Spondylolysis in Inuit skeletons from Arctic Canada

Abstract

Inuit skeletons from archaeological sites in Arctic Canada were examined for the presence of spondylolysis. The largest series represent the Thule culture and historic Inuit from northwest Hudson Bay and Labrador, and Sadlermiut from Southampton Island. The condition was found in 90 individuals, with a total of 120 affected vertebrae producing 198 hemi-arch defect sites. As in other studies, L5 is affected most frequently, followed by L4 and L3, but examples of L1, L2, L6, and S1 involvement are represented. Incomplete separations account for 20% (40) of the 198 defects, and 5% (10) occur at sites other than interarticularis. Affected males outnumber females at a ratio of 2.4 to 1. The condition was found to increase in frequency from adolescence to young adulthood, and then decrease to middle adulthood and decrease again to old adulthood, but the drop in frequency with age in the adult categories is significant only at the .20 level. Where comparisons could be made, the data obtained from the Canadian Inuit closely resemble those obtained from Alaskan Eskimos and Aleuts, especially their closest linguistic relatives, Inupiat speakers in northern Alaska. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.