Osteoarcheology

El objetivo de este trabajo es estudiar las variaciones en la frecuencia de cambios entesiales a través del tiempo en Portugal para evaluar el efecto del aumento de la urbanización y la especialización laboral, aplicando un método de registro biológicamente apropiado, el llamado nuevo método Coimbra (Henderson et al. 2016a). La muestra analizada está compuesta por 138 individuos adultos provenientes de ocho sitios arqueológicos del actual territorio de Portugal, y con cronologías medievales y modernas. Se realizaron cálculos de prevalencias y de odds ratios, así como un test exacto de Fisher para los cambios registrados en once entesis de miembros superiores e inferiores. Los resultados sugieren que la actividad es un factor explicativo de los cambios entesiales registrados, pero que asimismo se deben considerar otros factores, ya que los diferentes perfiles de sexo y edad también contribuyen a las distintas tendencias. Además, el tamaño variable de las muestras de cada subgrupo también aporta a las altas frecuencias de algunos cambios. Sin embargo, este enfoque es fundamental para entender las tendencias temporales de los cambios entesiales.

Se presentan los resultados de la excavación arqueológica llevada a cabo en la zona de l’Alfossar de Novelda, que supuso el descubrimiento de una necrópolis en la que se ha constatado una importante cantidad de fosas de inhumación que responden a diferentes tipos y con ritual propio de la cultura islámica.
Palabras clave: Necrópolis. Almohade. Siglo XIII. Novelda (Alicante). Embarazada

We present the results of the recent archeological excavations in l’Alfossar area in Novelda (Alicante province, Spain). The fieldwork has discovered a cemetery whit an important number of burials. The ritual documented corresponds to the Islamic culture.
Key words: Cemetery. Islamic culture. 13th century. Novelda (Alicante Province, Spain). Pregnant

"This thesis describes the research undertaken into a large Anglo-Saxon cemetery at the village of Sedgeford, Norfolk, United Kingdom as part of the Sedgeford Historical and Archaeological Research Project (SHARP).  Since 1996 SHARP has been attempting to reconstruct the economic and social history of the village, and as part of this intent the human remains research has focussed upon restoring the lives and identities of the Anglo-Saxon villagers. 

The opening chapters describe the site and its archaeology, including the cemetery and the manner of the burials, discussion of the research methodology, including a description of data collection methods, and the aims of the human remains research.  This is followed by an analysis of the skeletal morphology, with comparison to the skeletal population of the near-contemporary site of Brandon, Suffolk.  The final chapters deal with a dental and pathological overview of the Sedgeford population, with interpretation of the impact upon the living population of the various identified conditions.  Lastly an attempted reconstruction of the population, its health and demographics is discussed within the limits of the currently available information.

Conclusions gained from the analysis and discussion include a strong physical corollary between the two Anglo-Saxon populations, suggesting a genetic and racial, as well as a cultural, link between the two.  Overall, despite the temporal and cultural distance between them, the Anglo-Saxon Sedgeford population bears a very close physical relationship to modern Western populations, in terms of stature and overall health, showing that the medical and technological advances of the last 200 years have not necessarily changed the quality of human life as dramatically as we might be led to believe.
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Death was a common factor during pregnancy and childbirth in both past and recent societies. Nevertheless, the recording of women from archaeological contexts still featuring a fetus in the pelvic cavity or dystocia is very rare. Even less frequent are cases of post mortem fetal extrusion. At the archaeological site of San Genesio (San Miniato, Pisa), a stoppage point along the Via Francigena, the cemetery phases dating from the 6th to the 13th century were investigated. In one of the phases dating to the Early Medieval period, the skeleton of a female individual of about thirty years of age, deceased during the 32nd week of pregnancy, was documented. The fetus was positioned between the femurs, in the opposite orientation to that of the mother. Taphonomic analysis, comparative review of other forensic and archaeological cases and the anthropological study of the recorded skeletons suggest that, due to the accumulation of gas during the emphysematous phase of decomposition, the fetus would have been expelled from the mother's pelvic cavity before the bodies were completely covered by soil. We can define this finding as one of those rare cases of "coffin birth" in an archaeological context.

