University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Masters Theses Graduate School 8-1992 Modelling Suture Ossification: A View from the Cranial Capsule Hugh Bryson Matternes University of Tennessee, Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes Part of the Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Matternes, Hugh Bryson, "Modelling Suture Ossification: A View from the Cranial Capsule. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 1992. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/4192 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Hugh Bryson Matternes entitled "Modelling Suture Ossification: A View from the Cranial Capsule." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, with a major in Anthropology. Richard L. Jantz, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Lyle W. Konigsberg, William M. Bass Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Hugh Bryson Matternes entitled ''Modelling Suture Ossification: A View from the Cranial Capsule." I have examined the final copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, with a major in Anthr�o���.L.:.._ Accepted for the Council: MODELING Sl1IURE OSSIFICATION: A VIEW FROM TiiE CRANIAL CAPSULE A Thesis Presented for the Master of Arts Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Hugh Bryson Matternes August, 1992 DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to by wife. Jennifer H. Matternes and the late Mrs. Hazel Modine. Without their encouragement and support. I could not have completed this project. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Any work of this nature cannot be completed without a considerable amount of support. I wish to thank my thesis committee, Drs. Jantz, Bass, and Konigsberg for their continued support throughout this investigation. Permission to examine the R. J. Terry Collection was granted by Drs. Douglas Ubelaker and David Hunt of the National Museum of Natural History. Dr. Hunt kindly provided critical collection records, serving to make the sampling schedule a less monumental undertaking. Access to the Civil and · Indian War Collections were made possible by Mr. Paul Sledzick, Collections Curator for the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. Our stay in Washington could not have been anywhere near as pleasant without the generosity of David and Barbara Hillis, who kindly opened their home and hearts to our every need. Perhaps as important as the people whose support enabled the data to be gathered, are those who served as my sounding boards - the poor souls who endured endless hours of babble and still found something relevant to· say about sutures. My thanks go to Phil iii Carr. Maureen Hays. Jim Kidder. Steve Langdon. Murray· Marks. Sarah Sherwood. and Rachael Power. Drs. Alison Galloway. formerly of the Department of Anthropology. and David Weaver. Department of Zoology. introduced me to the concept of physiological interactions. Early versions of this document were edited by Amy Young and· computer support during the final preparation was provided by Dr. Kit Wesler. Murray State University. My sincerest gratitude goes out to each and every person who contributed. Thanks. I could never have done it without you. iv ABSTRACT A review of the development, anatomy, and physiology of the human cranial vault suggests that post-adolescent ossification of the suture margins is dictated by interactions between tissues of the cranial capsule and forces deriving from ectocranial, endocranial and diploid sources. A model viewing suture physiology as sensitive to changes in the cranial capsule's environment is tested to identify whether several processes stimulate connective tissue transformation in the suture area. Correlation and factor analysis of the suture-to-suture interactions produced results indicating that when age is controlled, endocranial and ectocranial surfaces independently respond to pressures placed on the anterior and posterior portions of the cranial vault. Post-adolescent suture changes appear to be responses to age change in the structures around the cranial capsule. Modelin·g the suture in terms of external pressures provides a clearer understanding of how the cranial capsule is affected by age. V TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION .............. 1 II. TiiE CRANIAL CAPSULE AND THE SUTURE AREA . 5 1. Cranial Elements . 6 2. Suture Functions . 8 3. Suture Margins . 10 4. The Cranial Capsule 13 5. Tissue Components of the Cranial Capsule . 