Human Skeletal Remains

3D measurement using SfM/MVS (Structure from Motion/Multiview Stereo) and laser scanners has become increasingly popular in archaeology. Especially, the quality (i.e., precision and/or accuracy) of 3D models by SfM sometimes varies depending on target objects, measurers, and equipment, and so quality control is one of the important problems for SfM measurement. The aim of the present article is to compare different models acquired by two different methods, i.e., SfM and laser scanners using human skulls from the Odake shell midden and Kuma-nishioda site and examine the quality of 3D models by SfM under certain conditions. We conclude that, although not significantly different, there are advantages and disadvantages with both kinds of 3D models.

Course Objectives • Attendees of this hands-on workshop will learn proper search and recovery methods used to locate, document, and recover scattered and buried human remains. *Improper recovery techniques, however well intentioned, have the potential to destroy or leave behind valuable information that may compromise the investigation or hinder the identification process.

For many years, a poster has, in various forms, appeared frequently on websites and within material that discuss a global
conspiracy to hide an “ancient race of giants” from the public, presenting several giant human skeletons that are claimed to have been found all over the world between at least 1400 BCE and the mid-1950s CE. The poster was created by the late young earth creationist Joe Taylor for his Mt. Blanco Fossil Museum located in Lubbock, Texas. Despite the fantastical dimensions provided, these claims are taken seriously by those who are making them and are advocated for with complete sincerity. The Abilene Discovery Center, another creation museum located in
Abilene, Texas, features Taylor’s poster and claims as a central exhibit. (Moore, 2017) This paper consolidates prior research in addressing the claims made in the poster, and provides a thorough analysis of each of them, along with a review of their origin.

This chapter examines the contribution of the contextual study of human skeletal remains of Early Christian burials in the eastern Mediterranean. Bioarchaeological studies of sites in Greece, Cyprus, Asia Minor, and Palestine are presented to better understand the people and their burial practices from this region during a tumultuous period in the fourth through seventh centuries. The use of multiple lines of evidence such as funerary archaeology, taphonomy, and skeletal biology reveals the lifestyles and burial customs of the inhabitants from a selection of eastern Mediterranean sites. Despite regional variations, there is a great degree of uniformity in the burial customs across the areas under consideration. Finally, the populations of the eastern Mediterranean share similar demographic profiles and health outcomes. Future research will likely engage in scientific applications in archaeology that may address significant questions, such as reconstructing diet from stable isotope analyses and disease via ancient DNA analysis.

is study reports on the human remains of 39 individuals uncovered at the Early Byzantine cemetery of Maroneia in race, Greece (5-6 c. AD). Results on physiological and activity related stress indicators do not show deteriorating living conditions caused by major geopolitical transformation, social upheavals or natural disasters but rather a peasant lifestyle and adequate diet. e sample includes two individuals with intentional cranial modification, a practice that was not customary in Christian tradition. Biocultural evidence supports the hypothesis that these individuals had a cultural origin which was linked to the Huns. e combined analysis of historical, archaeological and skeletal data allows interpretations of health, lifestyle and biosocial complexity during Early Christian times in Greece.

ln this paper, human skeletal remains from two prominent settlement sites in the Estremadura region of Portugal (Leceia and Zambujal) were examined in order to investigate how settlement burials may relate to individual identity, and/or temporal and spatial aspects of community life. Our findings have been that, at both Zambujal and Leceia, the contexts in which the human remains are recovered are diverse and cannot be explained by one process or type of event.

Artificial cranial modification is one of the most often documented types of intentional intervention on the human skeleton in the anthropological record. A female cranium exhibiting headshaping recently came to light at the Early Byzantine site of Maroneia, in Thrace, northern Greece. Headshaping was practiced by several different population groups during the migration period (1st-9th c. AD), but was unknown in Byzantine customs. Homogeneity in burial customs, evidenced by the skeleton's position and orientation and by cemetery topography, strongly supports the hypothesis that this burial belonged to a Christianised citizen who had the right to be buried in a common Christian cemetery. Headshaping provides strong evidence for the cultural adaptability and complexity of Early Byzantine society at Maroneia, an important provincial urban centre of the Byzantine Empire.

