AAPA abstracts - University of Bristol

104 AAPA ABSTRACTS
Fracture analyse of historical long
bones.
NADINE CARLICHI 1 , FLORIAN
FISCHER 2 , KRISTIN VON HEYKING 1 ,
and GISELA GRUPE 1 . 1 LMU Biocenter,
Department Biology I, Anthropology
and Human Genetics, Ludwig-Maximilians-University
of Munich, Planegg-
Martinsried, Germany,
2
Institut of
Legal Medicine of Munich, Germany.
In the course of archaeological excavations
traumatic injuries are often found,
especially fractures, which can be
detected relatively well in human bone.
Fractures are defined as a disruption of
the continuity of a skeletal element,
exceeding the maximum limits of the
structures elasticity under the forces of
pressure, tension or bending. The identification
of such lesions leads to important
information about the interaction
of a prehistoric population with warfare,
interpersonal violence and other
aspects of daily life (Aufderheide and
Rodriguez-Martin 1998).
Because of a long exposure to the burial
environment or through the impact of
different forces, e.g.: root predation, low
pH-value or mechanical deformation by
the soil, some fractures cannot be recognized
as such (Wahl 2001).
In most published studies, a warlike
past is in the main focus. Skeletal series-covering
fracture types are seldom
determined and compared with each
other.
The object of this study is a comparison
between modern clinical data from the
Institute for Legal Medicine in Munich
and ancient fracture types, to check
whether certain fracture patterns are
phenomena of recent times or whether
fracture types occur intertemporally
and irrespective of the prevalent forces.
For this, long bones from different medieval,
spatiotemporally defined skeletal
series at the Bavarian State Collection
for Anthropology and Paleoanatomy
with notation of a trauma were selected.
Because most fractures have healed
well, a method consisting of morphological
analysis, x-ray and CT-scan is used
to make the fracture line visible and to
identify the fracture type.
Isotopic nutritional ecology at
Ngogo, Kibale National Park,
Uganda.
BRYCE CARLSON and JOHN KINGS-
TON. Department of Anthropology,
Emory University.
Despite the acknowledged significance of
dietary shifts in human evolution,
anthropologists today are only marginally
closer to understanding dietary
niches of early hominin lineages. The
useofstableisotopicanalysestoreconstruct
paleodiets has largely been limited
to gross distinctions of C3 versus C4 consumption
and hampered by a poor
understanding of ecological factors con-
American Journal of Physical Anthropology
trolling isotopic variability. This project
is the first to utilize bulk as well as compound
specific isotopic analyses within a
forested East African environment resident
to over 7 species of large and small
bodied primates. As such, this project
seeks to create a methodological baseline
from which to begin refining previous
and future analyses of tissue d 13 C and
d 15 N in the reconstruction of early hominin
dietary patterns.
Collection of plants from Ngogo, Kibale
National Park in Uganda, spanning
both wet and dry seasons resulted in
over 400 individual samples from 40 different
species. Sampling included those
foods most commonly consumed by
endemic chimpanzees, as well as a number
of less consumed species to ensure
representation by each class of food
items (including flowers, pith, cambium,
leaves, fruit, vertebrate prey, etc). Bulk
and compound specific isotopic analyses
were then conducted on nested groups
of samples to tease apart the origins of
amino acid and bulk level variability.
Analyses revealed seasonal, as well as
intra- and inter-species differences in
d 13 C and d 15 N that inform our understanding
of isotopic variability in an
East African tropical forest habitat and
provide a foundation for interpreting
isotopic signatures of early hominin material.
This study was funded by the National
Science Foundation, grant number
0925785, and The Leakey Foundation.
Linearity in the real world – an
experimental assessment of nonlinearity
in terrestrial locomotion.
KRISTIAN J. CARLSON 1,2 . 1 Institute
for Human Evolution, University of the
Witwatersrand, 2 Department of Anthropology,
Indiana University.
Cross-sectional geometric properties of
long bones are widely applied in inferring
primate behavioral repertoires. Amongst
hominins, these are particularly useful
for reconstructing mobility patterns. Experimental
studies of long bone loads
characterizing locomotor activities, however,
demonstrate disconnect between
measured and theoretical loads predicted
from bone morphology. This complicates
population-level comparisons. The lack of
a consistent definition for mobility, likely
a multifactorial phenomen, further complicates
these comparisons.
In order to contribute towards a consensus
definition of mobility, I address one
specific factor – non-linear locomotion.
Following an instantaneous focal sampling
protocol, locomotor behavior was
documented multiple times per day for
individuals. Custom-designed cages accentuated
zig-zag (condition 1) or linear locomotion
(condition 2), while control mice
inhabited standard laboratory cages. At
the termination of the experiment, limb
bones were harvested for microCT scanning
and structural analysis. Combining
results from a previous experiment using
growing BALB/cByJ female mice (n 5
30), and a second experiment (n 5 35)
using growing C57BL/6J female mice, I
compare structural effects of movement
regimes amongst them, and by lineage.
Femoral cross-sectional properties (e.g.,
cortical areas, second moments of area,
polar moment of area, shape ratios) and
activity profiles were compared. C57BL/
6J groups differed amongst themselves in
activity level more than BALB/cByJ
groups. Zig-zag mice tended to have more
elliptical diaphyses in both groups. Linear
and control mice differed less often in
many properties. Distinctiveness of
shapes in zig-zag mice across the lineages
supports the idea that non-linear movements
(e.g., turning) likely have a recognizable
effect on long bone structure.
Supported by the NYCOM Office of
Research.
Ramifications of insufficient DHA:
evidence from studies during pregnancy
and infancy.
SUSAN E. CARLSON. Department of
Dietetics and Nutrition, University of
Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City,
KS.
The 22 carbon n-3 fatty acid, DHA,
accumulates rapidly in forebrain beginning
around the 24th week of gestation
and the concentration increases at a
near linear rate through the first 2
years of age. Although the increase in
brain DHA in the last trimester is quite
dramatic, it is small compared to accretion
in a) adipose tissue of the fetus and
b) forebrain in the first 2 years of postnatal
life. The DHA that accumulates in
adipose tissue during fetal life is
believed to be a reservoir for postnatal
DHA needs of the newborn; e.g., the
amount of DHA as a percent of total
fatty acids in adipose tissue declines
rapidly after birth. Studies of postnatally
administered DHA have asked,’’ Is
DHA a conditionally essential nutrient
for infants or can adequate amounts be
synthesized from its essential fatty acid
precursor, a-linolenic acid? ‘‘ Not surprisingly,
given the inability of the preterm
fetus to accumulate normal brain
or adipose tissue DHA, DHA supplementation
has been shown to benefit
cortical visual acuity and outcomes
related to cognition. Results of term
supplementation studies are more variable,
possibly reflecting differences in
maternal DHA status due to dietary
intake of DHA and genetic differences
in DHA biosynthesis by both mother
and fetus/infant [individual alleles for
fatty acid desaturases (FADS1/2) have
been correlated with 20 and 22 carbon
PUFA status]. There are only a few
DHA supplementation trials during
pregnancy, however, numerous observational
studies find benefits of higher
maternal DHA intake.
The author’s Phase III randomized clinical
trials (RCTs) are funded by NICHD
and Mead Johnson Nutrition.