Re: Testosterone again, this time, Paleofeces... (fwd)
Ralph L Holloway (rlh2@columbia.edu)
Tue, 15 Oct 1996 17:53:00 -0400
Unless I am very mistaken, this should be of considerable interest to this
group...
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 15 Oct 1996 14:42:31 -0400 (EDT)
From: Ralph L Holloway <rlh2@columbia.edu>
To: hbe-1@a3.com
Cc: sexnet@listserv.acns.nwu.edu
Subject: Re: Testosterone again, this time, Paleofeces... (fwd)
May not be racially distinct, but what the hell... fascinating!
Ralph Holloway
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 15 Oct 1996 14:34:25 -0400
From: Ralph L Holloway <rlh2@columbia.edu>
Newsgroups: sci.bio.evolution
Subject: Re: Paleofeces...
Just received my latest issue of AJPA (Am. J. Physical Anthrop) and it has
a fascinating article about paleofeces. I quote the Abstract"
"Analysis of 12 prehistoric human paleofecal specimens from the Mammoth
Cave System, Ky has produced the first estimate of biological sex using
fecal material from ancient humans. Accelerator Mass spectrometry (AMS)
radiocarbon dating indicates that specimens range in age from 2700 BP tp
2300 BP. Dietary contents and steroids were extracted and analyzed.
Chromatography and radioimmunoassay were used to measure levels of
testosterone and estradiol in both modern fecal reference samples and in
ancient feces. Results indicate that all 12 paleofeces were probably
deposited by males whose diet included a variety of native crops and wild
plants. These preliminary analyses have the potential to revolutionize the
investigation of gender differences in diet, health, and nutrition.
The authors are KD Sobolik, KJ Gremillion, PL Whitten, and PJ Watson
in AJPA (1996) 101:283-290.
All we need now is better sampling..
Ralph Holloway
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