The study of anatomy in England during the 18th and 19th century has become infamous for bodysnatching from graveyards to provide a sufficient supply of cadavers. However, recent discoveries have improved our understanding of how and why anatomy was studied during the enlightenment, and allow us to see the context in which dissection of the human body took place. Excavations of infirmary burial grounds and medical school cemeteries, study of hospital archives, and analysis of the content of surviving anatomical collections in medical museums enables us to re-evaluate the field from a fresh perspective. The pathway from a death in poverty, sale of the corpse to body dealer, dissection by anatomist or medical student, and either the disposal and burial of the remains or preservation of teaching specimens that survive today in medical museums is a complex and fascinating one.

Grotta Patrizi (Cerveteri, Roma, Lazio) discovered by Patrizi in 1933 is a vast karst network. Excavation by Radmilli revealed an individual burial reliably attributed to the Ceramica a Linee Incise group that contributed to the Neolithization of central and Tyrrhenian Italy around 5000 cal BC. The remains of the individual bore signs of numerous pathological conditions and of trepanation. Expanding on previous studies, a stereomicroscopic examination of the trepanation site suggests new interpretations of the bone changes. This latest analysis confirms the hypothesis that the individual survived an initial complete trepanation, and it specifies the nature and form of the operator's hand movements. A repeat intervention was apparently made during the perimortem period. It can be hypothesized that this intervention was performed after the death of the individual, and possibly on the severed head of the deceased, as an integral part of the funerary treatment. If so, this would be the earliest evidence of the practice of ritual trepanation in this chrono‐cultural context.

ABSTRACT Differentiation of the genetic and the acquired anaemias, particularly in areas of the world where they may co-exist, has been a challenge for palaeopathologists for over 100 years. In this paper we present macroscopic and radiographic skeletal lesions that are associated with the thalassemias in a 14-year-old girl from a modern reference collection of the University of Athens. This individual is of known sex, age, cause of death, place and dates of birth and death. The case is examined in terms of epidemiology, growth, distribution and severity of lesions and differential diagnosis. The entire skeleton is affected by marrow hyperplasia: lesions of the axial skeleton are extreme, and the appendicular skeleton is severely affected as well. The odontofacial manifestations that are diagnostic of thalassemia and differentiate it from other anaemias are present and include: maxillary and mandibular hyperplasia, reduced sinuses, displacement of maxillary dental structures, overbite, and generalised osteopenia. The development of extreme bone lesions and the ‘advanced’ age-at-death of this individual is explained as either the result of thalassemia major under a low transfusion regimen that was the norm during her lifetime, or to a form of thalassemia intermedia that allows survival to later life at the expense of gross skeletal alterations. The present status of skeletal studies in Greece does not support the identification of a genetic anaemia in past populations. The potential contribution of the current analysis in differentiating the anaemias in antiquity is evaluated. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

In recent years, the application of new data analysis techniques due to the rise of the computational power available for a much larger number of people has caused a revolution inseveral fields, giving the opportunity of searching new approaches to familiar issues.Machine learning (ML) is one of those approaches that is rising in popularity, even when the theoretical base and first applications have been developed a number of decades ago.Generally speaking, ML describes a kind of algorithms that are able to learn on their own, being able to make models and predictions after having trained with a sample of the data(Domingos, 2012). This can be especially useful in classification problems (Smola Vishwanathan, 2008).ML has been applied in archaeology before, for example in the creation of complex models about the human past (R. Vahdati et al., 2019), But it is its interesting capacity for imageprocessing that has been more used in this field, using drone imagery for automated surface surveying (Orengo GarciaMolsosa, 2019), satellite imagery for archaeological research inareas with difficult access (Davis Douglass, 2020), an automatic system of medieval coin classification (van der Maaten et al., 2006), or aerial imagery for mapping of archaeologicalstructures (Monna et al., 2020).Sex-determination of human remains, on the other hand, is one of the most common classification problems that can be found in archaeology, and specifically, in osteoarchaeology, asin other sciences too, such as forensic science or physical anthropology (Krishan et al., 2016). Standard anthropometric measurements have been used in those disciplines from theXIXth century and the relationship between those measurements and the size, sex and general build of the person where discovered (Krishan, 2006).The purpose of this study is to explore how suitable the application of different ML algorithms is to tackle the classical classification problem of sex determination in human skeletalremains using long bone anthropometric measurements can be and if it could be used in some of the possible bone conservation scenarios that can be found in field archaeology,and how high can the accuracy reached for these techniques be when applied to a general population. The aim is to develop general classification models that could be applied inarchaeological, anthropological or forensic scenarios when the specific origin of the remains is unknown

