Abstract:
This study aims to understand the risk of mortality in relation to vertebral canal
growth disruption at the Pueblo Bonito (AD 800-1200, n=47) and Hawikku (AD 1400-
1680, n=102) sites in the pre- and protohistoric American Southwest. The vertebral
neural canal encodes information from the intrauterine period until the age of 5 years for
midsagittal diameter and adolescence for interpedicular diameter. Maximum midsagittal
and interpedicular measurements of the neural canal were collected for all vertebrae. Age
was estimated using transition analysis. An ANOVA with a Games-Howell post-hoc test
found that reduced neural canal diameter was significantly associated with early adult
mortality at Hawikku for several types of vertebrae (P ≤ 0.05). Significant associations
with early adult mortality were also found at Pueblo Bonito (P ≤ 0.05). Additionally,
survival analysis revealed decreased survivorship for Pueblo Bonito and Hawikku
individuals who had smaller vertebral neural canals (P ≤ 0.05). Results from this study
support an accumulative stress model in these samples, where disrupted growth in
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skeletal structures that form over extended periods of ontogeny have the highest mortality
signal. In addition, trends in mortality appear contextual. Greater mortality risk in
association with VNC growth disruptions is found at Pueblo Bonito compared to
Hawikku. This may reflect drought related stressors at Pueblo Bonito and epidemic
mortality at Hawikku. These results are consistent with the Developmental Origins of
Health and Disease framework which argues that early life stress has a contextual impact
on mortality at later stages of the life cycle.
