Interpreting Behavior from the Human Skeleton: Looking at Squatting Facets / Senior Thesis by Kimberly Jones / Dept. of Sociology & Anthropology Interpreting Behavior from the Human Skeleton: Looking at Squatting Facets By Kimberly Jones, Anthropology Jim Skibo, Faculty Advisor Martin Nickels, Faculty Mentor Abstract Remodeling of bone occurs in response to physical stress. Habitual squatting in humans is associated with modifications of the ankle, specifically, the neck of the talus (squatting facets) and its trochlear surface (trochlear extensions). Individual populations exhibit different incidences of these modifications that reflect their lifestyle and behavior. Certain types of behavior can leave markers on the skeleton, indicating some type of strenuous activities. Activities such as hunting and gathering, cultivation, grinding and kneeling (squatting at rest) leave skeletal markers on the bone. The Schroeder Mounds Burials were used in this experiment to investigate if this population showed skeletal evidence of habitual squatting. Forty-four individuals were examined from the Schroeder Mounds collection. The analysis of the data indicates that the medial squatting facet occurred most frequently (32%), the lateral squatting facet occurred less then the medial (11%) and both combined occurred more frequently (23%) then the lateral squatting facet by itself. The results indicated that this population engaged in a squatting posture as a regular behavior. Introduction The purpose of this research is to investigate what types of behavior cause habitual squatting facets on the neck of the human talus. Certain behaviors leave markers on the skeleton, indicating certain types of strenuous activities. I will compare different case studies with my own research of the prehistoric study of Schroeder Mounds skeletal series, by using data that I collected from 44 burials containing both the left and right talus. Schroeder Mounds is an area comprising a prehistoric Native American burial ground. The burials date from 800 AD -1100 AD, placing in the Woodland cultural http://www.soa.ilstu.edu/anthropology/theses/kdjone1/welcome.html (1 of 43) [11/30/2007 1:19:12 PM]
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Interpreting Behavior from the Human Skeleton: Looking at Squatting Facets / Senior Thesis by Kimberly Jones / Dept. of Sociology & Anthropology
Interpreting Behavior from the Human Skeleton: Looking at Squatting Facets
By Kimberly Jones, Anthropology
Jim Skibo, Faculty Advisor
Martin Nickels, Faculty Mentor
Abstract
Remodeling of bone occurs in response to physical stress. Habitual squatting in humans is
associated with modifications of the ankle, specifically, the neck of the talus (squatting facets) and its
trochlear surface (trochlear extensions). Individual populations exhibit different incidences of these
modifications that reflect their lifestyle and behavior. Certain types of behavior can leave markers on the
skeleton, indicating some type of strenuous activities. Activities such as hunting and gathering,
cultivation, grinding and kneeling (squatting at rest) leave skeletal markers on the bone. The Schroeder
Mounds Burials were used in this experiment to investigate if this population showed skeletal evidence
of habitual squatting. Forty-four individuals were examined from the Schroeder Mounds collection. The
analysis of the data indicates that the medial squatting facet occurred most frequently (32%), the lateral
squatting facet occurred less then the medial (11%) and both combined occurred more frequently (23%)
then the lateral squatting facet by itself. The results indicated that this population engaged in a squatting
posture as a regular behavior.
Introduction
The purpose of this research is to investigate what types of behavior cause habitual squatting
facets on the neck of the human talus. Certain behaviors leave markers on the skeleton, indicating
certain types of strenuous activities. I will compare different case studies with my own research of the
prehistoric study of Schroeder Mounds skeletal series, by using data that I collected from 44 burials
containing both the left and right talus. Schroeder Mounds is an area comprising a prehistoric Native
American burial ground. The burials date from 800 AD -1100 AD, placing in the Woodland cultural
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period (Stauth 1975:20). The 44 burials examined in this study are the property of the Illinois State
Museum and the collection is in the process of being assimilated into the Museum's collection.
In each burial the neck of the talus was thoroughly investigated for wear patterns that indicated
areas that had a smooth or smooth-curved area. The Woodland Indians subsisted on a variety of plant
and animal foods, and not much of ground grains. They had plenty of refined carbohydrate foods, and a
vigorous amount of starch as their food consumption. However, this population lived during a time of
overpopulation, which lead to food shortages and more stress on the body (Smith 1984:43). Forty-four
burials were used in my research to illustrate the two types of behaviors practiced on a daily basis that
induced skeletal markers on the bone. The analysis of the data explored the two types of behavior such
as hunting and gathering, agricultural, and other strenuous activities involving habitual squatting that
caused the morphology of the bone to change and leave skeletal markers. These activities, practiced on
a daily basis, can cause skeletal markers not seen on individuals who did not practices these activities
regularly. The case study in this thesis demonstrates that certain squatting facets can indicate behavioral
activities from an individual’s daily life. Some earlier researchers discovered squatting facets were not
considered a true facet but an extension of the facet. My data will be compared to different case studies
used in previous research to see if the populations adopted the same kinds of patterns that can be
interpreted by their behavior.
