Health Status in Early Modern Somali People from their Skeletal Remains

Hisashi Fujita

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ija.20140203.11

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Health Status in Early Modern Somali People from their Skeletal Remains

Hisashi Fujita

Received: 17 November 2014 Accepted: 3 December 2014 Published: 15 December 2014

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Abstract

This study discusses the paleohealth of Somali men who lived between the end of the 19th century and the early 20th century and whose skeletal remains are stored at the University of Cambridge. These materials were divided into an early middle age group and a late middle age group based on the degree of cranial suture closure. Physical anthropological methods were used to examine their caries, periodontal disease antemortem tooth loss (AMTL), dental attrition level, alveolar bone loss, enamel hypoplasia, cribra orbitalia, and cranial porotic hyperostosis. There were limitations, such as the small number of individuals examined, all the individuals were men, and the postcranial skeletons were not examinable. This study observed the following findings regarding the paleohealth of Somalis from the end of the 19th century to the early 20th century: (1) the caries rate was low, (2) there was onset of periodontal disease and it progressed with aging, (3) the number of missing teeth was low, (4) the dental attrition level was lower than the level in Nigerians, and (5) there was minimal change in stress markers with aging, and only a small number of individuals exhibited severe stress markers. The results led to the speculation that the nutritional status was generally poor in Somali individuals examined in this study and that the mortality rates were high in newborns, infants, and young children, which resulted in deaths in individuals with severe stress markers before adulthood.

DOI	10.11648/j.ija.20140203.11
Published in	International Journal of Archaeology (Volume 2, Issue 3, November 2014)
Page(s)	12-16
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Dental Diseases, Aging, Stress Markers, Somali, Human Skeletal Remains, Paleoepidemiology

References

[1]	Geltman PL, Hunter Adams J, Penrose KL, Cochran J, Rybin D et al. (2013) Health literacy, acculturation, and the use of preventive oral health care by Somali refugees living in Massachusetts. J Immigr Minor Health 15:533-539.
[2]	Okunseri C, Hodges JS, Born DO (2008) Self-reported oral health perceptions of Soali adults in Minnesota: a pilot study. Int J Dent Hyg 6(2): 114-118.
[3]	Rodd HD, Davidson LE, Bateman PM, Lunn HD (2002) Caries experience and dental attendance of Somali children living in British city. Eur J Paediatr Dent 3(4) 210-216.
[4]	Davidson LE, Rodd HD (2001) Interrelationship between dental age and chronological age in Somali children. Community Dent Health 18(1): 27-30.
[5]	Meindl RS, Lovejoy CO (1985) Ectocranial suture closure: a revised method for the determination of skeletal age at death based on the lateral-anterior suture. Am J Phys Anthropol 68: 57-66.
[6]	Matsumoto H (1995) Maxillofacial and Oral Surgery. (1stedn), Oral Health Association of Japan, Tokyo.
[7]	Fujita H (2009) Dental Caries in Japanese Human Skeletal Remains. J Oral Biosci 51(2): 105-114.
[8]	Yamamoto M (1989) Enamel hypoplasia in deciduous teeth of Edo Japanese. J Anthropol Soc Nippon 97: 475-482.
[9]	Brothwell DR (1981) Digging up bones: the excavation and treatment and study of human skeletal remains. (2ndedn), Ithaca, NY, Cornell University Press.
[10]	Fujita H (1993) Degree of dental attrition of the Kanenokuma Yayoi population. Anthropol Sci 101: 291-300.
[11]	Nathan H, Hass N (1966) On the presence of Cribra Orbitalia in Apes and Monkeys. Am J Phys Anthropol 24: 351-360.
[12]	Fujita H (2012) The number of missing teeth in people of the Edo period in Japan in the 17th to 19th centuries. Gerodontol 29(2): 520-524.
[13]	Fujita H (2013) Dental Diseases and Stress Markers on Crania in the Early Modern People of Nigeria. Jpn J Gerodontol 28(1): 10-19.
[14]	Gustafson G, Koch G (1974) Age estimation up to 16 years of age based on dental development. Odontologisk Revy 25: 297-306.
[15]	Stuart-Macadam PL (1989) Nutritional deficiency diseases: A survey of scuvrvy, rickets and iron-deficiency anemia: Reconstruction of Life From the Skeleton. (1stedn), New York, Alan Liss.
[16]	Aufderheide AC, Rodriguez-Martin C (1998) The Cambridge encyclopedia of human paleopathology. (1stedn), Cambridge University Press.

