Pastoralism, Agriculture, and Stress: A Comparative Analysis of Two 19th Century Qing Dynasty Populations

In order to improve anthropological understandings of mobile pastoralism as a strategy for the exploitation of marginal environments, this study tests the hypothesis that a mobile, diffuse, pastoralist population is less likely to experience elevated physiological stress than a comparatively sedentary, aggregated, agriculture-dependent population. Three different indicators of subadult systemic stress were assessed in skeletal samples of two historic 19th century populations from the Qing Empire (1644 – 1912) of China. Samples included crania from a mobile and relatively diffuse pastoralist population from Urga, Mongolia (n=40) and crania from a group of southern Chinese laborers (n=40) interred in Karluk, Alaska who represent a sedentary and highly aggregated agriculture-dependent population. The presence, location, and severity of porotic hyperostosis, cribra orbitalia, and linear enamel hypoplasia were assessed macroscopically. Results show that in all pathological conditions except cribra orbitalia, stress indicators were significantly more frequent in the agriculturalist Karluk sample than in the pastoralist Urga sample; cribra orbitalia had equivalent frequencies. Porotic hyperostosis frequency differences were moderate but significant at the whole group level, while differences in linear enamel hypoplasia frequency and severity were more substantial. The results from this study are consistent with the conclusion that mobility, population density, and food pathways have a significant effect on the stress loads in these settings and that there are generally lower physiological costs entailed in a pastoral rather than agricultural lifestyle.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Anthropology

Grantor dc:publisher

The Ohio State University

Year dc:date

2013

Author dc:creator

• Betz, Barbara J.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Larsen, Clark Spencer

• Physical Anthropology
• Archaeology
• Mongolia
• bioarchaeology
• physiological stress
• porotic hyperostosis
• cribra orbitalia, linear enamel hypoplasia

Statement dc:rights

• unrestricted
• This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1366126862

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:etd.ohiolink.edu:osu1366126862