The Morphology of the Talus
The talus is a stout, asymmetrical bone. The talus articulates (1) with the distal tibial facets above
it via its trochlear surface; (2) medially, with the medial malleolus of the tibia; (3) laterally, with the
lateral malleolus of the fibula. Anteriorly, the shallow, cup-shaped posterior articular region of the
navicular bone receives the semi-ball-shaped head of the talus. Inferiorly and somewhat posteriorly, the
head of the talus articulates superiorly with portions of the calcareous. The talus does not anchor any
muscles, but many ligaments are attached to it. The superior portion of the talus, the trochlear surface,
which articulates with the tibia distally, is composed largely of an arced, semilunate articular surface
with blunt, almost parallel medial and lateral edges; the lateral edges is somewhat shorter than the
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medial edge. The region between these two edges is depressed slightly, giving the surface the
appearance of a shadowy pulley. The articular facet "drapes" over the sides of the elevated eminence,
with the lateral articular surface being roundly triangular in shape and the medial articular surface being
somewhat lunate. The general configuration of these medial and lateral articular areas conforms to the
shapes of their respective articular surface on the tibia and fibula (Jeffery 1995:137).
In viewing the talus from the dorsal view (see fig.1), one can make several observations. (1) The
lateral articular surface may be oriented rather vertically, whereas typically the inferiorarticular area for
the lateral malleolus of the fibula is reflected outward. (2) In the anatomical position, the head and neck
of the talus are directed anteriorly relative to the long axis of the body of the talus; because the long axis
of the body of the talus is oriented obliquely, it forms an obtuse angle with the long axis of the neck.
And (3) the "heel" of the talus us swollen in its midline into an elongate lateral posterior tubercle; the
lateral posterior tubercle us separated from a bulkier medial posterior tubercle by the obliquely inclined
and variable distinct groove for the flexor hallucis longus (Jeffery 1995:138).
Brief History
It has been suggested that the so-called squatting facets found upon the neck of the talus and the
lower end of the tibia in many Oriental races provide evidence for the inheritance of acquired characters,
since they are present also in the Oriental foetus (Charles, 1894; Wood Jones, 1944). Sewell (1904)
disputed this contention on the grounds that "these facets occur in the foetus of the European, and
probably in all other races, whether the facets are found to be present in the adult or not" ( ). As Inkster
(1927) pointed out, several distinct facets have been described in literature, and the subject is further
confused by the lack of an agreed terminology. Although many series of adult tali have been reported
there has been no comparable study of foetal material. Most workers have examined dry tali; with these
it is sometimes impossible to determine whether a smooth area on the neck of the talus is in facet an
articular facet.
Thomson (1889) first described the presence of squatting facets on the anterior margin of the
distal extremity of the tibia and the upper surface of the neck of the talus in 1889. Since then, these
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Byzantine Oygucu 175 19 10.9 %Indian Present Study
Jones44 7 16 %
Table 5 (see appendix A for description)
Race Author Total No. Studied Lateral
Extension Present on the
Talus
Percentage
European Barnett 100 17 17%Indian Singh 300 164 54%
Japanese Morimoto 107 102 95%
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Australian Aborigine
Rao 238 215 90%
Byzantine Oygucu 175 14 8 %Indian Present Study
Jones44 10 23%
Reference Cited
Barnett, C.H.
1954 Squatting Facets on the European Talus. Journal of Anatomy.
Bass, William
1995 Human Osteology: A Laboratory and Field Manual. Missouri Archaeological Society.
Boulle, Eve-Line
1998 Evolution of Two Human Skeletal Markers of the Squatting Position: A Diachronic Study From Antiquity to the Modern Age. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 115:50-56.
Brothwell, D.R.
1981 Digging up Bones: The excavation, treatment and study of human skeletal remains. Cornell University Press.
Cameron, J.
1934 The skeleton of British Neolithic Man. William & Norgate Ltd.
Carpo, Richley H.
1996 Cultural Anthropology: Understanding Ourselves & Others. Dushkin McGraw Hill.
Christensen, John B.
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1972 Synopsis of Gross Anatomy. Harper & Row Publishers.
Cox, Margaret, and Simon Mays
2000 Human Osteology: In Archaeology and Forensic Science. Saxon Graphics Limited.
Evans, Philip
1986 The Knee Joint: A Clinical Guide. Churchill Livingstone.
Gray, Henry.
2000 Anatomy of the Human Body. Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger. www.bartleby.com/107/270-273.
Haas. Jonathan
1994 Standards for data collected from human skeletal remains. Arkansas Archaeological Survey Research series 44.
Larson, Clark S.
