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Investigation Of Histomorphometric Values In An East Arctic Foraging Group, The Sadlermiut, Joseph Kenneth Purcell

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

A sample of second metacarpals (n=78) obtained from the Sadlermiut, Inuit (1285-1903 A.D.), a genetically isolated East Arctic foraging group, was analyzed histologically in this study. The Sadlermiut subsisted nearly exclusively on small marine mammals and fowl. Based on known adaptations to a cold environment, a high level of physical activity, and a diet high in protein, it was predicted that Inuit bones would show elevated levels of cellular activity. The size and density of secondary osteons in the Sadlermiut are used in this study to compare their bone metabolic processes with known data from a sample of Euro-Canadian metacarpals …