Jessica Walker

The site at ‘Ayn Gharandal in southern Jordan, originally constructed in the 3rd ─ 4th century C.E. as a Roman fort and bathhouse, was later repurposed as an Islamic period cemetery by an as yet unidentified nomadic population. Investigation of the burial contexts and skeletal remains provided a unique opportunity to examine the nomadic inhabitants of the Wadi Araba during a regionally underrepresented time period in bioarchaeological research. Previous excavations by the ‘Ayn Gharandal Archaeological Project from 2013 - 2014 identified 28 burials at the site, primarily in the mudbrick ruins of the fort and associated structures. During the 2015 field season, a bioarchaeological excavation team recovered 11 additional burials, which were analyzed using an in-field lab to facilitate on-site analysis and repatriation as requested by the Department of Antiquities.

A majority of the skeletal remains examined from the 2013 - 2015 seasons were subadults (n=27), revealing high levels of stress and mortality for children in the population. While fewer adult individuals (n=12) were documented, analysis of these skeletons has provided valuable insight into the health, diet, and activity patterns for this nomadic population. Despite the repatriation of all burials, detailed bioarchaeological analysis of the remains allowed for a more holistic understanding of this nomadic population and facilitated the integration of the cemetery population into a broader regional context.

The urbanization of Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium BCE led to unprecedented social, economic, and political changes. Tell Brak, located in the Syrian Khabur basin, is one of the best-known early urban sites from this period. Surveys suggest that urban growth at Tell Brak resulted from peripheral expansion driven by the migration of several distinct groups; however, it is not known whether these groups remained recognizably distinct within the newly formed urban center.

In the current study, the impact of early urbanization on social organization was explored using non-metric dental data from skeletons excavated from the main site at Tell Brak (n = 111) and its satellite mound Tell Majnuna (n = 179). The Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System (ASUDAS) was employed to examine biodistance between population subsets from the period of early urbanization in the Late Chalcolithic (LC) and the Early Bronze Age (EBA).

The results demonstrate differences in dental morphology among the LC groups indicating segmentation within the early urban population at Tell Brak. Patterns of social organization associated with urbanization have thus framed the socio-cultural landscape of even the earliest cities, and bioarchaeological data can be a useful tool for understanding both ancient and modern urbanization.

OBJECTIVES:
We tested the hypothesis that the purported unstable climate in the South Urals region during the Middle Bronze Age (MBA) resulted in health instability and social stress as evidenced by skeletal response.

METHODS:
The skeletal sample (n = 99) derived from Kamennyi Ambar 5 (KA-5), a MBA kurgan cemetery (2040-1730 cal. BCE, 2 sigma) associated with the Sintashta culture. Skeletal stress indicators assessed included cribra orbitalia, porotic hyperostosis, dental enamel hypoplasia, and tibia periosteal new bone growth. Dental disease (caries, abscess, calculus, and periodontitis) and trauma were scored. Results were compared to regional data from the nearby Samara Valley, spanning the Early to Late Bronze Age (EBA, LBA).

RESULTS:
Lesions were minimal for the KA-5 and MBA-LBA groups except for periodontitis and dental calculus. No unambiguous weapon injuries or injuries associated with violence were observed for the KA-5 group; few injuries occurred at other sites. Subadults (<18 years) formed the majority of each sample. At KA-5, subadults accounted for 75% of the sample with 10% (n = 10) estimated to be 14-18 years of age.

CONCLUSIONS:
Skeletal stress markers and injuries were uncommon among the KA-5 and regional groups, but a MBA-LBA high subadult mortality indicates elevated frailty levels and inability to survive acute illnesses. Following an optimal weaning program, subadults were at risk for physiological insult and many succumbed. Only a small number of individuals attained biological maturity during the MBA, suggesting that a fast life history was an adaptive regional response to a less hospitable and perhaps unstable environment.