1997 Bioarchaeology: Interpreting behavior from the human skeleton. Cambridge University Press.
2000 Reading the Bones of La Florida.Scientific American 63:80-85.
Molleson, Theya
1994 The Eloquent Bones of Abu Hureyra. Scientific American 271:70-75.
Morimoto M.
1960 The influence of squatting posture on the Talus in the Japanese. Medical Journal Shinshu University 5:159-168.
Oygucu, IH, and M.Kurt
1998 Squatting Facets on the neck of the Talus and extension of the trochlear surface of the Talus
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in late Byzantine males. Journal of Anatomy 192(2):287-291.
Prasado, Rao
1966 Squatting facets on the Talus and tibia in Australian Aborigines. Archaeology Physical Anthropology Oceania 1:51-56.
Quarry, Wood W.
1920 The Tibia of the Australian Aborigine. Journal Anatomy 54:232-257.
Satinoff, Merton.
1972 Study of the squatting facets of the Talus and tibia in ancient Egyptians. Journal Human Evolution 1:209-212.
Schwartz, Jeffery
1995 Skeleton Keys: An introduction to human skeletal morphology, development, and analysis. Oxford University Press.
Singh, I.
1959 Squatting facets on the Talus and tibia in Indians. Journal Anatomy 93:540-550.
Smith, B. Holly
1984 Patterns of Molar Wear Pattern in Hunter-Gathers and Argiculturists. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 63:39-56.
Thomson, A.
1889 The influence of posture on the form of the articular surfaces of the tibia and astragalus in the different races of man and the higher apes. Journal Anatomy 23:616-639.
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Appendix A
Collective Data
Schroeder Mounds Burial Data
1. The data (see table 1) that I collected are from 44 skeletons showing some type of squatting facet on the neck of the talus.
2. The true Medial squatting facet was present in 32% of the 44 total.3. The Medial squatting facet and medial extension of the trochlear surface were present in
10% of the 60 total.4. The true Lateral squatting facet was present in 11% of the 44.5. The Lateral squatting facet and lateral extension of the trochlear surface were present in
23% of the 44 total.6. The lateral and medial extensions of the trochlear surface were present in 18% of the 44
total.
Boulle’s Data
1. The lateral squatting facet was studied in this population, which frequently used the squatting posture (Charles, 1893; Singh, 1959; Rao, 1966; Satinoff, 1972).
2. Its frequency varied between 28 (64%) among these populations; only 2% among European adults were found.
3. The frequencies of the presence of the lateral squatting facet were related to hyperdorsiflexion of ankle.
4. The pattern seems to demonstrate the habitual use of the squatting posture, followed by progressively decreasing frequency.
5. Analysis of the frequency of squatting facets observed in the series demonstrates a difference between men (30.35%) and women (40.23%).
Oygucu’s Data
1. 175 tali were investigated in this study, 68 were the right and left tali from the same skeletons, i.e. there were 34 complete pairs.
2. 31 pairs (91.2%) displayed the same features on both sides and only 3 pairs (8.8%) exhibited side asymmetry.
3. The Byzantine male tali, the lateral squatting facet occurred most frequency (37.7%), compared to the medial (0.6%), combined (0.6%) and continuous (0.6%) facets on the neck of the talus.
4. The occurrence of lateral squatting facets in the late Byzantine males is greater than that
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reported for modern Europeans, similar to some populations of modern Indians.5. The difference in the occurrence of squatting facets between apparently similar Indian
populations may reflect the sex ratios of the bones investigated, as Pandey & Singh (1990) reported that the prevalence of squatting facets is significantly greater in females than in males.
6. Lateral extensions were present in 8.0%, medial extensions in 10.9% and continuous (lateral/central/medial) extensions in 4.6% of the tali.
Satinoff’s Data
1. Ancient Egyptian skeletons are unequivocal prevalence of specimens having clearly defined squatting facets over those, which do not (only 4% do not show evidence of squatting facets).
2. The lateral squatting facet of the tibia is the most common type of facet on both left and right tibiae and it is associated with either a combined fossa or with a lateral fossa.
3. The medial tibial squatting facet appears rarely and when it is present a lateral tibial facet always accompanies it. The lateral tibial squatting facet is present alone in 96% of the specimens.
4. On the talus the frequency of the lateral facet occurs less frequently then the combined facet, which is not found on the tibia, and this is present in 31% of the tali examined. Also the medial facet never appears alone and occurs together with a lateral facet in only four cases.
5. The extensions of the articular surfaces of the talus appear quite independently of one another, varying in degree and occurring in any combination.
