Bioarchaeological Studies of Life in the Age of Agriculture: A View from the Southeast

8. A Comparison of Degenerative Joint Disease between Upland and Coastal Prehistoric Agriculturalists from Georgia

8 A Comparison of Degenerative Joint Disease between Upland and Coastal Prehistoric Agriculturalists from Georgia Matthew A. Williamson One of the fundamental components of bioarchaeological research is the use of pathological skeletal lesions in the study of the interaction between biological and cultural aspects of past populations (Blakely 1977; Buikstra 1977; Buikstra and Cook 1980; Bush and Zvelebil 1991; Grauer 1995; Iscan and Kennedy 1989; Larsen 1987; Larsen and Milner 1994; Powell et al. 1991; Rathbun 1986; Saunders and Katzenberg 1992). Among the various diseases that are a part of this kind of analysis, studies of degenerative joint disease (DJD) have provided some important clues regarding the lifeways of prehistoric populations. When biological variables such as age and sex are controlled, the frequency of DJD within or between groups can provide useful information on activity patterns and workload (Bridges 1992; Jurmain 1977, 1990; Larsen 1987, 1995; Ortner 1968). In the eastern United States, this approach has been used to examine intrasite differences between sexes (Bridges 1991, 1994; Larsen 1982) and between high and low status agriculturalists (Blakely 1980; Tainter 1980). More abundant are studies that focus on how the transition from hunting and gathering to subsistence agriculture impacted native populations (Bridges 1991, 1992; Larsen 1981, 1982, 1984, 1995). Early research suggested that activity levels, re®ected in the frequency of DJD, decreased in accordance with the less strenuous agricultural lifestyle (reviewed in Bridges 1992; Larsen 1995). Work that followed has shown, however, that a distinct pattern associated with changes in subsistence behavior is dif¤cult to identify. For example, in the Caddo culture area of northeast Texas, southwest Arkansas, and southeast Oklahoma, Rose and coworkers (1984) found a decrease in overall DJD during the adoption of agriculture but a subsequent increase in the late prehistoric period. At the same time in the nearby Lower Mississippi Valley, they observed a decrease in osteoarthritis (although osteophytosis increased). Reported DJD frequencies during the transition to intensive agriculture are inconsistent . For example, Goodman and coworkers (1984) observed an increase in Illinois, whereas Larsen (1982) found a decrease on the Georgia coast, and Bridges (1991) found no change at all in Alabama. Indeed, Larsen (1995:200) has concluded that “no de¤nitive pattern relating prevalence and subsistence mode emerges except with regard to speci¤c geographic settings.” Only a few studies have speci¤cally addressed how DJD varies among and between agriculturalists from different geographical settings (e.g., Rose et al. 1984). Even though maize agriculture was widely practiced across the Eastern woodlands, it cannot be assumed that its effects on cultural and biological variables were identical for all populations (Larsen 1995). According to Hally (1994), because of considerable environmental differences within Georgia, the late prehistoric coastal settlement-subsistence pattern probably differed signi¤cantly from the type practiced by upland inhabitants. This probably resulted in signi¤cant differences in activity patterns between these regions, despite the fact that both were occupied by complex agricultural societies . The purpose of this chapter is to determine if activity patterns, documented through the frequency of degenerative joint disease, varied signi¤cantly between late prehistoric (a.d. 1350–1550) Mississippian populations from upland and coastal Georgia, as might be predicted from Hally’s model. Georgia is an excellent location for studying the geographical variation of DJD because it can be divided into separate regions that vary in physical geography and natural resources. These regions are referred to as physiographic provinces and consist of the Cumberland Plateau, Valley and Ridge, Blue Ridge, Piedmont, Coastal Plain, and Coastal Zone (Clark and Zisa 1976) (Figure 8-1). In this study, only the Valley and Ridge, Piedmont, and Coastal Zone are represented by human skeletal remains. The topography of the Valley and Ridge province ranges from 400– 500 m asl in the central Armuchee Ridges District to the relatively ®at Great Valley District, which contains a few elevations above 30 m (Clark and Zisa 1976). Relatively nutrient-rich, broad alluvial ®oodplains are associated with the rivers that ®ow through the Great Valley District (Hally and Langford 1988). Inhabitants of the Valley and Ridge seem to have exploited riverine and upland resources from permanent Degenerative Joint Disease 135 settlements as well as from temporary camps (Hally and Langford 1988). Subsistence centered on the cultivation of maize, beans, and squash, supplementary hunting and gathering, and exploitation of aquatic resources from river shoals. The Piedmont Province is bounded by the Valley and Ridge Province to the north and the Coastal Plain to the south (Clark and Zisa...