K.P. MOORE, S.G. SHERIDAN, D.P. VAN GERVEN.
Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado

Research on human remains from the Medieval site of Kulubnarti in Nubia's Batn el Hajar has demonstrated consistent differences in childhood health between early and late Christian times.  Early Christian children experienced higher mortality, higher frequency of porotic hyperostosis, slower long bone growth and skeletal maturation, and decreased cortical bone tissue.  Yet among the adults, mortality differences diminish as do the skeletal lesions.  The question remains, however, whether differences in health, apparent in the childhood years continue to be manifest among the adults of this ancient population.

The purpose of the present research was to study patterns of cortical bone maintenance among the adult segment of Kulubnarti's early and late Christian populations.  The objective was to assess whether deficiencies in bone growth and development apparent among the children of the early Christian period were carried forward through the adult years.
 
Adult left femora from 109 individuals (20-50+ yrs) were analyzed.  Of these, 39 (16 male/19 female) were from the early Christian period and 74 (34 male/40 female) from the later period.  Thin (150 um) sections were measured for percent cortical area macroscopically and 64 osteon diameter measurements were recorded across 8 endosteal and 8 periosteal microscopic fields.

Comparison at both levels revealed that predicted diachronic shift in bone maintenance.  Early Christian males and females demonstrated significant reductions in osteon size.  Average osteon diameter for the early males was 213.1 um compared to 233.2 um for the later sample.  Female means were 221.8 um and 240.1 um for the early and late samples, respectively.  All differences were highly significant.

Both the organ level pattern of cortical bone maintenance and the tissue level differences in osteon size support a hypothesis of continuing stress among the early adults of Kulubnarti.