This study compares associations between demographic profiles, long bone lengths, bone mineral content, and frequencies of stress indicators in the preadult populations of two medieval skeletal assemblages from Denmark. One is from a... more
This study compares associations between demographic profiles, long bone lengths, bone mineral content, and frequencies of stress indicators in the preadult populations of two medieval skeletal assemblages from Denmark. One is from a leprosarium, and thus probably represents a disadvantaged group (Næstved). The other comes from a normal, and in comparison rather privileged, medieval community (Æbelholt). Previous studies of the adult population indicated differences between the two skeletal collections with regard to mortality, dental size, and metabolic and specific infectious disease. The two samples were analyzed against the view known as the ‘‘osteological paradox’’ (Wood et al. [1992] Curr. Anthropol. 33:343–370), according to which skeletons displaying pathological modification are likely to represent the healthier individuals of a population, whereas those without lesions would have died without acquiring modifications as a result of a depressed immune response. Results reveal that older age groups among the preadults from
Næstved are shorter and have less bone mineral content
than their peers from Æbelholt. On average, the Næstved
children have a higher prevalence of stress indicators, and
in some cases display skeletal signs of leprosy. This is
likely a result of the combination of compromised health
and social disadvantage, thus supporting a more traditional
interpretation. The study provides insights into the health of children from two different biocultural settings of medieval Danish society and illustrates the importance of comparing samples of single age groups.
Næstved are shorter and have less bone mineral content
than their peers from Æbelholt. On average, the Næstved
children have a higher prevalence of stress indicators, and
in some cases display skeletal signs of leprosy. This is
likely a result of the combination of compromised health
and social disadvantage, thus supporting a more traditional
interpretation. The study provides insights into the health of children from two different biocultural settings of medieval Danish society and illustrates the importance of comparing samples of single age groups.
- by Holger Schutkowski and +2
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The diversity of the burial places and the variety of the body and bones treatments are the main qualities of burials related to the nearly 3000 years of prehistory of New Caledonia, from the Lapita cultural complex to the traditional... more
The diversity of the burial places and the variety of the body and bones treatments are the main qualities of burials related to the nearly 3000 years of prehistory of New Caledonia, from the Lapita cultural complex to the traditional Kanak cultural complex. The oldest burials known at present are interments dated from the very end of first phase of settlement of New Caledonia archipelago and discovered in the site of Lapita at Foué (Koné). The inhumation is also a funerary treatment used during the following two millennia, besides other practices such as the deposit of the deceased on the soil surface or in canoe in caves. The inhumation was definitive or temporary, as indicated by secondary deposits or by remains of exhumation identified from the beginning of the second millennium A.D., date of the emergence of the Kanak cultural complex. The body was not systematically eliminated. Its integrity was sometimes preserved through artificial mummification processes. The paper reviews the existing archaeological documentation following a chronological framework and draws on cultural and social significances and changes over time of the treatment of the deceased.
The dietary patterns of eight adults and one child interred in the Korotuku burial mound (Cikobia, northern Fiji), dated from the late prehistoric/historic period (around AD 1850), have been investigated using carbon and nitrogen stable... more
The dietary patterns of eight adults and one child interred in the Korotuku burial mound (Cikobia, northern Fiji), dated from the late prehistoric/historic period (around AD 1850), have been investigated using carbon and nitrogen stable isotope signatures and dental and oral pathologies. Bone collagen isotopic compositions showed that (1) males and females had similar diets in terms of terrestrial C3 resources and marine fish components and proportions; (2) the proportion of marine fish comprised around 25% of the protein fraction of the diet, and the proportion of vegetal food was high; and (3) one canid that was also studied had a different diet, probably rich in shellfish. Oral and dental examinations of the humans evidenced (1) a low level of dental macrowear, (2) a high rate of carious lesions—interproximal and cervical—of about 15%, and (3) a low amount of abscessing, as well as the presence of alveolar bone recession and calculus in most of the adults. This evidence suggests a diet relying mainly on vegetal food with very limited shellfish consumption. When viewed in the light of ethnohistoric information, this pattern suggests a particular sociocultural behaviour, including food selection, since the analyses of the canid remains indicate that more diversified food resources were available than those consumed by the humans. Overall observations suggest that the deceased in the Korotuku burial mound might be members of an elite living on the island, thus pointing to possible social stratification in the late prehistoric/historic Cikobia community.