6. The forward extension of the medial articular surface is present in all the specimens examined.
7. The medial extension of the trochlear surface occurs in 79% of the specimens and the lateral extension of the trochlear surface occurs in 90% of the specimens examined. Rao's Case Study
8. The squatting facet were examined and studied in 238 tali and 234 tibiae of both sexes of the Australian Aborigine according to Barnett’s classification.
9. The medial and lateral extensions of the trochlear surface were present in 68.9% and 90.3% respectively in the total tali examined.
10. A true medial squatting facet is a rare condition, which was seen in three male talus bones, and faint impressions were seen on two of the corresponding tibiae at the anterior margin of the lower end. A true lateral squatting facet was present in 80 out of 238 tali (33.6%) examined.
11. In the tibia, a lateral squatting facet was present in 80.7% of which 25.6% coincided with the corresponding facet on the talus and a medial squatting facet was observed in 3.8%
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(0.85% coincided with the corresponding facet on the talus) only of the total series.
Morimoto’s Data
1. 301 cartilage-covered adult and foetal Japanese tali, and the corresponding tibiae, were examined for the so-called squatting facets.
2. The various types of these facets and their incidences were described.3. Adult and foetal Japanese tali are distinguishable from those of many other racial groups
by the fact that the so-called medial squatting facet is concave antero-posteriorly and acts as a "stop" for the inferior articular surface of the tibia.
4. The absence of a lateral squatting facets as described by Thomson (1889-90) distinguishes adult Japanese tali from those of both Indians and Australian Aborigines
Singh’s Data
1. The so-called squatting facets described in the literature have been critically analyzed.2. The incidence of these facets in a series of 300 adult and 66 foetal tali, and in 292 adult
and 66 foetal tibiae.3. Modifications produced by squatting are more frequent in (a) the Indian adult than in the
European, (b) the European foetus than n in the Indian, (c) the Indian adult than in the foetus, and (d) the European foetus than in the adult.
4. It is concluded that these facets in the Indian adult are purely acquired and are not inherited.
Barnett’s Data
1. A series of 100 adult and 56 foetal European tali were examined with the object of determining the incidence of squatting facet.
2. The rarity of a lateral squatting facet described by Thomson(1889) distinguishes the adult European talus from that of many races. This facet is commonly found in European fetuses.
3. The racial differences found in human tali can be explained without necessarily invoking the theory that acquired characters are inherited.
Appendix B
Figures and Illustrations
Fig. 1 Dorsal view of the talus (Gray 2000:270).
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Interpreting Behavior from the Human Skeleton: Looking at Squatting Facets / Senior Thesis by Kimberly Jones / Dept. of Sociology & Anthropology
fig. 2 Squatting at rest (Molleson 1994:73).
fig. 3 Hyperdorsiflexion position (Brothwell 1972:91).
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fig. 4Sagittal section of ankle hyperdorsiflexion, showing contact area between anterior edge of distal tibia and tali neck (Boulle 1998:52).
fig. 5, fig. 5a, fig. 5bDescription of the talus viewing the superior, medial, and lateral aspect of the talus (Christensen 1972:114).
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fig. 10 Talus of a foetus (175 mm. C.R. length) showing a large squatting facet covering almost the entire upper surface of the neck. A medial extension of the trochlear surface is also seen (Singh 1959:547).
fig 11. on the left Talus showing lateral extension of the trochlear surface.
fig 11a. on the right Talus showing both medial and lateral extension of the trochlear surface (Singh 1959:546).
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Fig 12c Talus showing a lateral squatting facet, and medial and lateral extensions of the trochlear surface (Singh 1959:547).
fig. 13Anterior view of the neck of the talus and the trochlea (Gray 2000:272-273).
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fig. 14A photograph of the dorsal aspect of a left talus from a late Byzantine (13th century AD) adult male skeleton excavated from a burial site near Iznik (Nicea), exhibiting a lateral squatting facet (overlain by arrowhead) together with a medial trochlear extension (arrow pointing to its anterior border) (Oygucu 1998:289).
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fig. 15An example of medial squatting facet of the Schroeder Mounds population.
fig. 16Examples of medial squatting facet.
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fig. 17a Examples of lateral squatting facet.
17b Examples of medial and lateral extension.
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fig. 17c Several tali from the Schroeder Mounds population.
fig. 18 The Crouched posture is universal for food gathers squatting to dig for food (Evans 1986:127).
fig. 19Food preparation tasks (Molleson 1994:72).
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Interpreting Behavior from the Human Skeleton: Looking at Squatting Facets / Senior Thesis by Kimberly Jones / Dept. of Sociology & Anthropology
fig. 20 Grinding for hours in preparation of food (Molleson 1994:73).
fig. 21 Traces of wear patterns that can be detected from daily stress (Molleson 1994:70).
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fig. 22Hunters & Gathers relied on tools to help gather the plants from their environment (Larsen 2000:85).
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