An Osteological Test of Changes in Subsistence and Settlement Patterns at Casas

Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico

David S. Weaver

American Antiquity, Vol. 46, No. 2. (Apr., 1981), pp. 361-364.

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 REPORTS

Spiess, Arthur
1979 Reindeer and caribou hunters. Academic Press, New York.
Stephens. C. A.
1874 The young moose hunters. Henry L. Shepard, Boston.

AN OSTEOLOGICAL TEST OF CHANGES IN SUBSISTENCE

AND SETTLEMENT PATTERNS AT CASAS GRANDES, CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO

David S. Weaver

Infant and child skeletal remains from the site of Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico, were examined for
particular skeletal pathologies. The observed frequencies of those pathologies do not support a hypothesis of a
temporal shift in subsistence patterns. A hypothesized change in settlement pattern is supported by the in-
crease of a particular class of skeletal lesions.

Archaeologists and osteologists have long been familiar with the value of recovering and study-
ing human skeletal remains from archaeological sites. Paleodemography, migration, violence, and
numerous other aspects of the lives of the occupants of a site can and have been inferred with
varying success by numerous investigators (e.g., Saul 1976).
Specific archaeological hypotheses have not often been tested using osteology, however. Either
explicit hypotheses a r e not evident or, a s is more often the case, a test using osteological informa-
tion is not clear. Often the data obtained through osteology a r e not sufficiently restrictive to prcF
vide a n adequate test of a n available hypothesis.
In the case offered in this paper, it has been possible to substantiate a general archaeological
hypothesis-that of population increase and consolidation-through the examination of the
pathology of the human skeletal remains from a site. A specific class of skeletal lesions, porotic
hyperostosis and periosteal reactions, which a r e most probably due to nutritional and disease
stresses (Mensforth et al. 1978),have been studied for the skeletal material from the site of Casas
Grandes, and these show patterns of occurrence which support the hypothesis of population in-
crease and consolidation.
Porotic hyperostosis and periosteal reactions a r e types of skeletal lesions involving, respective-
ly, the cranium and the postcranial skeleton. Porotic hyperostosis is characterized by a spongy
outer bone surface, spicules of bone which appear to stand "on end" in the lesion, and thinning of
both the inner and outer tables of bone (El-Najjar and Robertson 1976). These lesions a r e distinc-
tive and dramatic, and they have been noted and discussed by numerous authors since a t least the
late 1800s (see Mensforth et al. 1978).
Periosteal reactions a r e most often evidenced by inflated, spiculated areas of new bone growth
over the cortex of the shafts of long bones (Greenfield 1975). These lesions a r e also distinctive,
although they a r e sometimes less obvious when postmortem erosion of the long bones has taken
place.

David S. Weaver, Department of Anthropology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109

Copyright O 1981 by the Society for American Archaeology

0002-7316!81!020361-04$0.90!1
 AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 46, No. 2,19811

Table 1. Age Distribution-Viejo vs. Medio Periods.

Ane Observed Ex~ected

Under 2 years
2-5 years
x ~ (= ~.09)nonsignificant

Mensforth et al. (1978)and El-Najjar (1976)have discussed both types of lesions in detail. Sum-
marized, their conclusions a r e that porotic hyperostosis can be viewed a s usually resulting from
irondeficiency anemia and that periosteal reactions a r e usually responses to infectious disease.
El-Najjar (1976)has argued convincingly that other available causes of these sorts of lesions a r e
either highly unlikely or a s yet unsubstantiated for New World indigenous populations.
Infants and children a r e more susceptible to both anemia and infection than adults, due to their
smaller size, lower energy reserves, and higher metabolism. Also, of course, several life
"crises"-birth, weaning, and periods of rapid growth, for example-occur within a short time
during infancy and childhood. Infants and children a r e also susceptible to communicable infec-
tious diseases. Adults a r e characteristically more stable and, therefore, less interesting for pur-
poses of the study of nutrition and most diseases.