- by Bernard GRATUZE and +2
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- Pacific Archaeology
Burnt human remains excavated from a scoop feature from a cemetery at Teouma, Vanuatu in the western Pacific (∼2850 BP) were examined to assess the nature of the deposit. Possible scenarios explaining the reason the bone was burnt and... more
Burnt human remains excavated from a scoop feature from a cemetery at Teouma, Vanuatu in the western Pacific (∼2850 BP) were examined to assess the nature of the deposit. Possible scenarios explaining the reason the bone was burnt and interred were assessed using osteological signatures taken from archaeological, experimental, and forensic studies. The methodology of the study included recording color change, types of bone distortion, and element representation in conjunction with archaeological evidence. The burnt and fragmented human bone (n = 430, fragments weighing 620 g) represents a single adult individual. Macroscopic evidence from the bone indicates the body had been fleshed or fresh at the time of burning and element representation follows a similar pattern to other burials excavated from the site. Excluding burning, there was no evidence of human modification to the bone such as cut marks, percussion pits or peri mortem trauma suggestive of cannibalism. The archaeological evidence from the site indicates that the body had not been burnt in the place the remains were subsequently discovered. The combined macroscopic and archaeological evidence strongly suggests that the human bone was burnt as a result of a deliberate cremation of an individual. If a conclusion of deliberate cremation is accepted, this research represents the first case of a Lapita period cremation and demonstrates how a combination of methods can explain the nature of an archaeological deposit of burnt human bone when the cause is not otherwise apparent.
In 2008 we completed facial approximations of four individuals from the early Lapita Culture, a seafaring people who were the first to settle the islands of the Western Pacific circa 3000 years ago. Typically an approximation is performed... more
In 2008 we completed facial approximations of four individuals from the early Lapita Culture, a seafaring people who were the first to settle the islands of the Western Pacific circa 3000 years ago. Typically an approximation is performed as a 3D clay sculpture or as a virtual likeness using computer graphics. We chose to sketch what we have been able to determine from the remains because the artistic conventions of drawing work with visual perception in ways that are more complementary to the knowledge, theories and methods that make up the facial approximation of human remains.
Excavation of the 3,000-year-old Lapita cemetery of Teouma (Efate, Central Vanuatu) has allowed the first detailed investigation of mortuary practices of these initial colonizers of the Vanuatu archipelago. Focusing on one component of... more
Excavation of the 3,000-year-old Lapita cemetery of Teouma (Efate, Central Vanuatu) has allowed the first detailed investigation of mortuary practices of these initial colonizers of the Vanuatu archipelago. Focusing on one component of funerary practice: the adult corpse and bone treatment of 25 mortuary contexts recovered at the site during excavations in 2004 and 2005, the present study reveals that beyond a complex procedure common for all the deceased, there is marked diversity of funerary behavior. Utilizing current knowledge and practice regarding the method of field anthropology or archaeothanatology, including the chronology of joint disarticulation sequences, we were able to establish the following practices: treatment of corpses by inhumation in a container—pit or wrappers—not immediately filled with sediment, followed by exhumation of the skull and other bones of the upper part of the skeleton, and secondary deposition of bones, including the cranium. The identified variations reflect particular attitudes toward human remains which might be connected to the social position of the deceased and/or individual choice.
- by Frederique C Valentin and +2
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- Archaeology, The Island
The Petit Marais site at La Chaussée-Tirancourt is located at the confluence of the Somme valley and a little stream called the Aeon. Some Mesolithic levels from the Boreal are associated with alluvial sediments which are sealed by peat... more
The Petit Marais site at La Chaussée-Tirancourt is located at the confluence of the Somme valley and a little stream called the Aeon. Some Mesolithic levels from the Boreal are associated with alluvial sediments which are sealed by peat dated from the Atlantic period. Thousands of //-thic and bone remains attest to the numerous activities practised on the site. Five Mesolithic pits have been excavated. Many radiocarbon da-tings bring to the fore an important diachronism between those structures. Pit number 1 contained many burnt human bones. Pit number 4 is a burial place. The skeleton is that of an adult male. He had a particularly robust skull like the Téviec and Hoëdic individuals and was tall. The organisation of the bone remains in the grave evokes a secondary burial.
- by Frederique C Valentin and +1
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- Archaeology, Mesolithic, Form
This paper uses strontium isotope (87Sr/86Sr), oxygen isotope (δ18O) and Ba/Sr trace element data in archaeological tooth enamel samples to investigate migration and mobility at the Late Lapita site of SAC, Watom Island in the Bismarck... more
This paper uses strontium isotope (87Sr/86Sr), oxygen isotope (δ18O) and Ba/Sr trace element data in archaeological tooth enamel samples to investigate migration and mobility at the Late Lapita site of SAC, Watom Island in the Bismarck Archipelago. Previous archaeological models have identified Lapita mobility at a community level using obsidian distribution patterns and changes in ceramic design, whereas isotope and trace element data can potentially reconstruct prehistoric mobility on an individual level. Human and pig teeth were sampled from SAC and a selection of human teeth were included from the Late–Post Lapita site of Lifafaesing, Tanga Islands as a geographic/geological comparison.The results indicate that there is a large amount of isotopic variation in the Bismarck Archipelago which is useful for identifying non-local individuals and possibly determining their origins. One human individual and several pigs were suggested as coming from elsewhere in the region. Three potentially separate locations were identified for the non-local pigs. It is argued, using the data from SAC, that Late Lapita communities in the Bismarck Archipelago were more mobile than previously assumed. The potential for identifying individual migrants in a Lapita context are discussed in terms of assessing the more subtle aspects of Lapita society in the Southwest Pacific Islands.