Osteoarthritis of the Spine

The thorax and spine house many vital organs and are in constant motion throughout our lives, from basic respiration through to support and movement during locomotion. This chapter provides an overview of a number of skeletal indicators of behaviour used by bioarchaeologists to attempt to understand various biological and social aspects of past humans and our fossil relatives. By understanding healthy skeletal variation of the human spine and thorax and how this compares to fossil hominins and extant non-human apes, we can identify traits related to our location to help us trace the origin of bipedalism, which was a vital part of human evolution. Further, investigating pathological lesions and deformations in the thorax can indicate important cultural practices in the past, such as clothing fashion, medical interventions, subsistence-related activities, rituals, interpersonal violence, and abuse. All of this information provides unique and valuable insights into human behaviours populations, allowing bioarchaeologists to use the thorax and spine to reconstruct what life was like for people in the past.