THE SAMPLE
A11 (157) of the infant and child skeletons (see DiPeso et al. 1974:326)recovered for the Viejo
and Medio periods from the site of Casas Grandes, in the modern state of Chihuahua, Mexico,
were examined by the author for skeletal evidence of pathology. A total of 93 individuals were
sufficiently complete (both crania and postcrania present) for inclusion in the analysis of the fre-
quency patterning of porotic hyperostosis and periosteal reactions. Of those, 20 individuals dated
to the Viejo period and 73 to the Medio period. Because of the excellent archaeological control
and good condition of the remains, this fairly large skeletal sample afforded a n opportunity,
through skeletal evidence of pathology, to examine the consequences of several archaeologically
documented changes between the two time periods a s Casas Grandes.

THE PROBLEM
DiPeso et al, (1974: Chapters 14, 15, 16) outline several changes which took place a t Casas
Grandes between the Viejo (A.D. 700 50-1060) and Medio (A.D. 1060-1340) periods. The trade
network of Casas Grandes seems to have expanded radically in the Medio period (DiPeso
1974:309). Possibly a s a consequence of that expansion, seven varieties of maize have been iden-
tified from the Medio period, while no specific identifications have been made for the much less
common Viejo period maize (Cutler and Blake 1974). Also during the Medio period, housing and
settlement patterns became less open and more nucleated, due both to a n increase in population
and to changes in architectural style (DiPeso 1974:313).
Several expectations concerning the character of observable pathologies in the skeletal

Table 2. Frequency of Cranial Lesions-Viejo vs. Medio Periods.

Porotic
Hyperostosis Observed Expected
Present 35 29
Absent 38 44
x ~ (= ~2.06
, nonsignificant
 REPORTS

Table 3. Frequency of Skeletal Lesions-Viejo vs. Medio Periods.

Condition Observed Expected

Lesions present (all
types) 50 40
No lesions 23 33

material can be derived given the inferred cultural changes between the two periods. First, if the
greater inferred variety of maize in the later period reflects a n increased dependence on maize
and a reduction in available animal fats in the typical diet, a n increase in porotic hyperostosis,
the cranial lesions attributed primarily to anemias, would be expected. That the relationship be-
tween high maize content and low animal fat intake in the diet is a cause for persistent anemias
and porotic hyperostosis is widely acknowledged (see El-Najjar 1976).
Second, even if the available diet was in fact little changed through time, greater crowding and
increased sanitary risks would have caused the frequency of evidence of infectious disease
(periosteal reactions) to increase in the Medio period, thus increasing the overall incidence of
skeletal pathologies.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Forty-four of the 73 individuals from the Medio period were aged according to several standard
methods in a n effort to refine the reported age categories (DiPeso et al. 1974). When possible,
dental eruption standards (see Ubelaker 1978) were used. When dentition was not available, in-
dividuals were assigned ages using diaphyseal long bone lengths, adjusted for the expected
growth rates of children under primarily agricultural diets (Weaver 1977). The remaining 29 in-
dividuals were not complete enough to allow confident aging, but they were used in the analysis of
the frequency of skeletal pathologies. Table 1 shows the revised age distribution of the Casas
Grandes Medio period sample. Expected values for this test were produced using the observed
age distribution of the Viejo period sample. The age categories used were chosen to include the
most likely anemia producing episodes, nursing and weaning, in the younger group. No significant
difference in mortality by age was observed for the two periods.
If there was an increased dependence on maize in the Medio period, the frequency of porotic
hyperostosis should have increased. When the frequency of porotic hyperostosis was tested, us-
ing the Viejo period sample to generate expected values; no significant difference was found (see
Table 2). Thus, a substantial difference in dependence on maize between the two periods is not in-
dicated. The number of occurrences of porotic hyperostosis is high, nonetheless, indicating that
the implied anemias were a n impcrtant, albeit consistent, stress on infants and children at Casas
Grandes.
Since a change in subsistence at Casas Grandes is not supported, a significant increase in
skeletal pathology due to the occurrence of periosteal reactions should indicate a change in
sanitary risks and evidence of infectious disease. When the frequency of periosteal reactions
noted for the Medio period was added to the underlying evidence for nutritionally based
pathology and tested against the frequency of all skeletal pathology for the Viejo period, a signifi-
cant increase in skeletal pathology was noted (see Table 3). An increased presence of infectious
disease for the Medio period is indicated. Such an increase would have particularly powerful im-
pact on the Casas Grandes infants, who were already stressed by dietary anemias.
In conclusion, it has been possible, through a n examination of specific types of pathology a s
found in the human skeletal remains from Casas Grandes, to address several propositions devel-
oped from the archaeological information. A shift in dietary patterns to a greater dependence on
maize agriculture is not indicated. Support for a change in settlement form is found, however, in
the increase during the Medio period of the skeletal signs of infectious disease.
364 AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 46, No. 2,19611

