Thivviya Vairamuthu’s scientific contributions

The Late Archaic in northeastern North America (4500-2800 B.P.) pre-dates reliance on pottery and domesticated plants. It is thought to reflect a highly mobile, seasonal migratory foraging/hunting regimen. A juvenile skeleton with pervasive bone wasting and fragile jaws from the Hind Site (AdHk-1), ca. 3000 B.P., southwestern Ontario, provides evidence of the social context of her family group, including aspects of mobility and food management. The well-preserved bones and teeth are considered in bioarchaeological context. Radiographic, osteometric and cross-sectional geometric approaches to assessing musculoskeletal function are presented, plus differential diagnosis of the bone wasting condition. All bones of the probable female (aged approx. 16 yr) show stunting and wasting. Wedged lower vertebral bodies, porous trabeculae, undeveloped bicondylar angles (femur) and abnormally low cortical long bone mass are consistent with chronically reduced ambulation. Few teeth remain in the dramatically resorbed alveoli; slight tooth wear and substantial calculus suggest a modified (soft) diet. Osteogenesis imperfecta type IV is the most probable etiology. The extended survival of this juvenile who may never have walked reflects collective care. The case provides evidence of a past lifeway that appears to have been organized around logistic mobility, including occupational stability and food storage.

Well-preserved skeletal remains of a forager child from the SW Ontario Late Archaic Hind Site (AdHk- 1; ca. 3000 BP) document prolonged survival with a debilitating condition: a unique case of chronic physical impairment in a mobile, foraging group. Pervasive gracility, characterized by a diffuse reduction in osseous density involving both the axial and appendicular skeletons, suggests a chronic systemic condition. Assessment of motor function of the child’s limbs reveals a very low likelihood of normal ambulation as well as limited upper body activity. Skull and limb measurements show substantial wasting and modest stunting. Alveolar resorption, extensive antemortem tooth loss, and less tooth wear than expected suggest reliance on a diet very different from that of other group members. Differential diagnosis focused on lifelong conditions that greatly reduce osseous density throughout the skeleton, with osteogenesis imperfecta (Types I, IV or VI) seeming most probable. The care needed to support a non-ambulatory child in a mobile hunter-gatherer society is explored and considered in the greater context of the Hind population as a transient community. The implications of surviving with compromised mobility and masticatory function in a seasonally mobile hunter-gatherer context include lifelong dependency on aid for transportation, as well as the necessity of special preparation of foods. The long-term survival of this child is evidence of a community that placed value on every member. We argue that this reflects an adaptive strategy for small forager communities.

The skeletal remains of a forager child (about 14.5 to 16.5 years old and probable female) from the Late Archaic Hind Site (AdHk-1; ca. 3000 BP) of Southwestern Ontario indicate prolonged survival with a debilitating pathological condition. Pervasive gracility characterized by a diffuse reduction in osseous density involving both the axial and appendicular skeletons suggests a chronic, systemic condition. Assessment of the motor function of the child’s limbs indicates a low likelihood of normal ambulation and limited upper body activity, presenting a unique case of chronic physical impairment in a mobile, foraging society. Abnormal morphology of the oral cavity suggests reliance on a soft food diet, very different from that of other group members. Differential diagnosis focused on lifelong conditions that could produce the observed conditions, with osteogenesis imperfecta (Types I, IV or VI) seeming most probable. The care of a nonambulatory child in a mobile hunter-gatherer society is considered in the greater context of the Hind population as a community. The implications of surviving with compromised mobility and masticatory function in a seasonally mobile hunter-gatherer context include lifelong dependency on aid for transportation, both between and within occupation sites, as well as the necessity for special preparation of foods. The long-term survival of this child to adolescence suggests that she/he lived in a community that valued every member, reflecting a likely adaptive strategy for such small populations.

This study explores pleural rib lesions seen on a skeletonized cadaver collection from the apartheid era, Western Cape, South Africa: the Kirsten Collection of the Department of Anatomy at the University of Stellenbosch. The collection includes a high proportion of “coloured” individuals (mixed ancestry, predominantly Khoesan) (59% Coloured, 24% Black, 17% White; 65% males, 35% females). Leading causes of death are cancer, cardiovascular disease, tuberculosis and respiratory disease. Anterior to mid-rib sections that have been retained for histological study of 236 skeletons were examined (age range 12 to 90 years; mean of 49.4; median of 51). The pleural rib surfaces show surface bone abnormalities of periosteal new bone rarely, with three cases being especially notable. The three are all males: two black and one coloured. Causes of death and ages are: obstructive airways and pneumonia at 66 years, endocarditis at 20 years, and esophageal cancer at 54 years. These findings suggest that pleural rib lesions can be identified in the anterior to mid-rib area as well as the more commonly studied posterior region. While they may be indicative of tuberculosis as an underlying disease, they may also be non-specific.