Resumen: En este trabajo se aborda el estudio de un cráneo procedente de Segóbriga, probablemente de la
necrópolis de época visigoda. Se trata de un varón adulto que presentaba tres lesiones diferentes de origen claramente
traumático, realizadas con armas blancas. Se constata un período de supervivencia del individuo probablemente
largo.
Abstract: This article deals with the study of a skull from Segóbriga, probably from the cemetery during the
Visigothic Period. The skull belongs to an adult male featuring three different lesions, clearly traumatic in their
origin and caused by blades. The likelihood of the individual’s lengthy survival following the injuries is also
confirmed.
Palabras clave: Violencia, arma blanca, supervivencia, época visigoda, España
Key words: Violence, blade, survival, Visigothic period, Spain

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Doe, Danielle M., et al. "Puberty in the Bronze Age: First application of a puberty estimation method to a prehistoric population". International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 29.6 (2019): 1091-1099, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.2822. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions

Puberty and adolescence represent a significant period of physical growth and maturation and a critical life stage in which children transition into adults within their societies. Numerous studies have observed a secular trend and have determined that puberty is now occurring earlier than in the past. This investigation represents the first application of a methodology for assessing the pubertal status of osteological remains to a prehistoric skeletal sample. Six Bronze Age adolescent skeletons from the Cerro de La Encantada archaeological site (Ciudad Real, Spain) were analyzed. Pre‐pubescence was observed at age 9 and the transition phase of the pubertal growth spurt at 15 years of age. These results were similar to those obtained from medieval, Industrial Revolution, and modern populations, both within and outside of the Iberian Peninsula. The similarity in the development of the Bronze Age adolescents to that of other past and contemporary populations suggests that the pubertal process has remained essentially unchanged across millennia until recent times. However, other interpretations, including the influence of a subpar developmental environment and potential methodological artifacts, are possible. Nevertheless, studies of this type provide important information about a crucial transitory period in human development.

"Bei Ausgrabungen im Umfeld des keltischen Fürstensitzes am Glauberg (Hessen) wurden zahlreiche Kegelstumpfgruben aufgedeckt, in denen sich die Skelette von mindestens 24 Menschen fanden. Deren anthropologische Untersuchung konnte neben allgemeinen demographischen und paläopathologischen Ergebnissen vor allem eine relative Nutzungshistorie dreier benachbarter Gruben herausarbeiten. Diese umfasst zuerst die Anlage eines Massengrabs in einer Kegelstumpfgrube sowie dessen Verfüllung und spätere Störung durch die Anlage einer zweiten Siedlungsgrube. Hierbei wurde das Skelett eines Mannes aus dem Massengrab angeschnitten. Die Knochen gerieten zum einen mit dem Aushub in eine dritte, benachbarte Grube, zum anderen wurden mit dem gleichen Erdmaterial zwei weitere Tote bedeckt, die zuvor von Carnivoren angegangen worden waren und zu diesem Zeitpunkt zuoberst in der ersten Grube bestattet wurden. Die relative Chronologie der drei betreffenden Befunde war in diesem Ausmaß ausschließlich durch die sorgfältige osteoarchäologische Untersuchung zu erschließen."

IN: Deviant Burial in the Archaeological Record. Murphy E. (ed.) Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2008. 1-16.

