Objective

The ubiquity of cribra orbitalia in skeletal samples has led to rigorous debate over their etiology, with most concluding that nutrition, physiological stressors, and environmental disease vectors synergistically contribute to lesion development. To parse the relative contributions of these etiological factors in the prehistoric Andes, this spatial paleopathological meta-analysis investigates the relationship between population-wide prehistoric Andean cribra orbitalia rates and geographic, climatic, and hydrological variables.

Methods

Crude prevalence patterns of cribra orbitalia from 61 archaeological sites were plotted and analyzed with geostatistical methods to explore spatial patterns in the distribution of anemia-associated lesions. Multiple linear regression modeling was performed on 19 spatial variables suspected to contribute to various forms of anemia that result in cribrotic lesions.

Results

Spatially-clustered high cribra orbitalia rates exist around the Central Peruvian coast, but are paradoxically low on the Ecuadorian coast. Multiple regression shows that elevation, temperature, and precipitation were not predictive of lesion rates. Multiple regression models show that aridity and seasonal variability in freshwater supply, together, explained a third of the variation in lesion rates.

Conclusion

While cribra orbitalia has long been tied to coastal proximity, these results suggest environmental constraints such as the need for water storage could have promoted malnutrition and pathogenic infection more than mere coastal proximity.

Limitations of this study

This analysis is limited by the paucity of data from highland sites and by the assumption that burials are local to the excavation site.

Suggestions for future research

Future studies will integrate isotopic and remotely-sensed data into models to explore links between water security, nutrition, and disease.

中文翻译：

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空间古病理学：一种史前安第斯山脉中的cricrootic病变病因学的地理学方法。

目的

骨骼样品中普遍存在的cribra眼眶疾病已引起对其病因的严格争论，其中大多数结论是营养，生理应激源和环境疾病载体协同促进了病变的发展。为了分析这些病因在史前安第斯山脉中的相对贡献，本空间古病理学荟萃分析调查了整个史前安第斯山脉克里布轨道人口率与地理，气候和水文变量之间的关系。

方法

绘制了61个考古现场的斑马眼眶的粗略流行模式，并用地统计学方法进行了分析，以探索贫血相关病变分布中的空间模式。对19个空间变量进行了多元线性回归建模，这些空间变量被怀疑会导致各种形式的贫血，从而导致颅内病变。

结果

秘鲁中部沿海地区存在空间簇状的高天秤轨道率，但在厄瓜多尔沿海地区却偏低。多元回归显示，海拔，温度和降水不能预测病灶发生率。多元回归模型表明，干旱和淡水供应的季节性变化共同解释了病灶发生率变化的三分之一。

结论

虽然天秤座轨道长期以来一直与沿海地区紧密联系在一起，但这些结果表明，诸如储水之类的环境限制可能不仅是沿海地区更能促进营养不良和致病性感染。

本研究的局限性

这种分析受限于来自高地站点的数据的匮乏以及埋葬在挖掘站点本地的假设。

对未来研究的建议

未来的研究将把同位素和遥感数据整合到模型中，以探索水安全，营养和疾病之间的联系。