Bone mineral density in human femurs of documented age-at-death in a comparative context

This contribution aims at answering the question of the how and the why of invasive, micro-invasive and non-invasive analysis of anthropobiological remains, through the study of a collection comprising 51 skeletons of known age and sex (27 males and 24 females born between 1837 and 1916) stored in t...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Emmanuel Gilissen, Sarah Tayach, Rosine Orban
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Société d'Anthropologie de Paris 2024-05-01
Series:Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d’Anthropologie de Paris
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/bmsap/14133
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832579904528449536
author Emmanuel Gilissen
Sarah Tayach
Rosine Orban
author_facet Emmanuel Gilissen
Sarah Tayach
Rosine Orban
author_sort Emmanuel Gilissen
collection DOAJ
description This contribution aims at answering the question of the how and the why of invasive, micro-invasive and non-invasive analysis of anthropobiological remains, through the study of a collection comprising 51 skeletons of known age and sex (27 males and 24 females born between 1837 and 1916) stored in the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. We have attempted to identify possible age-related trends in femoral bone mineral content in the context of modern clinical references and archaeological skeletal series. Finally, we placed the data in a broad comparative context by comparing human bone mineral content values with those obtained from chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Results indicate a degradation of bone mineral density during aging that is comparable to that of current Western reference populations. Females’ bone health appears to be above the current average up until the age of 50 years. Bone mineral density values for humans are significantly lower than for chimpanzees, both in males and females. These results illustrate certain aspects of bone mineral density variability among different populations and within human populations over time, as well as the gracility of the human skeleton as compared to that of great apes.
format Article
id doaj-art-71440a2578944ada9c071ffa729062ff
institution Kabale University
issn 1777-5469
language English
publishDate 2024-05-01
publisher Société d'Anthropologie de Paris
record_format Article
series Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d’Anthropologie de Paris
spelling doaj-art-71440a2578944ada9c071ffa729062ff2025-01-30T11:27:48ZengSociété d'Anthropologie de ParisBulletins et Mémoires de la Société d’Anthropologie de Paris1777-54692024-05-013610.4000/bmsap.14133Bone mineral density in human femurs of documented age-at-death in a comparative contextEmmanuel GilissenSarah TayachRosine OrbanThis contribution aims at answering the question of the how and the why of invasive, micro-invasive and non-invasive analysis of anthropobiological remains, through the study of a collection comprising 51 skeletons of known age and sex (27 males and 24 females born between 1837 and 1916) stored in the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. We have attempted to identify possible age-related trends in femoral bone mineral content in the context of modern clinical references and archaeological skeletal series. Finally, we placed the data in a broad comparative context by comparing human bone mineral content values with those obtained from chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Results indicate a degradation of bone mineral density during aging that is comparable to that of current Western reference populations. Females’ bone health appears to be above the current average up until the age of 50 years. Bone mineral density values for humans are significantly lower than for chimpanzees, both in males and females. These results illustrate certain aspects of bone mineral density variability among different populations and within human populations over time, as well as the gracility of the human skeleton as compared to that of great apes.https://journals.openedition.org/bmsap/14133osteoporosisaginghuman Schoten populationchimpanzeebone mineral density (BMD)
spellingShingle Emmanuel Gilissen
Sarah Tayach
Rosine Orban
Bone mineral density in human femurs of documented age-at-death in a comparative context
Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d’Anthropologie de Paris
osteoporosis
aging
human Schoten population
chimpanzee
bone mineral density (BMD)
title Bone mineral density in human femurs of documented age-at-death in a comparative context
title_full Bone mineral density in human femurs of documented age-at-death in a comparative context
title_fullStr Bone mineral density in human femurs of documented age-at-death in a comparative context
title_full_unstemmed Bone mineral density in human femurs of documented age-at-death in a comparative context
title_short Bone mineral density in human femurs of documented age-at-death in a comparative context
title_sort bone mineral density in human femurs of documented age at death in a comparative context
topic osteoporosis
aging
human Schoten population
chimpanzee
bone mineral density (BMD)
url https://journals.openedition.org/bmsap/14133
work_keys_str_mv AT emmanuelgilissen bonemineraldensityinhumanfemursofdocumentedageatdeathinacomparativecontext
AT sarahtayach bonemineraldensityinhumanfemursofdocumentedageatdeathinacomparativecontext
AT rosineorban bonemineraldensityinhumanfemursofdocumentedageatdeathinacomparativecontext