‘Unusual’ or ‘deviant’ burials are cases where the individual has been buried in a different way than what is considered the norm for the period and/or the population under examination. Deformity and disease received a scholarly attention in antiquity but, at the same time, they have been the focus of social prejudice and superstition. Anthropological and ethnographical investigation has revealed that socially deviant and diseased individuals may receive different mortuary treatment. In some cases, unusual disposal is accompanied by evidence of practices, which indicate fear of the dead (necrophobia). These practices usually include methods of restriction of the dead in the grave by weighing down the body with large rocks, decapitation or use of nails, wedges and rivets. For example, vampirism can be seen as a notion based on necrophobia. Anthropology and folklore have studied superstitional social fear for long, but the Archaeology of Fear, based on the study and interpretation of evidence from the funerary archaeological record, is a relatively new concept. Although deviant individuals were not always treated differently in life or death, and not necessarily were seen as outcasts or misfits, it is important for anthropology and archaeology to combine social, biological and burial data, as these may improve our understanding of atypical burials in the past.

For the last several decades there has been a growing increse in the archaeological research in Ireland. Much of this new research has been focused on the Gaelic western half of the country which had been mainly neglected in previous research. Researchers in Ireland are now ...

The study of anatomy in England during the 18th and 19th century has become infamous for bodysnatching from graveyards to provide a sufficient supply of cadavers. However, recent discoveries have improved our understanding of how and why anatomy was studied during the enlightenment, and allow us to see the context in which dissection of the human body took place. Excavations of infirmary burial grounds and medical school cemeteries, study of hospital archives, and analysis of the content of surviving anatomical collections in medical museums enables us to re-evaluate the field from a fresh perspective. The pathway from a death in poverty, sale of the corpse to body dealer, dissection by anatomist or medical student, and either the disposal and burial of the remains or preservation of teaching specimens that survive today in medical museums is a complex and fascinating one.

ABSTRACT Entheseal changes (EC) of skeletons are supposed to reflect the physical activity of our ancestors. Similarly, the elements of the burial rite (e.g. grave goods, burial depth) are presumed to be related to the social status of individuals. The aim of this study was to verify the existence of relationships between EC distribution and archaeological descriptors providing information on social status.Fibrocartilaginous entheses of upper and lower limb bones of 115 individuals (aged 20–50 years) from the early medieval burial site Mikulčice – Klášteřisko were evaluated using Villotte's method (2006). Factor analysis (FA) was applied two times with two different combinations of descriptors: (i) FA‐1 based on the archaeological characteristics; (ii) FA‐2 based on the distribution of EC for males and females separately. The second step was important for the validation of results acquired from archaeological data.It is possible to link several models of EC distribution with selected archaeological characteristics. (i) The relationship between EC and archaeological descriptors is more visible in males than females. (ii) Males with warrior equipment and deep graves very probably belonged to the higher social class and are characterised by the loading of the triceps brachii on the olecranon and of the gluteus medius on the femur. (iii) Males with shallower graves and objects of daily use more typically demonstrate an occurrence of EC at the insertion site of the wrist flexors or extensors. The clear links demonstrated in males were absent in females. There exists only a weak relationship between the descriptor jewellery and the incidence of EC at the insertion sites of the shoulder and certain insertion sites of the lower limbs (especially the hip rotators). This poorly significant relationship supports our previous hypothesis that females from Mikulčice performed the same activities regardless their socioeconomic status. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Résumé d'un article de Simon MAYS publié en 1996, consacré à la découverte d'un corps amputé de la main droite lors de fouilles archéologiques menées sur le site de l'ancien monastère dominicain d'Ipswich dans le Suffolk (Royaume-Uni).
L'auteur analyse la blessure et émet plusieurs hypothèses concernant la cause et les circonstances de cette amputations. Il propose d'identifier le défunt à un aristocrate local du XIVe siècle, qui aurait été agressé et mutilé par plusieurs notables originaire du même lieu. Cet événement est relaté dans un article du "Calendar of patent rolls".

During the 18th century, St Marylebone parish grew to become one of the wealthiest in London. The church on Marylebone High Street, built 1742, was soon too small to serve this population and relocated in 1817. Archaeologists recorded 350+ burials, mostly in the graveyard, with some in family vaults or the church crypt. Notable burials included the painter Benjamin De La Cour, the Wesley family (Charles was founder of the Methodist movement) and the Hampsons (their ancestor Sir Robert was alderman of London and sheriff in 1598). The archaeological results and detailed osteological analysis of 301 individuals are combined with documentary research into the parish and its population, making this one of the largest and most comprehensive studies of a post-medieval London cemetery.