Entheses and Activities: The Multivariate Mechanisms of Entheseal Change for Individuals Represented By the 2013 Excavations of the Milwaukee County Institution Grounds Cemetery

Abstract

ABSTRACT ENTHESES AND ACTIVITIES: THE MULTIVARIATE MECHANISMS OF ENTHESEAL CHANGE FOR INDIVIDUALS REPRESENTED BY THE 2013 EXCAVATIONS OF THE MILWAUKEE COUNTY INSTITUTION GROUNDS CEMETERY by Jessica L. Skinner The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2015 Under the Supervision of Professor Fred Anapol The analysis of the features that mark tendon and muscle insertion sites on bone has been used in an attempt to reconstruct past life activity patterns of individuals and populations represented by skeletal remains. Many of these analyses have focused on comparing evidence from these individuals with known musculoskeletal and biomechanical data. Recent experimental tests have illustrated that defining these correlations is more complex than expected (Mariotti, 2007). Modern clinical data has expanded our understanding of the development of these markers as a result of enthesopathy and entheseal change, enabling further examination of the underlying forces affecting these changes, such as age and concurrent pathology. To further this study, an analysis of individuals from the Milwaukee County Institution Grounds Cemetery collection is conducted, using the enthesis-type-selection technique (Villotte, 2013) and an entheseal change scoring method proposed by Henderson et al. (2010). 3D morphometric analysis is also utilized. The shoulder complex of adult individuals exhibiting a range of skeletal health conditions is analyzed. This study examines the implications of age, concurrent pathology, and activity for skeletal and entheseal health, as well as the utility of entheseal change analysis for the purpose of determining past life activities.