Difficult human childbirth is often explained to be the outcome of long term evolutionary hanges in the genus Homo resulting in an‘obstetrical dilemma,’defined as the compromise between the need for a large pelvis in birthing large brained babies and a narrow pelvis for the mechanics of bipedal locomotion (Washburn, 1960). The ‘obstetrical dilemma’ is argued to result in the risk of cephalopelvic disproportion and injury (Washburn, 1960). Current research challenges the premise of the obstetrical dilemma by considering the effects ecological factors have on the growth of the bony human pelvis (Wells et al., 2012; Wells, 2015, Stone, 2016; Wells, 2017). This thesis tests Wells et al.’s (2012) assertion that environmental factors, such as agricultural diets, compromise pelvic size and morphology and potentially affect human childbirth. The skeletal samples examined in this study are from medieval English populations with long established agricultural diets. Bony pelvic metrics analyzed are from the St. Mary Spital assemblage, and demographic and pathological data from St. Mary Spital were compared to the East Smithfield Black Death cemetery assemblage. The results show that there is some evidence for a relationship between chronic stress and compromised pelvic shape and size in both men and women, however the evidence is not conclusive that younger women with compromised pelvic dimensions were at an increased risk of obstructed labour and maternal mortality during childbirth. This suggests that childbirth was not likely a significantly elevated cause of death among younger women in medieval London as a result of cephalopelvic disproportion. The concept of a single obstetrical dilemma is flawed, as multiple obstetrical dilemmas other than cephalopelvic disproportion through pelvic capacity constrains are present, including ecological and nutritional stressors, childbirth practices and technologies, sanitation ractices, and social and gender inequality / Graduate

This diploma thesis deals primarily with the existence of the asymmetry of the bony pelvis and the sexual dimorphism of the asymmetry of the pelvic canal, which is caused by different reproductive functions of each of the sexes. Furthermore, the correlation or linear dependence of the external pelvic and pelvic canal dimensions was investigated. The study uses 3D pelvic models created in Avizo 7.1 from CT images of the recent French population. The material consists of 74 probands, of which 36 are males and 38 are females. The models were digitalized using Viewbox 4 software, in which 29 landmarks were applied to each pelvic model. These correspond to 24 dimensions divided into three groups: the size of the non-canal pelvis, the dimensions of the pelvic canal and the dimensions for calculating the correlation between the non-canal pelvis and the pelvic canal. The degree of asymmetry was evaluated using the formulas for the calculation of directorial (DA) and absolute (AA) asymmetry. Student's paired t-test was used for statistical analysis of asymmetry to determine asymmetry in previous studies. Gender differences were determined by the Mann-Whitney U test. At the same time, an analysis using the mixed model ANOVA was also performed, which in addition incorporates an intraobservation measurement...