Carlina de la Cova

Past and present institutions (e.g., state and public hospitals, assisted living facilities, public nursing homes) have struggled with structural issues tied to patient care and neglect, which often manifests in the form of fracture trauma, and may explain why institutionalized individuals are at higher risk for this injury. Six hundred individuals from the Robert J. Terry Anatomical Collection born between 1822–1877 were examined to investigate hip fracture prevalence. Analysis of associated records and documentary data, including death, morgue, and census records, revealed that 36.3% (n = 218) of these individuals died in institutions such as the St. Louis State Hospital, City Infirmary, and Missouri State Hospital No. 4. Of the institutionalized individuals, 4.3% had evidence of hip fracture, significantly higher than the non-institutionalized (2.3%). Records revealed that many hip fractures were suffered around the time of death in state hospitals and were preventable, resulting...

Buikstra, J.E., DeWitte, S.N., Agarwal, S.C., Baker, B.J., Bartelink, E.J., Berger, E., Blevins, K.E., Bolhofner, K., Boutin, A.T., Brickley, M.B., Buzon, M.R., de la Cova, C., Goldstein, L., Grauer, A.L., Gregoricka, L.A., Halcrow, S.E., Hall, S.A., Hillson, S., Kakaliouris, A.M., Klaus, H.D., Knudson, K.J., Knüsel, C.J., Larsen, C.S., Martin, D.L., Milner, G.R., Novak, M., Nystrom, K.C., Pacheco-Forés, S.I., Prowse, T.L., Robbins Schug, G., Roberts, C.A., Rothwell, J.E., Santos, A. L., Stojanowski, C., Stone, A.C., Stull, K.E., Temple, D.H., Torres, C.M., Toyne, J. M., Tung, T.A., Ullinger, J., Wiltschke-Schrotta, K., and Zakrzewski, S.R. In press. 21st century bioarchaeology: Taking stock and moving forward. Yearbook of Biological Anthropology. This article presents outcomes from a Workshop entitled “Bioarchaeology: Taking Stock and Moving Forward,” which was held at Arizona State University (ASU) on March 6–8, 2020. Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the School of Human Evolution and Social Change (ASU), and the Center for Bioarchaeological Research (CBR, ASU), the Workshop's overall goal was to explore reasons why research proposals submitted by bioarchaeologists, both graduate students and established scholars, fared disproportionately poorly within recent NSF Anthropology Program competitions and to offer advice for increasing success. Therefore, this Workshop comprised 43 international scholars and four advanced graduate students with a history of successful grant acquisition, primarily from the United States. Ulti- mately, we focused on two related aims: (1) best practices for improving research designs and training and (2) evaluating topics of contemporary significance that rever- berate through history and beyond as promising trajectories for bioarchaeological research. Among the former were contextual grounding, research question/hypothesis generation, statistical procedures appropriate for small samples and mixed qualitative/ quantitative data, the salience of Bayesian methods, and training program content. Top- ical foci included ethics, social inequality, identity (including intersectionality), climate change, migration, violence, epidemic disease, adaptability/plasticity, the osteological paradox, and the developmental origins of health and disease. Given the profound changes required globally to address decolonization in the 21st century, this concern also entered many formal and informal discussions.

This research examines health and trauma among African American and Euro-American males of low socio-economic status born between 1832 and 1877. A total of 655 skeletons from the Cobb, Terry, and Hamann-Todd Collections were analyzed for skeletal and dental ...

OBJECTIVE This case study describes a perimortem hip fracture in a documented individual from the Robert J. Terry Skeletal Collection. The purpose of this paper is to comprehend how co-occurring conditions contributed to fracture risk and to understand the effect of the injury on this individual. MATERIALS AND METHODS A 73-year-old female from the Terry Collection with a fracture of the left proximal femur was assessed macroscopically, and images were taken with a Keyence VHX-2000 digital microscope. Documentation concerning the individual's history and contemporary treatment of hip fractures was explored. RESULTS Assessment demonstrated impaction of fractured elements occurred as a result of the inferior displacement of the femoral head into the femoral neck. Eburnation and hinge fractures are present on the fracture margins. Bending deformities of the sacrum, sternum, and ribs indicate underlying osteomalacia. No evidence of surgical intervention was observed. CONCLUSIONS Both osteomalacia and osteoporosis contributed to overall fracture risk in this case, which demonstrates how complex underlying factors can interact to increase the probability of fracture, and influence post-fracture mortality. SIGNIFICANCE This report is the first case study, to date, of a healing hip fracture in which the circumstances of the fracture and the medical history of the individual are known. LIMITATIONS To fully investigate osteoporosis, bone mineral density for this individual should be compared with others in the collection. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH The effect of co-occurring conditions on fracture risk should be explored in the wider Terry Collection, and in other skeletal collections.

