Auditory exostoses, infracranial skeletomuscular changes and maritime activities in classical period Thasos island
Part of : Mediterranean archaeology & archaeometry : international journal ; Vol.10, No.2, 2010, pages 45-57
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Pages:
45-57
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Abstract:
Acquired external ear exostoses are an auditory disorder presumably associated with prolongedor repeated exposure to cold aquatic activities. At the ancient necropolis of Thasos, Greece, a lowprevalence of auditory exostoses has been documented in one adult male out of an initially largernumber of individuals from the ancient necropolis of Thasos, although the city‐state was renownedin antiquity for the strength and dependency on its fleet and its seafaring activities in the Aegeanand the Black Sea as supported by historical and archaeological records. In addition to auditoryexostoses, this individual showed distinct similarities of infracranial axial and appendicular skeletalchanges of skeleto‐muscular robustness, trauma, and degenerative manifestations to a select sampleof 16 males out of 57 individuals interred in proximal contextual associations near the shorelinewhich may comprise a pattern of occupational conditions when juxtaposed to the context of the largerskeletal population studied at Thasos so far. This study also presents comparative ethnographicinformation relative to occupational changes documented among a surviving group of wooden boatcraftsmen on Thasos, comprising nine male individuals of diverse age‐subgroups and intra‐tradespecializations. It is proposed that the low incidence of external auditory exostoses from ancientThasos may not necessarily reflect issues of preservation or population sample, but rather the specificity of activities within the domain of specific maritime occupations.
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Keywords:
Auditory (Ear) Exostoses, Ancient Thasos, Sea Ferrying, Occupational Specialization
Notes:
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