Navigare necesse est. Possible reconstruction of a maritime-activities related occupation based on the presence of auditory exostoses in an individual from the Roman period city of Iader

• Authors: Mario Novak , Timka Alihodžić , Mario Šlaus
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Large bilateral auditory exostoses were recorded in the skeleton of an adult male buried in the Roman period necropolis of Zadar-Relja (the Roman colony of Iader) in southern Croatia. As the occurrence of auditory exostoses in both past and modern populations has been correlated with prolonged exposure to cold water, the authors propose that during his lifetime this individual performed activities requiring frequent contact with cold water for an extended period of time. Apart from auditory exostoses, this individual also exhibits other pathological changes including pronounced skeletal robustness, benign cortical defects at the insertion of the pectoralis major muscles on both humeri and at the attachment sites of the costo-clavicular ligaments on both clavicles, and vertebral osteoarthritis in the cervical and thoracic vertebrae. The most plausible explanation for all these changes is that this person spent most of his life working aboard a sea vessel as a sailor, boat builder or fisherman, and whose duties included frequent and intensive use of oars. This observation is based on the geographic and climatic location of Zadar, the described skeletal changes, the archaeological context of the site, recovered material artifacts and written historic sources and comparisons with similar studies.

Keywords

EN

auditory exostoses; musculoskeletal stress markers; maritime activities; Roman period; Zadar

• Publisher: Sciendo
• Journal: Anthropological Review
• Year: 2013
• Volume: 76
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 83-94

