Hoyme and Bass] SKELETAL REMAINS 371 



whole group — men, women and children — moved together, some 

 deaths surely occurred away from their home base. It is therefore 

 possible that they would bury the less important of their dead along 

 the trail, taking home for burial only those whom they considered 

 of sufficient importance to j ustif y this special effort. Since the men, the 

 hunters, were the more productive members of the groups, while the 

 women and children were principally consumers and burden bearers, 

 one can surmise a number of reasons for abandoning the bodies of the 

 latter, and taking back the bodies of the men. Or, it may be that 

 more of the women and children died en route, leaving more of the 

 men to die at or near the site. Either explanation could account for 

 the predominance of men reported for these early sites; and at tlie 

 same time confirm the suspicion that the observed proportion of juve- 

 nile deaths is unduly low. Multiplying the number of children and 

 women by 2.5, the factor by which the men outnumber the women, 

 we obtain an estimate of about 33 percent for the proportion of the 

 Tollifero group dying before 21 years of age — an estimate agreeing 

 much more reasonably with the percentages for Whites and Negroes 

 cited previously. Although there is good reason to think that this 

 revised estimate is closer to actuality than the observed percentage, 

 there is, unfortunately, no way of checking its accuracy. Comparisons 

 with series of similar culture are not likely to lead to more accurate 

 estimates; and comparisons with groups of dissimilar cultures are 

 suspect because other differences in living conditions may have altered 

 both patterns of longevity and burial customs. 



When one is confronted with a skeletal population in which the 

 ratio of males to females deviates markedly from the normal 1 : 1 

 ratio, and where there is other evidence that the group may not have 

 occupied the site the year round, it would be well to be cautious in 

 drawing conclusions regarding health, longevity, and related matters. 

 In other words, if a notable proportion of the expected females are 

 not present, it is likely that the young, the sick, and the elderly may 

 also be among the missing. 



HEALTH AND DISEASE 



Skeletal abnormalities appear considerably more frequently in the 

 bones from the Clarksville site than in those from the Tollifero site. 

 The preceding discussion of the skeletal remains suggests a number 

 of reasons for this: (1) The difference in diet may have resulted in 

 differences in general health, and therefore in susceptibility to illness, 

 its course, and the probability of recovery. (2) The differences in 

 population composition may imply cultural differences in the pres- 

 ervation of the bodies of the deceased ; the abnormally high ratio of 

 males to females in the Tollifero group suggests that the missing 



