Bioarchaeology

Marked in Life and Death: Identifying Biological Markers of Social Differentiation in Late Prehistoric Portugal

by Anna Waterman

PhD Thesis. Completed in the Spring of 2012

This dissertation research is a bioarchaeological investigation of Late Neolithic through Early Bronze Age (3600-1800... more This dissertation research is a bioarchaeological investigation of Late Neolithic through Early Bronze Age (3600-1800 BC) burial populations from the Portuguese Estremadura. In this project macroscopic and isotopic analyses of skeletal and dental materials are used to gather information pertaining to diet, health status, and inter-lifetime mobility patterns for individuals interred at different burials within a small geographic area with the goal of evaluating the level of social differentiation in the region. The archaeological record for the transition between the Late Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age in southwestern Portugal demonstrates clear evidence of the rise of a socially-complex, non-state society. During the Early Bronze Age, however, this region underwent a period of social ‘devolution’ which cumulated in widespread settlement abandonment. To date, it is unclear to what extent sociopolitical or environmental factors contributed to this social collapse. This study seeks to expand our knowledge of social differentiation in the Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age of the Estremadura region of Portugal and provide insight into social structure during the emergence and collapse of early complex societies in Iberia.
The results of this study found that there were statistically significant differences in dietary, mobility and demographic patterns between burials that suggest socially distinct populations were interred at different sites. In particular, one burial site, Cova da Moura, diverged significantly from the other sampled burial populations. However, based upon the data presented here, it was not possible to tie these biological markers of differentiation to particular aspects of Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age social organization. Therefore, while this study successfully identified differences between burial populations, at this time, it is not possibly to relate these to particular hierarchical structures. It is suggested that aspects of burial practices in the region confound biologically-based investigations of social organization in a similar way that they have impeded researchers’ abilities to identify elite versus non-elite individuals through grave goods alone. Nonetheless, despite these obstacles, this work provides strong evidence of population heterogeneity in the region, and has implications for our understanding of the evolution of complex societies in the Iberian Peninsula and elsewhere.

Whitley, Catrina B. (2012) "Evidence of Violent Conflict in Males from Pot Creek Pueblo," Landscapes of Violence: Vol. 2: No. 2, Article 10.

by Catrina Whitley

Skeletal evidence of violence in the American Southwest is well known and both healed and peri-mortem trauma has been... more Skeletal evidence of violence in the American Southwest is well known and both healed and peri-mortem trauma has been reported at many sites, including high rates of cranial injury supporting evidence of warfare. The present study examines the peri-mortem skeletal injuries in three young males from Pot Creek Pueblo (AD 1260-1320) located in the Taos Valley. Of the individuals analyzed from the Taos Valley, peri-mortem trauma only occurred in these three males, although healed ante-mortem injuries were present in several other individuals. CT scans of the skulls provided an additional method of analysis of the injuries and data necessary to differentiate peri-mortem trauma from post-mortem damage in one case. The pattern of peri-mortem blunt force and chopping force trauma to the skulls and post-cranial remains suggests hand-to hand combat occurred and these individuals died from chopping trauma to the skull, potentially from warfare related activities. Additionally, comparisons of the trauma patterns to rock art dating to the period suggests the type of weapon depicted may have been utilized to inflict the trauma to the skulls.

Introduction to Part VI: Forensic taphonomy

by Nicholas Passalacqua

In: Dirkmaat DC (editor). Developments in Forensic Anthropology. Blackwell Publishing:473-476.

Developments in forensic anthropology: Blunt Force Trauma

by Nicholas Passalacqua

In: Dirkmaat DC (editor). Developments in Forensic Anthropology. Blackwell Publishing:400-412.

Developments in forensic anthropology: Age-at-death estimation

by Nicholas Passalacqua

In: Dirkmaat DC (editor). Developments in Forensic Anthropology. Blackwell Publishing:202-223.

Past Perspectives: What can Archaeology offer Disability Studies?

by William Southwell-Wright

Forthcoming (2013) in K. Arndt and M. Wappett (eds.) Disability Studies: Critical Issues and Future Developments. Palgrave Macmillan.