Dates

published

2013-06-01

online

2013-12-01

Contributors

author

Mario Novak

• Anthropological Centre, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia

author

Timka Alihodžić

• Archaeological Museum Zadar, 23 000 Zadar, Croatia

author

Mario Šlaus

• Anthropological Centre, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia

References

• Agelarakis PA, Serpanos Y. 2010. Auditory Exostoses, Infracranial Skeleto-Muscular Changes and Maritime Activities in Classical Period Thasos Island. Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry 10:45-57.
• Alihodžić T. 2009. Relja - parkiralište. Hrvatski arheološki godišnjak 6:540-43.
• Ascenzi A, Balistreri P. 1975. Aural exostoses in a Roman skull excavated at the “Baths of the swimmer” in the ancient town of Ostia. J Hum Evol 4:579-84.[Crossref]
• Aufderheide AC, Rodríguez-Martín C, Langsjoen O. 1998. The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Human Paleopathology. Cambridge: University Press.
• Berry AC. 1975. Factors affecting the incidence of non-metrical skeletal variants. J Anat 120:519-35.[PubMed]
• Blake C. 1880. The occurrence of exostoses within the external canal in prehistoric man. Am J Otol 2:81-91.
• Brusić Z, Domjan M. 1985. Liburnian boats - their construction and form. In S McGrail, E Kentley, editors. Sewn Plank Boats. BAR International Series 276. Oxford: Archaeopress. 67-85.
• Brusić Z. 1995. Serillia liburnica. Radovi Zavoda za povijesne znanosti HAZU u Zadru 37:39-59.
• Buikstra JE, Ubelaker DH. 1994. Standards for data collection from human skeletal remains. Fayetteville: Arkansas Archaeological Survey.
• Cave AJE. 1961. The nature and morphology of the costoclavicular ligament. J Anat 95:170-79.[PubMed]
• Chaplin JM, Stewart IA. 1998. The prevalence of exostoses in the external auditory meatus of surfers. Clin Otolaryngol 23:326-30.[Crossref]
• Cunningham DJ. 1905. Textbook of Anatomy. New York: W. Wood & Company.
• DiBartolomeo JR. 1979. Exostoses of the external auditory canal. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 88:2-20.[PubMed]
• Eshed V, Gopher A, Galili E, Hershkovitz I. 2004. Musculoskeletal stress markers in Natufian hunter-gatherers and Neolithic farmers in the Levant: the upper limb. Am Journal Phys Anthropol 123:303-15.
• Fabiani M, Barbara M, Filipo R. 1984. External ear canal exostosis and aquatic sports. ORL J Otorhinolaryngol Relat Spec 46:159-64.[PubMed]
• Filipo R, Fabiani M, Barbara M. 1982. External ear canal exostosis: A physiopathological lesion in aquatic sports. J Sports Med Phys Fitness 22:329-39.[PubMed]
• Frayer DW. 1988. Auditory exostoses and evidence for fishing at Vlasac. Current Anthropology 29:346-49.[Crossref]
• Gerszten PC, Gerszten E, Allison MJ. 1998. Diseases of the skull in pre-Columbian South American mummies. Neurosurgery 42:1145-51.[Crossref][PubMed]
• Gluščević S. 1987. Vađenje antičkog broda iz Zatona. Obavijesti Hrvatskog arheološkog društva 3/1987:33-43.
• Gluščević S. 2002. Hidroarheološko istraživanje i nalaz trećeg liburnskog broda u antičkoj luci u Zatonu kod Zadra. Obavijesti Hrvatskog arheološkog društva 3/2002:76-86.
• Gluščević S. 2005. Zadarske nekropole od 1. do 4. st. Unpublished PhD dissertation. Zadar: Sveučilište u Zadru.
• Hawkey DE, Street SR. 1992. Activity-induced stress markers in prehistoric remains from the eastern Aleutian Islands. Am J Phys Anthropol 14:89.
• Hawkey DE, Merbs CF. 1995. Activity-induced musculoskeletal stress markers (MSM) and subsistence strategy changes among ancient Hudson Bay Eskimo. Int J Osteoarchaeol 5:324-38.[Crossref]
• Hrdlicka A. 1935. Ear exostoses. Am J Phys Anthropol 20:489-90.
• Jurišić M. 2000. Ancient Shipwrecks of the Adriatic. Maritime transport during the first and second centuries AD. BAR International Series 828. Oxford: Archaeopress.
• Kennedy GF. 1986. The relationship between auditory exostoses and cold water: a latitudinal analysis. Am J Phys Anthropol 71:401-15.[Crossref]
• Knüsel CJ, Gögel S, Lucy D. 1997. Comparative degenerative joint disease of the vertebral column in the medieval monastic cemetery of the Gilbertine Priory of St. Andrew, Fishergate, York, England. Am J Phys Anthropol 103:481-95.[Crossref][PubMed]
• Kraljev D, Gajić-Čapka M, Zaninović K. 1995. U okrilju sunca i mora: klimatska monografija Zadra. Zadar: Hrvatsko meteorološko društvo.
• Kroon DF, Lawson ML, Derkay CS, Hoffman K, McCook J. 2002. Surfer’s ear: external auditory exostoses are more prevalent in cold water surfers. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 126:499-504.
• Lai P, Lowell NC. 1992. Skeletal Markers of Occupational Stress in the Fur Trade: a Case Study from a Hudson’s Bay Company Fur Trade Post. Int J Osteoarchaeol 2:221-34.[Crossref]
• Lieverse AR, Bazaliiskii VI, Goriunova OI, Weber AW. 2009. Upper limb musculoskeletal stress markers among middle Holocene foragers of Siberia’s Cis-Baikal region. Am J Phys Anthropol 138:458-72.[WoS]
• Mann WR, Murphy PS. 1990. Regional atlas of bone disease. Springfield: C.C. Thomas:.
• Manzi G, Sperduti A, Passarello P. 1991. Behavior- induced auditory exostoses in Imperial Roman society: evidence from coeval urban and rural communities near Rome. Am J Phys Anthropol 85:253-60.[Crossref][PubMed]
• Miladinović-Radmilović N. 2010. Exostoses of the external auditory canal. Starinar 60:137-46.[Crossref]
• Novak G. 1962. Jadransko more u borbama i sukobima kroz stoljeća. Beograd: Vojnoizdavački zavod JNA Vojno delo.
• Okumura MMM, Boyadjian CHC, Eggers S. 2007. Auditory Exostoses as an Aquatic Activity Marker: A Comparison of Coastal and Inland Skeletal Remains from Tropic and Subtropical Regions of Brazil. Am J Phys Anthropol 132:558-67.[WoS]
• Novak M, Šlaus M. 2011. Vertebral pathologies in two early modern period (16th-19th century) populations from Croatia. Am J Phys Anthropol 145:270-81. [WoS]
• Ortner DJ. 2003. Identification of Pathological Conditions in Human Skeletal Remains. San Diego: Academic Press.
• Owsley DW, Mann RW, Murphy SP. 1991. Injuries, surgical care and disease. In S Pfeiffer, RF Williamson, editors. Snake Hill: an Investigation of a Military Cemetery from the War of 1812. Toronto: Dundurn Press. 198-226.
• Radić Rossi I, Boetto G. 2011. Šivani brod u uvali Caska na Pagu - istraživačka kampanja 2010. Histria Antiqua 20:505-13.
• Rogers J, Waldron T, Dieppe P, Watt I. 1987. Arthropathies in palaeopathology: The basis of classification according to most probable cause. Journal of Archaeological Science 14:179-93.[Crossref]
• Sakalinskas V, Jankauskas R. 1993. Clinical otosclerosis and auditory exostoses in ancient Europeans (investigation of Lithuanian paleoosteological samples). J Laryngol Otol 107:489-91.
• Spector TD, MacGregor AJ. 2004. Risk factors for osteoarthritis: genetics. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 12(S):39-44.
• Standen VG, Arriaza BT, Santoro CM. 1997. External auditory exostosis in prehistoric Chilean populations: A test of the cold water hypothesis. Am J Phys Anthropol 103:119-29.
• Stirland AJ, Waldron T. 1997. Evidence for activity related markers in the vertebrae of the crew of the Mary Rose. Journal of Archaeological Science 24:329-35.[Crossref]
• Suić M. 1981. Zadar u starom vijeku. Zadar: Filozofski fakultet.
• Suić M. 2003. Antički grad na istočnom Jadranu. Zagreb: Golden marketing.
• van der Merwe AE, Işcan MY, L’Abbè EN. 2006. The pattern of vertebral osteophyte development in a South African population. Int J Osteoarchaeol 16:459-64.
• Velasco-Vazquez J, Betancor-Rodriguez A, Arnay-de-la-Rosa M, Gonzalez-Reimers E. 2000. Auricular exostoses in the Prehistoric Population of Gran Canaria. Am J Phys Anthropol 112:49-55.[Crossref]
• Zaninović M. 1988. Liburnia Militaris. Opuscula Archeologica 13:43-67.

Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/anre-2013-0001