Article2013

Aspects of health in prehistoric mainland Southeast Asia: Indicators of stress in response to the intensification of rice agriculture

Angela L. Clark · Nancy Tayles · Siân Ellen Halcrow

32 citations0/0 files storedAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology

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Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies Archaeology and ancient environmental studies Paleopathology and ancient diseases

Abstract

Numerous bioarcheological investigations have suggested that as agriculture intensifies, levels of physiological stress and poor health increase. However, previous research in Southeast Asia suggests that a decline in health was not universal. This study aimed to provide the first investigation of human health during the intensification of rice agriculture in the large skeletal sample from the prehistoric site of Ban Non Wat, Northeast Thailand (1750-420 b.c.). Health was analysed using two indicators of childhood stress, the prevalence of linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH), a measure of early childhood stress, and stature, as a measure of late childhood stress, were collated for 190 adults. Sex-specific diachronic relationships between the prevalence of LEH and stature were explored. For both sexes, initially the prevalence of LEH was found to decrease and then increase over time. Stature remained constant over time for males, although for females stature increased initially, then decreased. Early childhood stress was not significantly correlated with stature in females (P = 0.185), but high levels of LEH were unexpectedly correlated with taller male stature (P = 0.017). Our findings suggest an initial improvement in health during agricultural intensification at this site, likely related to a reduction in physiological perturbations and maintenance of a nutritious diet during this time. The subsequent deterioration in health may reflect geomorphologically and archaeologically indicated variation in environmental conditions and consequential sociocultural changes. We suggest that the sex-differences in the relationship between stature and LEH may relate to the timing of stress and/or catch-up growth.

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References

1977The Measurement of Observer Agreement for Categorical Data 1969A newly developed visual method of sexing the os pubis 1986Paleopathology at the Origins of Agriculture.1992The Osteological Paradox: Problems of Inferring Prehistoric Health from Skeletal Samples [and Comments and Reply]1995Stature and the Standard of Living 2002A method for visual determination of sex, using the human hip bone 1996Dental Anthropology 1980Recommendations for age and sex diagnoses of skeletons

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2017Biocultural Practices during the Transition to History at the Vat Komnou Cemetery, Angkor Borei, Cambodia 2014Health and sexual dimorphism at Ban Non Wat: The effects of the intensification of agriculture in prehistoric Southeast Asia 2016Linear and appositional growth in infants and children from the prehistoric settlement of Ban Non Wat, Northeast Thailand: Evaluating biological responses to agricultural intensification in Southeast Asia 2018Detection of temporospatially localized growth in ancient Southeast Asia using human skeletal remains 2017

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