Accounting for multiple effects and the problem of small sample sizes in osteology: a case study focussing on entheseal
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Accounting for multiple effects and the problem of small sample sizes in osteology: a case study focussing on entheseal changes C. Y. Henderson 1
&
E. Nikita 2
Received: 24 November 2014 / Accepted: 16 June 2015 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015
Abstract Osteoarchaeological studies provide valuable information concerning living conditions and life course changes in past societies. However, many skeletal markers, such as entheseal changes, are multifactorial in aetiology; thus, their interpretation is not straightforward. Generalised linear models (GLMs) are ideal for analysing such phenomena, i.e. those with multiple underlying causative factors, but, to date, their use has been limited. This paper focuses attention on using these models to test hypotheses regarding the aetiology of entheseal changes, widely regarded as indicative of activity patterns, but which are also affected by ageing and body size. To demonstrate the use and limitations of these models, this paper provides an independent test of a previously developed GLM on an identified skeletal sample comprised of skeletons from four British sites (n=58) which has a typical sample size for archaeological osteological analysis. In addition to this model, GLMs were developed to include the factor of body size and expand the models to test individual entheses, as well as joint complexes whereby multiple entheses for muscles which act synergistically have been pooled. The results indicate that the original model did not compare well with the frequencies of entheseal changes found in the British assemblage under study. The new models found no clear pattern of influence, although both ageing and body size were important for some entheses. GLMs are appropriate for testing the interaction of biological variables, but future studies need to take
* C. Y. Henderson [email protected]; [email protected] 1
CIAS – Research Centre for Anthropology and Health, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Apartado 3046, 3001-401 Coimbra, Portugal
2
Fitch Laboratory, British School at Athens, Athens, Greece
into account and test their applicability to archaeological sample sizes. Keywords Activity-related stress markers . Musculoskeletal stress markers (MSM) . Generalised linear models . Identified skeletal collections
Introduction Entheses are the attachments of the soft and hard musculoskeletal tissues, e.g. bone and tendon (see review in Jurmain et al. 2012). Lytic lesions, new mineralised tissue formation, among other in vivo structural alterations are now named ‘entheseal changes’ (ECs) (Jurmain et al. 2012). ECs have been widely used to study the social stratification of labour in past societies because they are perceived to provide direct evidence of repetitive muscular use from individual skeletons (see review in Jurmain et al. 2012). The importance of distinguishing between the anatomies of entheses has been highlighted in recent years, with distinctions being made between fibrous and fibrocartilaginous entheses (H
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