Recent discoveries and research results ΥΠΟΥρΓΕιΟ ΠΟΛιτιΣΜΟΥ και αΘΛΗτιΣΜΟΥ ΓΕΝΙΚΗ ΔΙΕΥΘΥΝΣΗ ΑΡΧΑΙΟΤΗΤΩΝ ΚΑΙ ΠΟΛΙΤΙΣΤΙΚΗΣ ΚΛΗΡΟΝΟΜΙΑΣ ΕΦΟΡΕΙΑ ΑΡΧΑΙΟΤΗΤΩΝ ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΕΥΡΥΤΑΝΙΑΣ MinisTrY oF cULTUre and sPorTs GENERAL DIRECTΟRΑΤΕ OF ANTIQUITIES AND CULTURAL HERITAGE EPHORATE OF ANTIQUITIES OF FTHIOTIDA AND EVRYTANIA Π ρ α κ τ ι κ a P r o c e e d i n g s Επιμέλεια Ε ΦΗ ΚΑ ΡΑ Ν Τ Ζ Α Λ Η E d ite d by E F I KA R A N T Z A L I υπουρ γει ο π ολ ι τι σμ ο υ κ Α ι Α θ λ ητ ι σ μ ου ΑθηνΑ / athens 2021

Gladiatorial contests in the Roman Empire and their cultural and social significance are extensively researched thanks to ancient written sources and archaeological evidence. In this context, however, the image of the gladiator, in both general perception and science, is largely reduced to his appearance in the arena.
The present work approaches gladiators as individual human beings. The aim of this paper is to explore how burial evidence originating from the western and eastern Roman provinces can help to better understand the personal aspects of a gladiator's life. For this purpose, several case studies of gladiator burials dating to the 1st to 3rd centuries AD are discussed, analysed and compared. The focus is on forensic investigations of human remains as well as on epigraphic and iconographic studies of tombstones.
Despite the challenges associated with their identification, the existing material remains from gladiator graves can make a valuable contribution to giving voice to the deceased gladiators. While skeletal remains reveal information about their living conditions and biographies, tombstones provide insights into their self-perception and privacy. In this way, funerary archaeology illustrates the complexity of the gladiators’ lives and frees them from the previously biased image that exclusively presents them in their role as combatants in the arena.

AbstrAct: The paper reports on a collective burial from a 13th c. AD cist grave in Attica, Greece. The grave was located inside a basilica and held the remains of at least ten adults. Bone representation analysis showed secondary manipulation of previous deceased including long bone selection for reburial in the same grave and/or bones transported from a different burial place. Paleopathological analysis used macroscopy and radiology, and revealed several lesions on the axial and appendicular skeleton expressed mainly by spinal ligament ossification and multiple peripheral enthesopathies. Individuation of the remains pointed to a middle-aged male with DISH, a condition often correlated to high social rank. Byzantine period is marked by increasing development and prosperity in Greece including among others the creation of many local monastic centers. Although the precise social and professional profile of these individuals cannot be revealed, the combined investigation of skeletal and archaeological evidence suggests that the grave gathered the remains of individuals belonging to an upper class social group.

The determination of the number of individuals represented within commingled remains is based on two types of estimators, those assessing the minimum number of individuals and those assessing the most likely number of individuals. Much as the latter produce improved results, they still exhibit significant drawbacks, which are related to the misidentification of the number of pairs between the existing bilateral elements. This article addresses these problems through the use of two computer algorithms. One algorithm produces
a number of potential pairs between bilateral elements and the other estimates the number of individuals in a commingled sample by incorporating the percentages of lost and altered bones into the analysis. These algorithms were validated using hypothetical and actual skeletal samples, and are more effective in comparison to any conventional estimators, particularly in cases, where the elements are poorly preserved.

