To determine ethnic variations of large-joint osteoarthritis (OA) in past populations.
One thousand two hundred and nine adult skeletons, excavated from archaeological sites in Japan, China and France were assessed for OA as defined by the presence of eburnation.
Within Asian skeletal populations, elbow OA and patellofemoral joint OA were more common in hunter-gatherers than in agriculturalists. Compared with Caucasians, the Asian skeletal population had a higher prevalence of tibiofemoral joint OA.
The relative frequencies of OA within and between ethnic groups at certain joint sites have changed over time from the past to the present.