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APA Style

Hisashi Fujita. (2014). Health Status in Early Modern Somali People from their Skeletal Remains. International Journal of Archaeology, 2(3), 12-16. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ija.20140203.11

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ACS Style

Hisashi Fujita. Health Status in Early Modern Somali People from their Skeletal Remains. Int. J. Archaeol. 2014, 2(3), 12-16. doi: 10.11648/j.ija.20140203.11

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AMA Style

Hisashi Fujita. Health Status in Early Modern Somali People from their Skeletal Remains. Int J Archaeol. 2014;2(3):12-16. doi: 10.11648/j.ija.20140203.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ija.20140203.11,
  author = {Hisashi Fujita},
  title = {Health Status in Early Modern Somali People from their Skeletal Remains},
  journal = {International Journal of Archaeology},
  volume = {2},
  number = {3},
  pages = {12-16},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ija.20140203.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ija.20140203.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ija.20140203.11},
  abstract = {This study discusses the paleohealth of Somali men who lived between the end of the 19th century and the early 20th century and whose skeletal remains are stored at the University of Cambridge. These materials were divided into an early middle age group and a late middle age group based on the degree of cranial suture closure. Physical anthropological methods were used to examine their caries, periodontal disease antemortem tooth loss (AMTL), dental attrition level, alveolar bone loss, enamel hypoplasia, cribra orbitalia, and cranial porotic hyperostosis. There were limitations, such as the small number of individuals examined, all the individuals were men, and the postcranial skeletons were not examinable. This study observed the following findings regarding the paleohealth of Somalis from the end of the 19th century to the early 20th century: (1) the caries rate was low, (2) there was onset of periodontal disease and it progressed with aging, (3) the number of missing teeth was low, (4) the dental attrition level was lower than the level in Nigerians, and (5) there was minimal change in stress markers with aging, and only a small number of individuals exhibited severe stress markers. The results led to the speculation that the nutritional status was generally poor in Somali individuals examined in this study and that the mortality rates were high in newborns, infants, and young children, which resulted in deaths in individuals with severe stress markers before adulthood.},
 year = {2014}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Health Status in Early Modern Somali People from their Skeletal Remains
AU  - Hisashi Fujita
Y1  - 2014/12/15
PY  - 2014
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ija.20140203.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ija.20140203.11
T2  - International Journal of Archaeology
JF  - International Journal of Archaeology
JO  - International Journal of Archaeology
SP  - 12
EP  - 16
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-7595
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ija.20140203.11
AB  - This study discusses the paleohealth of Somali men who lived between the end of the 19th century and the early 20th century and whose skeletal remains are stored at the University of Cambridge. These materials were divided into an early middle age group and a late middle age group based on the degree of cranial suture closure. Physical anthropological methods were used to examine their caries, periodontal disease antemortem tooth loss (AMTL), dental attrition level, alveolar bone loss, enamel hypoplasia, cribra orbitalia, and cranial porotic hyperostosis. There were limitations, such as the small number of individuals examined, all the individuals were men, and the postcranial skeletons were not examinable. This study observed the following findings regarding the paleohealth of Somalis from the end of the 19th century to the early 20th century: (1) the caries rate was low, (2) there was onset of periodontal disease and it progressed with aging, (3) the number of missing teeth was low, (4) the dental attrition level was lower than the level in Nigerians, and (5) there was minimal change in stress markers with aging, and only a small number of individuals exhibited severe stress markers. The results led to the speculation that the nutritional status was generally poor in Somali individuals examined in this study and that the mortality rates were high in newborns, infants, and young children, which resulted in deaths in individuals with severe stress markers before adulthood.
VL  - 2
IS  - 3
ER  -

