Archaic hunter-gatherer adaptation on the inland portion of the West Gulf Coastal Plain : the bioarchaeological evidence

The purpose of this dissertation is to conduct a bioarchaeological analysis of the adaptation of Archaic Period hunter-gatherers living on the inland portion of the West Gulf Coastal Plain of Texas. This study, conducted on human skeletal remains recovered from Morhiss and Ernest Witte, provides the first large-scale study of biological adaptation of Archaic Period hunter-gatherers from the region. Over 360 individuals were analyzed in terms of age, sex, body size, and health, to assess the ability of these prehistoric peoples to adapt to their environment. Results of the demographic portion of this analysis suggest that differential selective pressures were not acting on adults from Morhiss or Ernest Witte. Children represented less than 20 percent of the sample, but this most likely reflects the poor skeletal preservation along the inland portion of the coast, rather than the survival of a large proportion of children to adulthood. A metric analysis of body size documented a large degree of adult sexual dimorphism, indicative of a healthy population. Skeletal evidence for infectious disorders was low, suggesting a population of relatively healthy people, in spite of the presence of endemic treponematosis. Trauma was limited primarily to bones of the hands and feet, indicating that trauma associated with accidents was more prevalent than trauma associated with violent behavior. Degenerative joint disease was the most commonly observed skeletal lesion, but the degree of osteoarthritis observed on the Archaic coastal samples was similar to other coastal samples from North America. Rates of osteoarthritis were highest in the hands, which when combined with high trauma rates in the hands, would have had a negative impact on quality of life. Evidence for anemia was low, which is consistent with the frequency expected for nomadic hunter-gatherer groups. Neoplasms and congenital skeletal disorders were not common. Data from numerous types of skeletal disorders, combined with information obtained from demography and body size analyses, indicate that these populations along the inland portion of the coastal plain of Texas during the Archaic Period were well-adapted to their environment. This finding is consistent with archaeological evidence from the same region and time period