Health Status Among Prehistoric Eskimos from Point Hope, Alaska Gretchen R. Dabbs* Department of Anthropology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901 KEY WORDS Mark I Health Index; paleopathology; nutritional status; North American Arctic ABSTRACT Using the protocol outlined in The Back- bone of History: Health and Nutrition in the Western Hemisphere (BBH) (Steckel and Rose. 2002a. The back- bone of history: health and nutrition in the Western Hemisphere. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), this project compares the Mark I Health Index (MIHI) scores of the Ipiutak (n 5 76; 100BCE–500CE) and Tigara (n 5 298; 1200–1700CE), two samples of North American Arctic Eskimos excavated from Point Hope, Alaska. Macroscopic examination of skeletal remains for evidence of anemia, linear enamel hypoplasias (LEH), infection, trauma, dental health, and degenerative joint disease (DJD) was conducted to assess differences in health status resulting from a major economic shift at Point Hope. These data demonstrate that despite differ- ences in settlement pattern, economic system, and die- tary composition, the MIHI scores for the Ipiutak (82.1) and Tigara (84.6) are essentially equal. However, their component scores differ considerably. The Ipiutak compo- nent scores are suggestive of increased prevalence of chronic metabolic and biomechanical stresses, represented by high prevalence of nonspecific infection and high fre- quencies of DJD in the hip/knee, thoracic vertebrae, and wrists. The Tigara experienced more acute stress, evi- denced by higher prevalence of LEH and trauma. Com- parison of overall health index scores with those pub- lished in BBH shows the MIHI score for the Ipiutak and Tigara falling just above the average for sites in the West- ern Hemisphere, adding support to the argument that the human capacity for cultural amelioration of environmen- tal hardships is quite significant. Am J Phys Anthropol 146:94–103, 2011. V V C 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Numerous studies of arctic and subarctic prehistoric skeletal populations have confirmed the human capacity for biological and cultural change to accommodate the particularly harsh environments found in the near polar climates. Most of these studies have focused on single indicators of skeletal health such as degenerative joint disease (DJD; Lieverse et al., 2007a, 2009), musculoskel- etal stress markers (Hawkey and Merbs, 1995), spondy- lolysis (Simper, 1986; Merbs, 1996, 2002; Legge, 2005), trauma (Legge, 2010), or small suites of related indica- tors, especially dental health (Costa, 1980a,b, 1982; Keenleyside, 1998; Lieverse et al., 2007b). Several stud- ies addressing individual cases of biological (Buikstra, 1976; Thompson and Cowen, 1984; Irish et al., 1993; Schwartz et al., 1995; Lieverse et al., 2008) or cultural interest (Melbye and Fairgrieve, 1994) have also been published. Few studies have expanded to analyze overall skeletal health in a more comprehensive comparative manner (Keenleyside, 1998; Lieverse, 2005). This work presents the results of a multivariate pro- ject designed to examine the health status of the prehis- toric Eskimos living at Point Hope, Alaska. Although several researchers have addressed health issues such as spondylolysis (Lester and Shapiro, 1968; Merbs, 1996), dental caries (Costa, 1980a; Keenleyside, 1998), antemortem tooth loss (Costa, 1980b; Keenleyside, 1998), tooth wear (Costa, 1982), trauma, infection, evidence of anemia, linear enamel hypoplasias (LEH), and dental abscesses (Keenleyside, 1998) at Point Hope, none yet has studied the overall health status of the Tigara, and few have included the smaller and more poorly pre- served Ipiutak sample in any analysis. This study seeks to partially address this deficiency through the utiliza- tion of the Mark I Health Index (MIHI), originally pub- lished in The Backbone of History: Health and Nutrition in the Western Hemisphere (BBH) (Steckel and Rose, 2002a). BIOCULTURAL CONTEXT Point Hope lies at the western tip of an Alaskan pen- insula, 200 km north of the Arctic Circle. It has been inhabited on a nearly continuous basis since 500BCE (Rainey, 1971), with at least six distinct culture groups in residence during successive periods (Dumond, 1987). This project focuses exclusively on the Ipiutak (100BCE– 500CE) and the prehistoric Tigara (1200–1700CE). These populations represent the largest skeletal samples from Point Hope, comprising over 80% of the nearly 500 sets of human skeletal remains recovered during excavations (1939–1941). The Ipiutak were a broad-spectrum migratory hunting culture. The Ipiutak people at Point Hope migrated to the North American Arctic directly from East Asia. To date, there has never been a clear demonstration of an ancestral relationship between the Point Hope Ipiutak and any other archaeological population in North America Additional supporting information may be found in the online ver- sion of this article. Grant sponsor: American Museum of Natural History. *Correspondence to: Gretchen R. Dabbs, Department of Anthro- pology, Southern Illinois University, 1000 Faner Dr., Mail Code 4502, Carbondale, IL 62901. E-mail: gdabbs@siu.edu Received 4 November 2010; accepted 21 April 2011 DOI 10.1002/ajpa.21556 Published online 15 July 2011 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). V V C 2011 WILEY-LISS, INC. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 146:94–103 (2011)