Broderick, L.G., 2012. Book Review: Ethnozooarchaeology: The Present and Past of Human-Animal Relationships by U. Albarella and A. Trentacoste. Ethnoarchaeology, 4, 1. 108-110

by Lee Broderick

A new method to estimate adult age-at-death using the acetabulum

by Stephanie Calce

Reliability Study of Methods for Scoring a Non-Metric Human Osteological Trait

by Shannon Freire

Second Author: Ashley Dunford (UW- Milwaukee)
Published in Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology, Volume 4, Issue 1: May 2012.

To gain meaningful insights from non-metric trait analysis in the field of human osteological study, issues of... more To gain meaningful insights from non-metric trait analysis in the field of human osteological study, issues of reliability and context need to be addressed, especially for the analysis of discrete cranial traits. A preliminary study tested the reliability of different methods of quantifying wormian bones, with the purpose of establishing a consistent method that would enable further applicability for this and other non-metric traits in mortuary analysis. The determination of reliability for both methods was made using Olsson and Janson’s (2001) iota statistic together with Pearson’s product-moment correlation. This study examines the reliability of scoring methods on an interobserver scale, an imperative step for the utility of these techniques for the wider archaeological community, as the majority of current data collection is a collaborative effort. The results of this study support the initial application in a case study involving a Bayesian probability analysis utilizing individuals from the Milwaukee County Institutional Grounds collection.
Key words: wormian bones, reliability, non-metric traits, digitization, interobserver, intraobserver

Reliability Study of Methods for Scoring a Non-Metric Human Osteological Trait

by Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology

By Shannon Freire and Ashley Dunford

Published in Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology 4(1): 173-191. (May 2012) Copyright ©2012 by Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology

To gain meaningful insights from non-metric trait analysis in the field of human osteological study, issues of... more To gain meaningful insights from non-metric trait analysis in the field of human osteological study, issues of reliability and context need to be addressed, especially for the analysis of discrete cranial traits. A preliminary study tested the reliability of different methods of quantifying wormian bones, with the purpose of establishing a consistent method that would enable further applicability for this and other non-metric traits in mortuary analysis. The determination of reliability for both methods was made using Olsson and Janson’s (2001) iota statistic together with Pearson’s product-moment correlation. This study examines the reliability of scoring methods on an interobserver scale, an imperative step for the utility of these techniques for the wider archaeological community, as the majority of current data collection is a collaborative effort. The results of this study support the initial application in a case study involving a Bayesian probability analysis utilizing individuals from the Milwaukee County Institutional Grounds collection.

Osteological Analysis of Burials Recovered from the Schrage Site, (47FD581) Fond Du Lac County, Wisconsin

by Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology

By Ashley Dunford

Published in Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology 3(1): 49-62. (May 2012)
Copyright ©2012 by Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology

In August of 2009, human remains were inadvertently disturbed during construction work associated with USH 151 in... more In August of 2009, human remains were inadvertently disturbed during construction work associated with USH 151 in Calumetville, Wisconsin. One adult was present in partially disturbed contexts beneath the existing pavement of USH 151. An additional burial was encountered during subsequent archaeological monitoring. Data suggest the two burials are located within or near the domestic portion of what was a substantial village. This paper presents the analysis of both burials and compares the context from which each burial was recovered. It is argued that two very different disposal practices are represented at this Developmental Horizon Oneota component ca. A.D. 1200-1300.

Bioarchaeological Investigations of health and demography in Medieval Asturias, Spain

by Nicholas Passalacqua

Dissertation

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of political and economic change on the health of people living... more The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of political and economic change on the health of people living in predominantly rural communities of Medieval Asturias, Spain from
~900-1800 AD. This project examines the remains of ~325 individuals recovered from 12 Medieval Christian church cemeteries located within the historically and politically defined
boundaries of Asturias, Spain.

