GOUGH'S CAVE 1 : STUDY OF PELVIS AND LOWER LIMBS 



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Table 10 Osteometries of the Gough's Cave 1 femoral epiphyses. 



Right 



Left 



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5.90 5.95 6.00 



Ln Femur Length 



6.05 



6.10 



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5.85 5.90 5.95 6.00 6.05 6.10 



Ln Femur Length 



Fig. 9 Plots of the Gough's Cave 1 femoral midshaft logged cross- 

 sectional parameters vs. ln length (see text). Solid hexagons: Gough's 

 Cave 1 right and left femora; gray squares: Mesolithic males; open 

 squares: Mesolithic females. 



Cave 1 is well within the Mesolithic distributions, close to the 

 middles of the comparative sample distributions in both measures. 



Proximal Epiphyses (Table 10; Fig. 10) 



The proximal epiphyses present overall similar morphologies but 

 contrast in several aspects of their proportions, some of which are 

 reflected in the slight (ca.1%) length asymmetry. The heads are 

 evenly rounded and each has a large fovea capitis placed slightly 

 posterior on the head. There is no trace of an Allen's fossa on either 

 femur. The right head is slightly larger, especially in the cranio- 

 caudal direction (Table 10), but comparisons of their head sagittal 

 diameters to femoral bicondylar length produce similar indices ( 1 0.9 

 & 10.7), in part due to the differences in femoral lengths. They are 

 both very close to the means of Mesolithic ( 10.7 ± 0.5, N = 37) and 

 Mesolithic male (10.8 ± 0.5, N = 26) samples. 



On the left femur where is it preserved, there is a large obturator 

 fossa with a large pit 12.5mm deep from its posterior edge. The 

 intertrochanteric crest has clearly marked fibrous spicules running 



Head-neck length (M-14) 



Anatomical biomechanical neck length 1 



Trochanteric biomechanical neck length 2 



Head sagittal diameter (M-19) 



Head vertical diameter ( M- 1 8 ) 



Neck circumference (M-17) 



Neck-shaft angle (M-29)' 



Anteversion angle (M-28) 



Greater trochanter depth (M-26( 1 )) 



Gluteal tuberosity breadth 4 



Distal epicondylar breadth (M-2 1 ) 



Bicondylar breadth 5 



Medial condylar breadth (M-2 1 c ) 



Lateral condylar breadth (M-21e) 



Bicondylar angle (M-30) 



Medial patellar projection (M-24b) 



Lateral patellar projection (M-22) 



Median patellar projection 6 



Patellar surface circumference 7 



Patellar surface breadth (M-26(3b)) 



Patellar surface depth 8 



Patellar surface depth position'' 



80.1 



79.9 



37.0 



40.0 



63.0 



67.0 



47.7 



46.3 



48.2 



46.3 



97.0 



91.5 



132° 



135° 



11° 



30° 



- 



37.3 



8.2 



8.4 



- 



78.5 



(75.6) 



76.6 



(29.4) 



29.6 



28.3 



28.6 



10° 



10° 



60.7 



58.9 



63.6 



61.9 



59.0 



58.9 



42.0 



45.0 



37.7 



39.1 



6.0 



6.5 



13.6 



13.6 



1 Distance perpendicular to the diaphyseal axis from that axis to the proximal tangent 



to the femoral head. 



- Distance perpendicular to the diaphyseal axis from the proximo-distal tangent to 



the lateral greater trochanter to the proximal tangent to the femoral head (Lovejoy et 



al, 1973). 



5 Taken in the anteversion plane of the femoral head and neck. 



4 Maximum breadth of the rugose area for the insertion of M. gluteus maximus on the 

 proximal diaphysis (Trinkaus, 1976). 



5 Maximum breadth across the external medial and lateral condylar surfaces. 



6 Dorsal condylar plane to the tangent parallel to that dorsal plane within the deepest 

 portion of the patellar sulcus. 



7 Articular arc in the patellar sulcus from the intercondylar margin to the proximal 

 patellar surface. 



8 Maximum depth subtense to the sulcus floor, taken from the surface breadth. 



9 Position of the depth subtense from the lateral margin of the patellar surface. 



along it, from the capsular attachment, but the intertrochanteric lines 

 on the anterior surfaces are faint. Both lesser trochanters are strongly 

 medially projecting, and the greater trochanters have a clear lateral 

 swelling below the M. gluteus medius insertion. The left greater 

 trochanter also exhibits a strong beak at its proximo-medio-posterior 

 margin. 



The neck shaft angles of the two femora show a moderate degree 

 of asymmetry, with the left one being 3° higher. Both of these angles 

 ( 1 32° & 1 35°) are relatively high for foraging populations (Trinkaus, 

 1993) but not exceptional for a European Mesolithic sample (125.5° 

 ± 5.9°, N = 22) or a male one (124.4° ± 5.4°, N = 15). However, the 

 Gough's Cave 1 values nonetheless have z-scores of 1.36 and 1.68 

 respectively. 



Of greater asymmetry are the anteversion angles, a modest 1 1 ° on 

 the right side but a pronounced 30° on the left. This asymmetry in 

 anteversion angles is reflected in direction but not in degree by the 

 values for theta at the subtrochanteric level (37° and 40° respec- 

 tively). In comparison, a variable Mesolithic sample provides 

 anteversion angle values of 1 8.2° ± 9.0° (N = 1 8) and 1 8.3° ± 8.7° (N 

 = 12) for males alone. 



The relatively high neck-shaft angles of Gough's Cave 1 contrib- 

 ute in part to its relatively short biomechanical neck lengths, which 

 provide indices relative to bicondylar length 8.4 and 9.2 for the 

 anatomical biomechanical neck length and 14.4 and 15.5 for the 

 trochanteric one. These are relative respectively to 9.6 ± 0.9 (N = 1 1 ) 

 and 16.7 ± 1.0 (N= 10) for the Mesolithic sample and 9.5 ± 0.8 (N = 

 7) and 16.9 ± 0.7 (N = 6) for the male sample. 



