ACTIVITY-INDUCED MUSCULOSKELETAL STRESS MARKERS (MSM) AND SUBSISTENCESTRATEGY CHANGES AMONG ANCIENT HUDSON-BAY ESKIMOS

Although archaeological evidence may express the results of several se asons of activity, the human skeleton, when correlated with archaeolog ical and ethnographic data, provides information concerning daily acti vities performed throughout an individual's lifetime. Studies in occup ational and sports medicine, along with electromyographic analysis of movement, have shown that different activities place different amounts of stress on human bone. In the present study, analysis of upper extr emity musculoskeletal stress markers (MSM) has been used to clarify ha bitual activity patterns of two ancient Thule Eskimo groups from north west Hudson Bay, Canada. Distinct pattern differences in muscle use oc curred between Thule adult males and females and suggest possible gend er-specific activity patterns that are not always discernible from the archaeological record alone. Temporal applications of the MSM data fo r Early and Late Period Thule support McCartney's theory of a substant ial change in subsistence strategies through time, particularly among the adult males.