Chronic maxillary sinusitis recorded in archaeological samples: geographical distribution and predisposing factors

The study explores social and climatic factors affecting the occurrence of chronic maxillary sinusitis (CMS) in ancient and historical samples of Europe, North and South America, Asia, and Africa. The main database consists of 23 cranial samples. According to the results of univariate (correlation analysis and Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test) and multivariate (principal component) analyses, only climatic factors reveal a statistically significant effect on the frequency of CMS. The principal factor is temperature, which shows a negative correlation with CMS at the world level: the higher the mean annual temperature and the maximal temperature of the three hottest months, the lower the occurrence. At the regional level, significant correlation was also found between CMS and the number of rainy days per year. Rather than direct dependence, however, this result suggests that the correlation between climatic variables is different in Europe and North America. None of the socio-economic factors that we analyzed (sex, urban versus rural residence, subsistence strategy) demonstrated significant correlation with the prevalence of CMS at the world level. Assessing the effect of social status evaluated by archaeological criteria was impossible because of a complex nature of stress inducing factors.