15 6. Cellular Componments of the Cranial Capsule 20 · III. DYNAMICS OF THE IMMATURE CRANIAL CAPSULE 24 1. Ectocranial Stress Sources . 25 2. Endocranial Sources of Stress 29 3. Sutural Morphology and Genetics 32 4. Animal versus Human Models 33 IV. DYNAMICS OF TiiE MATURE CRANIAL CAPSULE . 37 1. Post-Adolescent Cranial Change . 37 2. Post-Adolescent Ossificaiton . 40 3. How Fusion Occurs 45 V. TiiE CAPSULAR MODEL OF SUTURE CLOSURE 50 vi VI. POPULATION PARAMETERS 58 VII. OBSERVATION SITES ON THE SKULL . 62 VIII. SCORING 71 1. Analytical Problems in Suture Scoring 71 2. Scoring Method . 74 IX. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS . 79 1. The Research Hypothesis 79 2. Visual Inspection of the Data 80 3. Regression Analysis 92 4. Spearman Partial Correlation Analysis . 101 5. Factor Analysis ..109 X. CONCLUSIONS . 114 1. The Capsular Model and Prior Approaches 114 2. The Capsular Model and Goodness of Fit 116 a. Localization of Biomechanical Demands . 118 b. Age and the Capsular Model 123 c. The Capsular Model and the Suture throughout Life ...123 LIST OF REFERENCES . 132 APPENDIX: STUDY SAMPLE . 147 VITA 159 vii LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE PAGE 1. Cranial Bone in Profile . 7 2. Types of Suture Junctions in the Cranial Vault ..... ..9 3. Morphology of the Flat Junction Suture . 12 4. Soft Tissue Anatomy of the Flat Junction Suture Margin . ... 17 5. Coronal and Sagittal Suture Sites 65 6. Sagittal and Lambdoidal Suture Sites . 68 7. Differences in Common Suture Scoring Methods ...... .... 72 8. Examples of Applied Suture Measurements 77 9. The Distribution of Mean Ectocranial Suture Scores, by Age Group, for the Coronal Suture . 82 10. The Distribution of Mean Ectocranial Suture Scores, by Age Group, for the Sagittal Suture . 83 11. The Distribution of Mean Ectocranial Suture Scores, by Age Group, for the Lambdoidal Suture . 84 12. The Distribution of Mean Endocranial Suture Scores, by Age Group, for the Coronal Suture . 87 13. The Distribution of Mean Endocranial Suture Scores, by Age Group, for the Sagittal Suture 88 vi ii 14 . The Distribution of Mean Endocranial Suture Scores, by Age Group, for the Lambdoidal Suture . 89 15. Biomechanical Complexes on the Ectocranial Surface of the Cranial Capsule .. 120 16. Biomechanical Complexes on the Endocranial Surface of the Cranial Capsule .. 121 ix LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE 1. F Values from Multiple Regression Tests .... 94 2. Results of Multiple Regression Tests Against Suture Influences (Type II) ... .... 95 3. Results of Multiple Regression Tests Against Suture Influences (Type II) - Age Sqµare/Sex Interactions ... ...... 97 ·4. Results of Multiple Regression Tests Against Suture Inf 1 uences (Type II I) . 98 5. Results of Multiple Regression Tests Against Suture Influences (Type III) - Age Square/Sex Interactions . 100 6. Normality Distribution of Suture Scores By Site . 103 7. Spearman Rho Partial Correlation Matrix: Endocranial Sutures by Endocranial Sutures ......... ........ 105 8. Spearman Rho Partial Correlation Matrix: Endocranial Sutures by Ectocranial Sutures . 106 9. Spearman Rho Partial Correlation Matrix: Ectocranial Sutures by Ectocranial Sutures . 107 10. Factors Produced from the Correlation Matrix . 110 11. Factor Patterns and Explained Variance . 111 X LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Endocranial Coronal Suture at Bregma - Right .....ICBRR Endocranial Coronal Suture at Bregma - Left ......ICBRL Endocranial Coronal Suture at Complicata - Right .....................................ICCOR Endocranial Coronal Suture at Complicata - Left ............................. .........ICCOL Endocranial Sagittal Suture at Bregma ......................................I SBR Endocranial Sagittal Suture at Vert i ca .....................................ISVE Endocranial Sagittal Suture at Obe 1 i ca ..................... ............... I SOB Endocranial Sagittal Suture at Lamdica ..................................... ISLA Endocranial Lambdoidal Suture at Lamdica - Right .................. ...................ILLAR Endocranial Lambdoidal Suture at Lamdica - Left ......................................ILLAL Endocranial Lambdoidal Suture at Intermedia - Right ............. ..................... ...ILINR Endocranial Lambdoidal Suture at Intermedia - Left ......................................ILINL Endocranial Lambdoidal Suture at Asterion - Right .....................................ILASR