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Author Information

Hisashi Fujita

Department of Bioanthropology, Niigata College of Nursing, Joetsu, 943-0147, Japan

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Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Hisashi Fujita. (2014). Health Status in Early Modern Somali People from their Skeletal Remains. International Journal of Archaeology, 2(3), 12-16. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ija.20140203.11

Copy | Download

ACS Style

Hisashi Fujita. Health Status in Early Modern Somali People from their Skeletal Remains. Int. J. Archaeol. 2014, 2(3), 12-16. doi: 10.11648/j.ija.20140203.11

Copy | Download

AMA Style

Hisashi Fujita. Health Status in Early Modern Somali People from their Skeletal Remains. Int J Archaeol. 2014;2(3):12-16. doi: 10.11648/j.ija.20140203.11

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ija.20140203.11,
  author = {Hisashi Fujita},
  title = {Health Status in Early Modern Somali People from their Skeletal Remains},
  journal = {International Journal of Archaeology},
  volume = {2},
  number = {3},
  pages = {12-16},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ija.20140203.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ija.20140203.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ija.20140203.11},
  abstract = {This study discusses the paleohealth of Somali men who lived between the end of the 19th century and the early 20th century and whose skeletal remains are stored at the University of Cambridge. These materials were divided into an early middle age group and a late middle age group based on the degree of cranial suture closure. Physical anthropological methods were used to examine their caries, periodontal disease antemortem tooth loss (AMTL), dental attrition level, alveolar bone loss, enamel hypoplasia, cribra orbitalia, and cranial porotic hyperostosis. There were limitations, such as the small number of individuals examined, all the individuals were men, and the postcranial skeletons were not examinable. This study observed the following findings regarding the paleohealth of Somalis from the end of the 19th century to the early 20th century: (1) the caries rate was low, (2) there was onset of periodontal disease and it progressed with aging, (3) the number of missing teeth was low, (4) the dental attrition level was lower than the level in Nigerians, and (5) there was minimal change in stress markers with aging, and only a small number of individuals exhibited severe stress markers. The results led to the speculation that the nutritional status was generally poor in Somali individuals examined in this study and that the mortality rates were high in newborns, infants, and young children, which resulted in deaths in individuals with severe stress markers before adulthood.},
 year = {2014}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Health Status in Early Modern Somali People from their Skeletal Remains
AU  - Hisashi Fujita
Y1  - 2014/12/15
PY  - 2014
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ija.20140203.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ija.20140203.11
T2  - International Journal of Archaeology
JF  - International Journal of Archaeology
JO  - International Journal of Archaeology
SP  - 12
EP  - 16
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-7595
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ija.20140203.11
AB  - This study discusses the paleohealth of Somali men who lived between the end of the 19th century and the early 20th century and whose skeletal remains are stored at the University of Cambridge. These materials were divided into an early middle age group and a late middle age group based on the degree of cranial suture closure. Physical anthropological methods were used to examine their caries, periodontal disease antemortem tooth loss (AMTL), dental attrition level, alveolar bone loss, enamel hypoplasia, cribra orbitalia, and cranial porotic hyperostosis. There were limitations, such as the small number of individuals examined, all the individuals were men, and the postcranial skeletons were not examinable. This study observed the following findings regarding the paleohealth of Somalis from the end of the 19th century to the early 20th century: (1) the caries rate was low, (2) there was onset of periodontal disease and it progressed with aging, (3) the number of missing teeth was low, (4) the dental attrition level was lower than the level in Nigerians, and (5) there was minimal change in stress markers with aging, and only a small number of individuals exhibited severe stress markers. The results led to the speculation that the nutritional status was generally poor in Somali individuals examined in this study and that the mortality rates were high in newborns, infants, and young children, which resulted in deaths in individuals with severe stress markers before adulthood.
VL  - 2
IS  - 3
ER  -

Copy | Download