The bones of adults show evidence of physically demanding lifestyles: the kinds of muscle attachment marks and bone remodeling that result from years of walking, lifting, carrying, and working with the hands.

Arthritis was present.

Osteoarthritis — the wear-and-tear degeneration of joints that results from repetitive use over years — appears in the skeletal record at Windover in ways consistent with the physical demands of early Archaic life.

Older adults who had been grinding grain or plant foods with stone tools for decades would show arthritis in specific joint patterns.

People who had been paddling or carrying loads would show it in others.

Osteoporosis appears in older individuals — the loss of bone density associated with aging that makes bones more fragile.