Osteochondritis dissecans and physical activity in skeletal remains of ancient hunter‐gatherers from Southern Patagonia

• Published in: International journal of osteoarchaeology Vol. 31; no. 1; pp. 77 - 87
• Main Authors: Zúñiga Thayer, Rodrigo, Suby, Jorge, Luna, Leandro, Flensborg, Gustavo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.01.2021
• Subjects: Archaeology; Bones; Forensic anthropology; Human remains; Hunter-gatherers; Joint and ligament injuries; OCD; paleopathology; Patagonia; physical activity
• ISSN: 1047-482X; 1099-1212
• DOI: 10.1002/oa.2926

Osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) is a joint disease characterized by the detachment or separation of an articular cartilage fragment and subchondral bone in joint epiphyses. It has been diagnosed in archaeological skeletons worldwide but scarcely studied in hunter‐gatherer skeletal remains. The aim of this paper is to analyse the variation of OCD in skeletons of past populations that lived in Southern Patagonia during the Late Holocene, which can be useful to improve our understanding about the effects of the mechanical demands in hunter‐gatherers. The overall prevalence observed in this sample (40.5%), higher than the data reported for current populations and mostly located in the shoulder of young and middle adult males of terrestrial and maritime hunter‐gatherers, suggests that physical activity involved in both economic strategies would have played an important role in the development of OCD. The contact with European colonizers does not seem to have produced differences in the prevalence of OCD, although more dated skeletons are needed to test this hypothesis.