Sexual dimorphism in two mediaeval Muslim populations from Spain.

Sexual dimorphism in humans is mainly observed as a difference in the anatomy of genitals and breasts. There are also some differences in the stature and metric or morphological traits of the skeleton. Degree of sexual dimorphism varies among populations and depends on their genetic composition and various cultural and environmental factors. In this study, two Mediaeval Muslim populations from Granada, Spain, were compared, testing whether differences in living environment (urban vs. rural) would result in distinct degrees of sexual dimorphism of long bones. We studied skeletal material from urban (Sahl ben Malik, Granada, Spain) and rural (La Torrecilla, Arenas del Rey, Granada, Spain) cemeteries. Only adult individuals (66 from Sahl ben Malik and 72 from La Torrecilla) were selected for the study. Maximum length, minimum circumference of the shaft and maximum widths of the proximal and distal epiphyses were measured in each bone. The index of sexual dimorphism (ISD) was calculated for each variable and each population. The degree of sexual dimorphism was greater in La Torrecilla. These results indicate that Muslim women in large urban centres may have played a more active role in social and working life in comparison to their rural counterparts and may have enjoyed superior living conditions, which contributed to enhancing the body development of women and reducing sexual dimorphism. We conclude that living in an urban or a rural environment may influence the degree of sexual dimorphism.

Foot polydactyly and bipartite medial cuneiform: A case of co-occurrence in a Celtic skeleton from Verona (Italy).

We report a case of bilateral foot polydactyly and bipartite medial cuneiform in a male individual buried in a Celtic/Roman necropolis (3rd to 1st century BCE) in the city of Verona (Italy). During the construction of an underground garage in the main courtyard of the Bishop's Seminary at Verona between 2005 and 2010, archaeologists uncovered the remains of 174 individuals (108 non-adults and 66 adults). It is thought that these graves could belong to some of the first inhabitants of the urban area of Verona. The individual presented here (US 2807) is a middle-aged male (40-50 years) in a good state of preservation. His estimated stature is 1756 mm (± 32.1 mm). This male presents congenital anomalies in the feet and dental agenesis. We believe this to be the only known archaeological case of bilateral postaxial polydactyly with forked (Y) shape, in which both fifth metatarsals are associated with complete bipartition of the left medial cuneiform and partial bipartition of the right one. Polydactyly is fairly common in modern clinical cases but bipartite medial cuneiform is relatively rare; neither of these congenital conditions is well documented archaeologically.

Possible relationship of cranial traumatic injuries with violence in the south-east Iberian Peninsula from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age.

The main aim of this study was to analyze the presence and distribution of cranial trauma, as possible evidence of violence, in remains from the Neolithic to Bronze Age from the SE Iberian Peninsula. The sample contains skulls, crania, and cranial vaults belonging to 410 prehistoric individuals. We also studied 267 crania from medieval and modern times for comparative purposes. All lesions in the prehistoric crania are healed and none of them can be attributed to a specific weapon. In all studied populations, injuries were more frequent in adults than in subadults and also in males than in females, denoting a sexual division in the risk of suffering accidents or intentional violence. According to the archeological record, the development of societies in the SE Iberian Peninsula during these periods must have entailed an increase in conflict. However, a high frequency of cranial traumatic injuries was observed in the Neolithic series, theoretically a less conflictive time, and the lowest frequency was in crania from the 3rd millennium B.C. (Copper Age), which is characterized by the archeologists as a period of increasing violence. The relatively large size and the high rate of injuries in Neolithic crania and the practice of cannibalism are strongly suggestive of episodes of interpersonal or intergroup conflict. The number and distribution of injuries in Bronze Age is consistent with the increase in violence at that time described by most archeologists.