behavior patterns in florida's middle archaic

86 Pages·2011·3.16 MB·English

BEHAVIOR PATTERNS IN FLORIDA’S MIDDLE ARCHAIC: ACTIVITY
INDUCED ARTICULAR FACETS FROM THE GAUTHIER (8BR-193)
MORTUARY COMPLEX
by
Kassandra Nelson

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of
The Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Master of Arts

Florida Atlantic University

Boca Raton, Florida

August 2011
Copyright by Kassandra Nelson 2011
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BEHAVIOR PATTERNS IN FLORIDA'S MIDDLE ARCHAIC: ACTIVITY
INDUCED ARTICULAR FACETS FROM THE GAUTHIER (8BR-193)
MORTUARY COMPLEX
by
Kassandra Nelson
This thesis was prepared under the direction of the candidate's thesis advisor,
Dr. Douglas Broadfield, Department ofAnthropology, and has been approved by
the members ofher supervisory committee. It was submitted to the faculty ofthe
Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters and was accepted in partial
fulfillment ofthe requirements for the degree of MasterofArts.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Heather Walsh-Haney of Florida
Gulf Coast University for granting me access to the Gauthier Collection and for
her continued encouragement and guidance. I would like to thank Dr. Douglas
Broadfield for taking me on as a thesis student at such a late date and for all of
his help and support throughout my graduate studies and thesis completion. Dr.
Clifford Brown and Dr. Robert McCarthy were always available for advice and
support and I am extremely grateful for their confidence and time. During my
thesis completion, each person with whom who I was fortunate enough to work
and seek guidance continually challenged and improved my work and caused me
to always assess and evaluate. I would like to thank all for their assistance, time
and energy to help finish this thesis.
I also want to thank the graduate students at Florida Gulf Coast University
for their hospitality and help navigating the collection while I completed my
research.
Special thanks go out to my family: Mom, Dad, Michael, and Scott. Thank
you for believing in me and putting up with me throughout it all. I cannot imagine
how I could have gotten through this without you!
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ABSTRACT
Author: Kassandra Nelson
Title: Behavior Patterns in Florida’s Middle Archaic: Activity
Induced Articular Facets from the Gauthier (8BR-193)
Mortuary Complex
Institution: Florida Atlantic University
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Douglas Broadfield
Degree: Master of Arts
Year: 2011
This study examines activity induced articular facets and osteoarthritis in
the ankle and foot complex of an Archaic hunter-gatherer population from the
Gauthier (8BR-193) mortuary complex. To determine the frequency at which
these characteristics occur, I scored the tibiae, tali, proximal phalanges, and
metatarsals of adults and juveniles using methods developed by Buikstra and
Ubelaker (1994) for scoring osteoarthritis and a synthesis of methods developed
by Barnett (1954), and Boulle (2001a; 2001b), Buikstra and Ubelaker (1994),
Molleson (1989), Ubelaker (1979), for scoring articular facets. Despite significant
skeletal fragmentation observed, articular facets were remarkably complete,
allowing for analysis of joint degeneration. While there does not appear to be a
correlation between characteristics, the high prevalence of activity induced
articular facets and osteoarthritis is indicative of extreme hyperdorsiflexion.
Habitual kneeling and squatting postures are characteristic of hunter-gatherer
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subsistence activities as suggested by researchers such as Ubelaker (1975),
Molleson (1989), and Trinkaus (1975).
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BEHAVIOR PATTERNS IN FLORIDA’S MIDDLE ARCHAIC: ACTIVITY
INDUCED ARTICULAR FACETS FROM THE GAUTHIER (8BR-193)
MORTUARY COMPLEX
LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................. x 
LIST OF FIGURES ...............................................................................................xi 
INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1 
ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND OSTEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND ............................ 5 
The Archaic Period ........................................................................................... 5 
The Early Archaic .......................................................................................... 5 
The Middle Archaic ........................................................................................ 6 
The Late Archaic ........................................................................................... 7 
Skeletal Biology ................................................................................................ 7 
Osteoarthritis ................................................................................................. 7 
Articular Facets ............................................................................................. 9 
SITE DESCRIPTION .......................................................................................... 13 
Gauthier Mortuary Complex ............................................................................ 14 
MATERIALS AND METHODS ............................................................................ 18 
Materials ......................................................................................................... 18 
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Methods .......................................................................................................... 19 
Osteoarthritis ............................................................................................... 19 
Articular Facets ........................................................................................... 23 
RESULTS ........................................................................................................... 29 
Frequency of Osteoarthritis ............................................................................. 30 
Age Related Osteoarthritis on the Tibia ....................................................... 32 
Frequency of Articular Facets ......................................................................... 33 
Age Related Articular Facets ....................................................................... 36 
Relationship between Osteoarthritis and Articular Facets ............................... 36 
DISCUSSION ..................................................................................................... 38 
Osteoarthritis ................................................................................................... 38 
Articular Facets ............................................................................................... 39 
Relationship between Osteoarthritis and Articular Facets ............................... 40 
CONCLUSION .................................................................................................... 42 
APPENDICES .................................................................................................... 44 
Tibia Data (Squatting facets and osteoarthritis) .............................................. 45 
Talus Data (Squatting facets and osteoarthritis) ............................................. 47 
1st Metatarsal Data (Kneeling facets and osteoarthritis) .................................. 51 
2nd Metatarsal Data (Kneeling facets and osteoarthritis) ................................. 54 
3rd Metatarsal Data (Kneeling facets and osteoarthritis) ................................. 56 
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4th Metatarsal Data (Kneeling facets and osteoarthritis) ................................. 58 
5th Metatarsal Data (Kneeling facets and osteoarthritis) ................................. 60 
Proximal Phalange Data (Kneeling facets and osteoarthritis) ......................... 63 
WORKS CITED .................................................................................................. 71 
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Osteoarthritis, Lipping ........................................................................... 22 
Table 2: Osteoarthritis, Porosity ......................................................................... 22 
Table 3: Osteoarthritis, Eburnation ..................................................................... 22 
Table 4: Squatting Facet, Tibia ........................................................................... 27 
Table 5: Squatting Facet, Talus .......................................................................... 27 
Table 6: Squatting Facet Presence .................................................................... 29 
Table 7: Kneeling Facet Presence ...................................................................... 30 
Table 8: Chi-Square Test of Independence for Osteoarthritis on the Tibia ......... 31 
Table 9: Chi-square Values for Osteoarthritis on Sided Skeletal Elements ........ 32 
Table 10: Chi-Square Test of Independence for Articular Facets on the Tibia ... 34 
Table 11: Chi-square Values for Articular Facets on Sided Skeletal Elements .. 35 
Table 12: Chi-Square Test of Independence for Osteoarthritis and Articular
Facets ................................................................................................................. 37 

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