The Pretoria Bone Collection: A modern South African skeletal sample

doi:10.1016/j.jchb.2004.10.004

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Volume 56, Issue 2, 8 August 2005, Pages 197-205

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Abstract

The Pretoria Bone Collection began with the inception of the Department of Anatomy and the Medical School at the University of Pretoria in August 1942. Since then the collection has grown from a student aid to a resource for research. In the year 2000, the Pretoria Bone Collection was reorganised. The research material was divided into skulls, complete postcranial and incomplete postcranial remains. The collection presently contains 290 complete skeletons, 704 complete skulls and 541 complete postcranial remains. This paper presents information on the composition of this collection and hopes to heighten both national and international awareness of the collection and research opportunities in South Africa.

Introduction

For a variety of research topics in fields such as anthropology, pathology, molecular biology, physiology, forensic science, and specific medical disciplines, collections of human skeletons are useful, sometimes even indispensable. The decisive element is identification: personal and medical information about the deceased person. This paper describes a collection of this class.

The Pretoria Bone Collection has a proud history that started with the inception of the Department of Anatomy and the Medical School of the University of Pretoria in August 1942. Since its humble beginnings in 1943, as a teaching aid for medical, dental and health care students and staff, the collection has grown to a well-documented and well-administered research resource as well as a student-teaching collection, the latter less complete/comprehensive in nature. Complete skeletons, complete skulls and complete postcranials and some incomplete skulls and incomplete postcranials are available for research purposes. This part of the collection now offers a wealth of opportunities in skeletal studies on the physical properties of individuals inhabiting South Africa and originating from diverse geographic regions. The student-teaching collection, or study collection, is comprised of incomplete skulls and incomplete postcranials available for study purposes. The criterion for the skeletal remains to be included into the research collection is that the age, sex, and population affinity of the individual are known, whereas in the student-teaching collection one or more of these characteristics may not be known.

Initially, skulls were the only skeletal remains kept separate from the study collection. During the past 10 years an average of 67 cadavers have annually been accepted at the Department of Anatomy of which most skeletons have been added to the research collection and the remainder to the study collection. To date, 6476 cadavers have been received at this institution, of which, apart from claimed bodies (approximately 5 per annum), all the skeletons have been retrieved for collection purposes.

The enormous advantages of a collection consisting of complete skeletons became more obvious with the growth and development of the Section of Physical Anthropology in the Department of Anatomy. Initially, the need was to study and record normal physical traits and variations found in individual skeletons. A second field of interest was to be found in a comparison of physical properties between various geographic groups, between males and females, and between the various age categories of the cadavers placed in the research collection. The observation of characteristic signs of diseases that affect the skeleton, for example those of tuberculosis, as well as of certain nutritional deficiencies and age-related changes were also of interest.

The purpose of this paper is to present information on the composition of the Pretoria Bone Collection, the skeletal collection of the Department of Anatomy at the University of Pretoria. This will provide information to researchers (both national and international) interested in anthropological studies of modern skeletal remains in South Africa. A description of the origin of the skeletal material and an outline of the available skeletal material (by age, sex and population affinity) are presented.

Section snippets

Material

The skeletal material originates from two sources: donations and unclaimed bodies. In South Africa, under the Human Tissues Act, law no. 65 of 1983, anyone may donate his/her body for tissue transplants, medical training and research (Human Tissues Act, 1983). This act also provides for any destitute individual who dies in a public hospital to have the body donated. If an individual dies in a public institution and is not removed for burial by a spouse, a relative or a friend within 24 h after

Discussion

Both population affinity and age noticeably affect the composition of the Pretoria Bone Collection. This is a consequence of religion, economic circumstances and regulations of the Human Tissues Act (1983) regarding unclaimed bodies and whole body donations.

In South Africa, the willingness of a particular group of people to donate their bodies or the bodies of their family members to science varies greatly between cultural and religious groups. Because of a strong culture of ancestor reverence,

Conclusion

Despite differences in age and sex composition of various groups within the Pretoria Bone Collection, the collection is still growing in number with cross-sectional representatives from the country. Thus, its suitability for osteometric analysis has been realised (Steyn and I˚şcan, 1997, Steyn et al., 1997).

Many more research opportunities in the field of physical anthropology exist using the collection. Insights into the general health status of modern South Africans can be gained by examining

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Louisa Hut, Marko Hutten, Gert Lewis, Erik Marakalla, Malebo Marebane and Johan Nel for their assistance with the development of the Pretoria Bone Collection.

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