient attachment for the tendon insertion of these muscles, possibly due to repeated significant loading events involving extension and rotation of T8-11.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• SAA 2021: General Sessions

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32854