Studies on Occupational Stress Markers (OSM) have increasingly been performed in order to understand the lifestyle of ancient populations, since they are potentially capable of providing information on mechanical stresses that occur throughout life, especially those related to daily activities. Osteoarthrosis are among the main types of OSM, which, due to the high frequency in pre-colonial populations, have been subject of many bioarchaeological studies among Americans and Europeans researchers. Despite its potential to inform about adaptive patterns and sexual and/or social division of labour have been demonstrated, studies on osteoarthrosis are still rare in Brazil. This situation is probably related to methodological problems for understanding, identifying and registering osteological markers of osteoarthrosis. A broad project developed by the author is highlighting the lack of standardization in these studies, as well as the use of inappropriate methodologies, which result in systematic errors of quantification. As a consequence, the comparison of results among related series is not feasible, besides the questionable reliability and interpretation of observed patterns. This article discusses the importance of the selection criteria of joints to be examined and the standardization and adequacy of the record of bone markers, as well as the studies on OSM, specifically osteoarthrosis, to Brazilian archaeology.
Bioarchaeology; Methodology; Diagnostic; Osteoarthrosis; Skeletal series