Iberia has a rich written history beginning with the first Romans to enter the peninsula and describe the peoples they encountered (Collins 2000). This history became more detailed as time progressed with multiple histories of events being recorded in the Medieval Period by different parties (Linehan 1993). Unfortunately, as is common in Medieval histories, these documents concern only the key individuals involved in large political events. The average individual has no written history, nor is there an anecdotal summary of what peasant life was like in Medieval Asturias. Due to this dearth of information, this dissertation takes a historical bioarchaeology approach using what information is available from the historical narrative relating to Medieval Asturias, in order to approach issues of the economy, inferred gender, and familial status roles and their relationship to pathological markers found in the human skeletal
remains of this population.

Due to the often rushed nature of salvage archaeological methods, much contextual evidence was lost during excavation of many of these sites. Further the acidic mountainous soils of Asturias often result in poorly preserved skeletal material. Here these pitfalls will be addressed using two unique approaches: (1) this project will examine life histories of the general rural population of Medieval Asturias at the regional level. This will be achieved by aggregating all individuals from the available archaeological sites, and directing hypotheses at regularities at
the regional scale. (2) In order to tackle the issue of poor or differential preservation of human remains, this project will employ new maximum likelihood statistical procedures specifically
designed to handle missing data and generate probability statements. It should be noted that while the robust statistical approaches taken here will focus on region-level analyses, they could also be applied to large well documented sites in future investigations.

Results demonstrate that while historians (e.g. Kamen 1991; Lynch 1992; Ortiz 1971; Ruiz 2007) suggest rampant collapse and crisis throughout much of the later Medieval and Spanish Empire periods, the biology of the individuals from the same time shows no record of significant increases in stress or disease. Many other scholars (e.g. Bennett 2005; Miller 2003; Lopez et al. 2012) suggest the patriarchal nature of Medieval and Imperial Spain resulted in negative health outcomes for females in comparison to their male counterparts, but this is again not detected in the present examination of the skeletal biology. Finally, historians (e.g. Bango Toviso 1992) and mortuary anthropologists (e.g. Naji 2005; Ivison 1993; Effros 1997) alike argue that the practice of ad sanctos burial favored those high status individuals who were most regarded in the community, for prestigious burial locations within churches, but these results found no significant differences in terms of mortality (risk of dying at younger ages) or the development of physiological stress markers.

Fibiger, L. (in press). Misplaced childhood? Interpersonal violence and children in Neolithic Europe. In C. Knüsel & M. Smith (eds.) A history of human conflict. Osteology and 'traumatized bodies' from earliest prehistory to the present. London, Routledge.

by Linda Fibiger

Fibiger, L. 2010. The human skeletal remains from Ratoath, Co. Meath. In C. Corlett & M. Potterton (eds.) Death and burial in Early Medieval Ireland in the light of recent archaeological excavations. Bray, Wordwell.

by Linda Fibiger

A total of 49 articulated skeletons and a small quantity of
disarticulated human bone were excavated at Ratoath,... more A total of 49 articulated skeletons and a small quantity of
disarticulated human bone were excavated at Ratoath, Co.
Meath, and radiocarbon-dated to between the fifth and ninth
centuries AD.1 This firmly places the community they
represent in the early medieval period. The assemblage,
although relatively small and only representing an unspecified
proportion of the total number of burials, provided the
opportunity for a population-based analysis of an early
historic population and the creation of a body of primary
data available for continuing research and comparison with
current and future cemetery excavations, such as those
discussed in the current volume.
All individuals appear to have been interred in simple
earth-cut graves, and orientation varied from east–west and
south-west–north-east to north–south. Radiocarbon dates
of AD 410–880 obtained from seven of the 49 burials
indicate that the main phase of funerary activity was limited to a period of approximately 500 years. As no evidence for
a church was revealed during the partial excavation of the
enclosure, the burial ground is presently interpreted as a
community graveyard (Wallace, this volume). The
osteological analysis revealed the presence of a population
group that included a relatively equal proportion of adult
males and females, and over 32% of the burials were of
juveniles and infants.2 All major types of pathology were
recorded, including dental disease, degenerative joint
disease, circulatory disorders, trauma, metabolic disease and
congenital anomalies.

