This study analyzed 127 skeletons from the Hamann-Todd collection with congenital cleft neural arches to examine health in Cleveland in the 1920s-1930s. It tested two hypotheses: 1) men would have more lumbosacral clefts than women, and 2) cleft positions would differ by ancestry. Results found no significant difference in cleft positions between sexes, but cleft positions did significantly differ between white and black ancestries, suggesting socioeconomic differences affected health. More research is needed to understand high rates of C1 clefts and how nutrition and trauma impacted cleft development.

1. ADescriptiveAnalysisofCleftNeuralArchesintheHamann-ToddOsteological
Collection
ShannonKlainer
INTRODUCTION
Biocultural anthropology is a growing field
whereupon the biological factors of
humans are examined within a cultural
context. Cultural context can establish a
basis for pathological lesions and growth
disruptions on skeletons, and conversely,
the pathologies of a skeleton can help one
make hypotheses about a past culture’s
socioeconomic status and knowledge of
health. This research seeks to discover
whether the skeletons of the Hamann-Todd
collection in the Cleveland Museum of
Natural History with congenital cleft neural
arches can create a picture of the health of
Cleveland and northeast Ohio residents in
the 1920s-1930s as well as specific
hypotheses for the following: ancestry,
age, and sex. The database of the
Hamann-Todd was used to provide age,
sex, and ancestry of a sample of 127
skeletons that are all diagnosed with cleft
neural arch disorders, which are caused by
a lack of folic acid by the mother while the
fetus is in development. The results of this
study were generally inconclusive
statistically due to sampling error, however,
clear pictures were able to be taken for
analysis.
For this experiment, two hypotheses were
conceived: H1—men will have
lumbosacral positioned cleft neural arch
disorders more often than women, H2,
there will be a significant difference
between the areas of cleft neural arch
placements and different ancestries. While
the testing is for congenital cleft neural
arches, manual labor can cause trauma to
the lumbosacral area which may increase
the severity of congenital cleft neural
arches in that particular segment of the
spine (Barnes 1994). Manual labor would
not affect congenital cleft arches of the
thoracic and cervical vertebrae.
MATERIALS AND
METHODS
In November 2014, permission was
granted by the Cleveland Museum of
Natural History to use the Hamann-Todd
osteological collection for research
purposes. The CMNH database for the
Hamann-Todd turned up approximately
220 individuals with cleft neural arch
disorders out of 3276 skeletons in total,
and a sample of N = 127 was taken. The
database provided age, sex, ancestry,
and diagnoses of the individuals. It was a
biased sample as out of the total number
of individuals listed with cleft neural arch
disorders, only 12 were female, and thus
all females were selected. Excel and
SPSS were used to categorize and sort
the data, and a Canon camera was used
to take photographs of selected
skeletons. A Pearson Chi-Square test was
used to determine the results of the data.
Figure 1 depicts the distribution of the areas of cleft neural
arch positions on the spine. It should be noted that out of 12
total cases for cervical vertebrae, 10 of those are C1,
equating to 7.9%.
Sex Total
Male Female
Cleft Position
cervical cleft arches
Count 10 2 12
% within Sex 8.7% 16.7% 9.4%
lumbosacral cleft arches
Count 94 7 101
% within Sex 81.7% 58.3% 79.5%
Thoracic cleft arches
Count 6 1 7
% within Sex 5.2% 8.3% 5.5%
multiple
Count 5 2 7
% within Sex 4.3% 16.7% 5.5%
Total
Count 115 12 127
% within Sex 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-
sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 4.662a
3 .198
Likelihood Ratio 3.648 3 .302
Linear-by-Linear Association 1.156 1 .282
N of Valid Cases 127
Table 1 indicates the distribution of cleft neural arch areas
of the spine within sex, and it was determined that there was
no significant difference at the 0.01 level.
Ancestry Total
White Black
Cleft Position
cervical cleft arches
Count 8 4 12
% within Ancestry 9.0% 10.5% 9.4%
lumbosacral cleft arches
Count 77 24 101
% within Ancestry 86.5% 63.2% 79.5%
Thoracic cleft arches
Count 1 6 7
% within Ancestry 1.1% 15.8% 5.5%
multiple
Count 3 4 7
% within Ancestry 3.4% 10.5% 5.5%
Total
Count 89 38 127
% within Ancestry 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-
sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 14.759a 3 .002
Likelihood Ratio 13.649 3 .003
N of Valid Cases 127
Table 2 depicts the distribution of cleft vertebrae within
ancestries, and it was calculated via a Pearson’s chi squared
test that it was significant at the 0.01 level.
Figure 2 and Figure 3 indicate lumbosacral cleft arches. Note only
the partial split in Figure 2 and the full split in Figure 3. Due to the fact it
is a medial split, they may also be termed spina bifida occulta.
Figure 4 depicts a
cleft neural arch at the
C1 vertebrae, also
known as spina bifida
atlantica. This occurs in
1-3% of the population
(Scheuer, Black 2000).
CONCLUSION
Due to the results of the Pearson Chi-Square test, we can reject H1 and
accept H2. The significant difference tested in H2 is telling about the
socioeconomic status of the individuals tested. While most white males
donated their bodies for the usage in the Hamann-Todd collection, most
African-American individuals were reclaimed by the state as they were too
poor to afford a proper burial. However, this method of collecting skeletons
has lead to a significantly more European-derived population within the
Hamann-Todd, which could have affected results. Additionally, since the
individuals from the Hamann-Todd are from the time period of 1920-1930,
this study cannot depict health based on nutrition as folic acid was not even
hypothesized to effect spinal development until the 1960s (Schmorl,
Junghanns 1971). However, trauma due to working conditions of the
population cannot be ruled out as an aggravator of congenital lumbosacral
cleft neural arches. There is currently no explanation as to why there is a
high percentage of C1 cleft arches, as the Hamann-Todd collection has
7.9% of the sample afflicted with this particular kind of cleft arch, well above
the 1-3% average. More testing would have to be done on this particular
kind of cleft arch, possibly using other collections such as the Terry
collection housed in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
REFERENCES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Barnes E. 1994. Developmental Defects of the Axial Skeleton in Paleopathology. Niwor: University Press of
Colorado.
Scheuer L, Black S. 2000. Developmental Juvenile Osteology. San Diego: Academic Press.
Schmorl G, Junghanns H. 1971. The Human Spine in Health and Disease. New York: Grune and Stratton.
Thank you to the CMNH and Lyman Jellema for the usage of the Hamann-Todd Collection, as well as to
CLASS for the grant to fund the research there.
I would also like to thank Dr. Loren R. Lease, Dr. Qi Jiang, and Dr. Mark D. Womble for overseeing the
production of this project.
CONTACT
Shannon Klainer
saklainer@student.ysu.edu
Dr. Loren R. Lease
lrlease@ysu.edu
RESULTS