Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 50 (2) 2022   doi:10.17746/1563-0110.2022.50.2.150-156

Annotation:  The Incipient Neolithic of the Kurile Islands: The Culture of Long Barrows An Early Neolithic Sanctuary in the Eastern Irtysh Basin The Cultural Continuum of the Eurasian Boreal Zone and the Eastern Siberian Wedge (Based on Comparat A Bronze Age Shaft-Hole Axe from the Northwestern Baraba Forest-Steppe Bioarchaeology of Childhood in the Yamnaya Culture, Based on Kurgan 1 at Boldyrevo-4, the Southern U A Functional Analysis of Lithics of the Early Iron Age Yankovsky Culture: New Findings Burial of the Pazyryk Elite Members at Khankarinsky Dol, Northwestern Altai Analysis and Museumization of a Wooden Burial Structure from Pazyryk Kurgan 5, the Altai Mountains: Decorative Belts of Xianbei Period Nomads from Karban I, Northern Altai Occupation Layer at the Kushman Cluster of Sites (9th–13th Centuries) According to Multispectral Ima Philip Johan Tabbert von Strahlenberg: An 18th Century Swedish Prisoner’s Research in Siberia Rocks in the Religious Beliefs and Rites of the Ob Ugrians The Kyrgyz Republic: Concept, Strategies, and Practices for the Preservation of the National Cultura Paleogenetic Studies of Migration Processes in Eurasia Porotic Hyperostosis Observed in the 16th to 19th Century Crania of Native Siberians, Russian Settle   

Porotic Hyperostosis Observed in the 16th to 19th Century Crania
of Native Siberians, Russian Settlers, and Joseon Dynasty Koreans

Lee Hyejin^{1, 2}, Hong Jong Ha³, S.M. Slepchenko⁴, and Shin Dong Hoon¹

¹Seoul National University, 103, Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 03080, South Korea

²Ministry of National Defense Agency of KIA Recovery & Identification, 250 Hyunchung-no, Dongjak-gu, Seoul, 06984, South Korea

³Institute of Korean Archaeology and Ancient History, Kyung Hee University, 26 Kyungheedae-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, 02447, South Korea

⁴Institute of Northern Development, Tyumen Scientific Center, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Malygina 86, Tyumen, 625026, Russia

Porotic hyperostosis (PH) is the skeletal marker used in the estimation of physiological stress suffered in childhood. Despite a conventional hypothesis that mankind’s health conditions declined with the advent of agriculture, there are few reports comparing the PH seen on ancient crania of hunters-fishermen-gatherers and agrarian peoples. In this study, we examined the crania of16th to 19th century Eurasian peoples: Siberian natives (hunters-fishermen-gatherers), Russian settlers, and Joseon Koreans (agriculturalists) to see whether PH could be observed to differ between populations with varying subsistence strategies. The prevalence of PH decreased in the order of Joseon people (18.9 %), Russian settlers (6.3 %), and Siberian natives (3.8 %). In brief, the hunters-fishermen-gatherers’stress level was lower than agriculture-based Joseon people and Russian settlers. In addition, Joseon people might have been exposed to more serious stressful episodes than Russian settlers were. We assume that the former might have lived under much stressful conditions than the latter did, though both people depended on intense agriculture. As for sexual dimorphism of PH: in all groups, males were identified with more PH signs than females were. Our report successfully shows that the detailed pattern of stress markers might have been influenced by complex interactions between various factors that existed under different conditions in history.

Keywords: Porotic hyperostosis, Korea, Siberia, hunters-fishermen-gatherers, agriculturalists, crania