Márquez-Grant, N. & Fibiger, L. 2009. Physical anthropology in Europe and beyond. Bulletin of the International Association for Paleodontology 3 (1): 6-9.

by Linda Fibiger

Methodologies and legislative frameworks regarding the excavation, retrieval, analysis, curation and potential... more Methodologies and legislative frameworks regarding the excavation, retrieval, analysis, curation and potential reburial of human skeletal remains different throughout Europe. As work forces within Europe and beyond have become increasingly mobile and international research collaborations are steadily
increasing, the need for a more comprehensive understanding of different national research traditions, methodologies and legislative structures within the academic and commercial sector of physical anthropology has arisen. Establishing how human osteoarchaeology is practiced and dealt with
throughout Europe and beyond will promote sharing knowledge between countries and form the basis for pan-European exchanges and discussions on the best practice. The current paper focuses on an ongoing project entitled ‘Physical Anthropology and Legislation: European Perspectives and Beyond’ and provides insight into some of the results obtained so far.

The Context of Ancient American Violence

by Stanley Serafin

in press in Journal of Iberian and Latin American Research

Book review of:

El Sacrificio Humano en la Tradición Religiosa Mesoamericana, edited by Leonardo López... more Book review of:

El Sacrificio Humano en la Tradición Religiosa Mesoamericana, edited by Leonardo López Luján and Guilhem Olivier, Mexico City, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia / Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Investigaciones Históricas, 2010.

Latin American Indigenous Warfare and Ritual Violence, edited by Richard J. Chacon and Rubén G. Mendoza, Tucson, University of Arizona Press, 2007.

Warfare in Cultural Context: Practice, Agency, and the Archaeology of Violence, edited by Axel E. Nielsen and William H. Walker, Tucson, University of Arizona Press, 2009.

Blood and Beauty: Organized Violence in the Art and Archaeology of Mesoamerica and Central America, edited by Heather Orr and Rex Koontz, Los Angeles, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press, 2009.

Schulting, R. & Fibiger, L. 2012. Skeletal evidence for interpersonal violence in Neolithic Europe: an introduction. In R. Schulting & L. Fibiger (eds.) Sticks, stones and broken bones. Neolithic violence in a European perspective. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

by Linda Fibiger

Fibiger, L. 2012. Investigating cranial trauma in the German Wartberg Culture. In R. Schulting & L. Fibiger (eds.) Sticks, stones and broken bones. Neolithic violence in a European perspective. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

by Linda Fibiger

Cranial remains of 186 individuals belonging to the Late Neolithic
Wartberg Culture of central Germany were... more Cranial remains of 186 individuals belonging to the Late Neolithic
Wartberg Culture of central Germany were examined for evidence of trauma that could indicate interpersonal violence. The remains came from three collective burials in North Rhine-Westphalia and Hessen, excavated between 1934 and 1993. A total of 13 individuals (7%) presented with evidence for healed trauma whereas unhealed cranial injuries were noted on eight individuals (4.3%). Interpersonal violence appears to have been endemic and to have affected all sections of society.

Recent Bioarchaeological Investigations of 22SH506

by J. Rocco de Gregory

Co-authored with NP Herrmann

During Phase III excavations of the Rolling Fork Mound
Site (22SH506) in Sharkey County, Mississippi, ninemore During Phase III excavations of the Rolling Fork Mound
Site (22SH506) in Sharkey County, Mississippi, nine
burials containing a minimum of 15 individuals were
recovered. The burials represent a small but
demographically diverse sample. The interpretive
analysis focuses on the examination of oral health,
developmental dental defects, congenital traits, and adult
stature. A comparative bioarchaeological analysis
examining Mississippian and Woodland populations from
Mississippi and Alabama is presented to contextualize
the Rolling Fork individuals. The results of the analysis
indicate that the Rolling Fork sample was similar to
contemporary Late Mississippian

Using the life history model to set the stage (s) of growth and senescence in bioarchaeology and paleodemography

by Stephanie Armstrong