The effect of age on entheseal changes: a study of modifications at appendicular attachment sites in a large sample of identified human skeletons

AbstractEntheseal changes (EC) are frequent in older individuals, and age-at-death is the main variable explaining the distribution of EC stages in adult skeletal samples. While this is already well known, the underlying process has not been studied in biological anthropology to date. The aim of the article is to describe the relationship between age and stages of EC in detail for 30 appendicular entheses in a large sample of adult skeletons (N=721) with known age-at-death and sex, using several statistical tools (such as Spearman ’s rank correlation coefficients, logistic regression models, adjusted standardized residuals, and generalized odds ratios). The analyses indicate a moderate to strong relationship between age-at-death and EC for all the appendicular attachment sites, but also striking differences between fibrous and fibrocartilaginous entheseal attachment sites. These differences are discussed in light of the available biomedical data.

Source: International Journal of Osteoarchaeology - December 25, 2022 Category: Science Authors: S ébastien Villotte, Frédéric Santos Tags: SPECIAL ISSUE PAPER Source Type: research