Acknowledgments. Dr. Charles C. DiPeso, of the Amerind Foundation, Dragoon, Arizona, graciously made
the Casas Grandes skeletal material available. The study of the material was made possible by funds from
Wake Forest University, provided through the auspices of Dean Thomas E. Mullen.

REFERENCES CITED
Cutler, Hugh C., and Leonard W. Blake
1974 Corn from Casas Grandes. In Casas Grandes (Vol. VIII), by Charles C. DiPeso, John B. Rinaldo,
and Gloria J. Fenner, pp. 308-314. The Amerind Foundation, Dragoon, Arizona.
DiPeso, Charles C.
1974 Casas Grandes (Vol. 11). The Amerind Foundation, Dragoon. Arizona.
DiPeso, Charles C., John B. Rinaldo, and Gloria J. F e m e r
1974 Casas Grandes (Vol. VIII). The Amerind Foundation. Dragoon, Arizona.
El-Najjar, Mahmoud Y.
1976 Maize, malaria and the anemias in the pre-Columbian New World. Yearbook of Physical Anthro-
pology 20:329-337.
El-Najjar, Mahmoud Y . , and Abel L. Robertson
1976 Spongy bones in prehistoric America. Science 193:141-143.
Greenfield, George B.
1975 Radiology of bone diseases [second ed.). Lippincott. Philadelphia.
Mensforth, Robert P., C. Owen Lovejoy, John W. Lallo, and George J. Armelagos
1978 The role of constitutional factors, diet, and infectious disease in the etiology of porotic hyperostosis
and periosteal reactions in prehistoric infants and children. Medical Anthropology 2(1):1-59.
Saul, Frank P.
1976 Osteobiography: life history recorded in bone. In The measures of man, edited by E. Giles and
J. S. Friedlander, pp. 372-382. Peabody Museum Press, Cambridge, Mass.
Ubelaker, Douglas H.
1978 Human skeletal remains. Aldine, Chicago.
Weaver, David S.
1977 New methods for the determination of sex, age, and rates of growth of infant and child skeletal re-
mains in prehistoric American Indian populations. Unpublished Ph.D, dissertation, Department of An-
thropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.

BUFFER ZONES IN THE CULTURAL ECOLOGY OF

ABORIGINAL AMAZONIA: AN ETHNOHISTORICAL APPROACH

Warren R. DeBoer

Historical and archaeological evidence indicates that unoccupied buffer zones were a pervasive feature of
the aboriginal cultural ecology of Amazonian floodplains. Buffer zones in Ucayali culture history a r e examined
in detail, and the more general implications that such zones have for interpretations of Amazonian prehistory
and ecology a r e discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to document the p r e ~ ~ a l e n and

c e to assess the significance of buffer
zones in the cultural ecology of aboriginal Amazonia. Emphasis will be placed on the Amazon
mainstream and its major tributaries. The historical literature of the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries suggests that a s much a s onequarter to one-half of the Amazon mainstream was taken

Warren R. DeBoer, Laboratory of Archaeology, Queens College, CUNY, Flushing, NY 11367

Copyright 1981 by the Society for American Archaeology

0002-73161811020384-14$1.9011