OBJECTIVE Unhealed hip fractures are underrepresented in the archaeological record, suggesting that better identification criteria are required. This paper evaluates whether a sample of documented perimortem hip fractures displayed classic perimortem features and which features may facilitate better identification of such fractures in the archaeological record. MATERIALS Ten individuals from the Robert J. Terry Anatomical Skeletal Collection with documented hip fractures and intervals of survival. METHODS We observed the skeletal remains macroscopically and with a Keyence VHX-2000 digital microscope at a range of 5x to 100x magnification. RESULTS 90% of the individuals and 64% of the fragments had identifiable perimortem features; hinging was the most consistent feature. Eburnation was found in two individuals who died 13 days after sustaining a hip fracture. CONCLUSIONS This study underscores the importance of examining fracture margins for evidence of hinging. Eburnation may be added to the list of potential perimortem fracture identification criteria. SIGNIFICANCE Identifying perimortem trauma unequivocally remains challenging. Using collections with documented perimortem fractures aids in determining which criteria are most likely to appear in archaeological human bone. LIMITATIONS The fracture location patterning (70% intertrochanteric) may be the result of sample selection. SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH Further intensive comparative investigation with the Hamann-Todd Collection would elucidate patterns further.

Curated osteological collections have been used to develop methodologies and theories associated with the interpretation of skeletal remains. The George S. Huntington Anatomical Collection, the Robert J. Terry Anatomical Collection, the Hamann–Todd Osteological Collection and the W. Montague Cobb Human Skeletal Collection represent the most well-known and frequently used skeletal teaching collections in the USA. The use of these skeletal collections in education and research has advanced many fields related to anatomy and anthropology. However, the socially sanctioned use of unclaimed cadavers in their development has resulted in the overrepresentation of the most impoverished segments of society. A thorough understanding of the circumstances under which these human remains were acquired poses unique questions and opportunities for researchers. Knowledge of the structural violence that has led to the inclusion of particular individuals within the collections requires current anthropologists to critically reflect upon the power dynamics and impacts of their research.

Hip fractures have high incidence rates in many current groups and are associated with high morbidity, mortality, and considerable expenditure. Although hip fractures associated with significant traumatic events can occur at any age, many hip fractures occur in older adults. To date, few hip fractures have been reported from archaeological skeletal material, and a number of hypotheses have been suggested for this. This research presents a comprehensive assessment of hip fractures in archaeological bone; 1597 adult (18+ years) skeletons from eight urban post-medieval sites from England dating from the 18th and 19th centuries were recorded, and contemporary medical texts reviewed. This adult sample included 834 males and 652 females as well as 11 persons of undetermined sex. Ways of classifying and describing fractures in the clinical literature were reviewed and a methodology applicable to paleopathology determined. Of this sample, 15 (0.94%) had fractures in the femoral neck or intertrochanteric area: nine males, four females, and two individuals of undetermined sex. The numbers of fractures in males were interesting and most likely represent examples of accidental trauma as well as osteoporosis-related fractures, the latter receiving growing awareness in recent clinical literature. Overall there was an age-related trend with more individuals aged 50+ years with fractures than in other age categories. Underlying osteoporosis was potentially a complicating factor in five individuals and was likely associated with a vitamin D deficiency osteomalacia and a metastatic neoplastic condition in a further two cases. Fractures occurring close to the time of death and healed fractures were observed, indicating that the risk of mortality following this trauma was not consistent across this 18th and 19th century sample. Skeletal and historical evidence presented in this study indicate that the impact of hip fracture injuries varied, with survival likely linked to the fracture type. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

... Wells, de la Cova, Mississippian Vincennes Phase of Indiana. Disciplines. Anthropology. Opus Citation. Joshua Wells and Carlina de la Cova (2007). Stable Isotopic Relationships between Age, Sex, and Maize Consumption in the Mississippian Vincennes Phase of Indiana. ...

The retromolar space (RMS), defined in palaeoanthropology as a space posterior to the third molar, between the distal edge of the tooth and the anterior margin of the ascending ramus when the mandible is held in lateral view, has been described as an autapomorphic trait unique to Neanderthals despite its presence in anatomically modern humans. This study examined RMS prevalence in a sample of protohistoric Arikara and Mandan Amerindians to determine what craniofacial morphology is correlated with the RMS. It was hypothesised that the feature would be present in the Amerindians studied and associated with a long cranial length, a large nasal height, midfacial prognathism, a broad mandible, and dental wear. The results indicated that RMSs were present in the Arikara and Mandan and significantly correlated with cranial length, cranial breadth, nasal height, bizygomatic breadth, basion-nasion length, basion-nasiospinale, mandible length, gonial angle, bigonial breadth, and dental wear. Thus, RMSs are associated with a dolichocephalic skull, wide cranial and facial breadth, a prognathic face, large nose and a corresponding wide and long mandible with a reduced gonial angle. This suggests that the RMS is the result of these features merging together in the craniofacial complex and should not be considered a Neanderthal autapomorphy.