Two types of obesity (gluteal and abdominal) depicted quite consistently in prehistoric art of different European locations suggests the potential cross-fertilization for physiological inquiry by medical interpretation of prehistoric art, called iconodiagnosis.
References
1.
GimbutasM.The goddesses and gods of old Europe. Berkeley, CA: Univer. of California Press, 1982.
2.
Himms-HagenJ.Thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue as an energy buffer. New Eng. J. Med., 1984, 311, 1549–1558.
3.
KollataG.Research news: why do people get fat?Science, 1985, 227, 1327–1328.
4.
Leroi-GouranA.BailloudG.ChavaillonJ.Lamdug-EmperaireA.La préhistoire. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1968.
5.
PlossH. H.BartelsM.BartelsP.Femina libido sexualis—compendium of psychology, anthropology and anatomy. New York: Medical Press, 1965.
6.
PontiusA. A.Easter Island's stone giants: a neuro-psychiatric view. Percept. mot. Skills, 1969, 28, 207–212.
7.
PontiusA. A.Maori art and pseudo-hypoparathyroidism—a medical contribution to prehistoric anthropology. J. Amer. Med. Women's Assn, 1973, 28, 231–237.
8.
PontiusA. A.The face in sacred art of the Upper Sepik River of New Guinea: analogies to neuro-developmental aspects and to prosop-agnosia. J. Amer. Med. Women's Assn, 1974, 29, 435–444.
9.
PontiusA. A.Body schema representations by Wigmen of the Western High-lands of New Guinea. J. Amer. Med. Women's Assn, 1977, 32, 247–252.
10.
PontiusA. A.Drawings of the body with phallocrypt contraptions of Baliem Valley Dani in West New Guinea: clues for means of population control?J. Amer. Med. Women's Assn, 1977, 32, 203–208.
11.
PontiusA. A.Nazca's prehistoric fostering of frontal lobe functions. Arch. Oecologiae Hominis (Vienna), 1978, 135–143. [Proceedings of Second Internatl. Meeting on Human Ecology, 1977].
12.
PontiusA. A.Icono-diagnosis: a medical humanistic approach, detecting Crouzon's malformation in Cook Islandsapos; prehistoric art. Perspect. Biol. & Med., 1983, 27, 107–120.
13.
PontiusA. A.Emergence of written language: neuro-biological substrates. Internal. J. biosoc. Res., 1984, 6, 15–28.
14.
PoulikJ.FormanW.FormanB.Prehistoric art. London: Spring Books, 1972.