Objectives: Since the late 1970s, when the first human skeletal remains from a pit (V1141) located within the Late Bronze Age hill-fort at Stillfried an der March, Austria, were discovered, their deviation from the predominant burial rite of cremation became the subject-matter of a variety of archaeological and bioanthropological studies. Through continuous archaeological excavations, further settlement pits with unusual human inhumation burials or depositions of isolated skeletal remains became apparent and posed the question of their possible non-local origin. The human samples in this study come from the Pits V841 and V1133, furthermore we re-investigate two individuals from V1141. The aim is to get a better understanding of Stillfried's population structure and to enrich the debate about the mortuary practices of the Urnfield culture. Material and Methods: Here we present and discuss the radio-genic Sr isotope ratios determined in the enamel of eleven individuals from three settlement pits: eight individuals from Pit V841 and one individual, represented by a skull without mandible (calvarium) of a 12-13-year-old child from Pit V1133; two individuals were taken from Pit V1141 and re-investigated for comparative reasons. We compared all data to signals of the local environment derived from modern environmental samples and to the autochthonous signal of the Late Bronze Age derived from archaeological faunal remains (incl. mussels) and archaeological plants. Further, we investigated and discussed the potential of a mathematical approach to access biogenic Sr isotopic information from diagenetically altered dentine. Results: It has been shown that both supposedly autochthonous and allochthonous (non-local) individuals are buried within the settlement pits of Stillfried, which shows that burial practices do not relate to the individual's origins. In particular, the n(87 Sr)/n(86 Sr) isotopic values of six individuals match the supposedly autochtho-nous Sr signature, while the other five individuals represent alloch-thonous individuals. Three of the latter showed n(87 Sr)/n(86 Sr) values that were higher and two that were lower compared to the autoch-thonous Sr range, thereby indicating at least two different homelands. Despite the small sample size which constrains the validity of the data, the diversity of the inhabitants' provenance reflects a high mobility. This may support the interpretation of Stillfried as a 'central site'-a finding which is also important in the wider context of the European Late Bronze Age. Zusammenfassung-Sr-Isotopenanalyse menschlicher Skelett-reste aus Siedlungsgruben in Stillfried/March. Überprüfung der dia-genetischen Veränderungen Ziel: Seit den späten 1970er Jahren, als die ersten menschlichen Skelettreste aus einer Siedlungsgrube (V1141) der spätbronzezeit-lichen Wallanlage von Stillfried an der March geborgen wurden, stand deren Abweichung von der üblichen Leichenverbrennung im Brennpunkt archäologischer und bioanthropologischer Forschung. Durch fortdauernde archäologische Ausgrabungen wurden weitere Siedlungsgruben mit ungewöhnlichen Bestattungen menschlicher Körper oder Niederlegungen einzelner Skelettreste freigelegt, die die Frage nach ihrer möglichen nicht-lokalen Herkunft aufwarfen. Die menschlichen Proben dieser Studie kommen aus den Gruben V841 und V1133, darüber hinaus untersuchten wir erneut zwei Individuen 54 Anika Retzmann et al. aus V1141. Ziel ist es, ein besseres Verständnis von Stillfrieds Bevöl-kerungsstruktur zu erhalten und die Debatte über die Bestattungs-praktiken der Urnenfelderkultur zu bereichern. Material und Methode: Hier präsentieren und diskutieren wir die im Zahnschmelz bestimmten Sr-Isotopenverhältnisse von elf Indivi-duen aus drei Siedlungsgruben: acht Individuen aus Grube V841 und ein 12-13-jähriges Kind aus Grube V1133, von dem nur der Schädel ohne Unterkiefer (Calvarium) erhalten ist. Zwei weitere, aus Sied-lungsgrube V1141 geborgene Individuen mit bereits bekannten Sr-Isotopensignaturen wurden für Vergleichszwecke ebenfalls einbezo-gen. Wir verglichen alle Daten mit Sr-Werten, die wir aus der lokalen Umgebung und aus urnenfelderzeitlichen Faunen-und Pflanzen-resten (einschließlich Muscheln) gewonnen haben. Darüber hinaus untersuchen und diskutieren wir das Potential eines mathematischen Ansatzes für die Ermittlung biogener Sr-Isotopen-Informationen aus diagenetisch verändertem Dentin. Ergebnisse: Die menschlichen Überreste in den Siedlungsgruben von Stillfried stammen sowohl von ansässigen Personen als auch von Individuen anderer Herkunft, was zeigt, dass die Bestattungsprak-tiken nicht mit der Herkunft des Individuums zusammenhängen. Konkret entsprechen die Sr-Isotopenwerte von sechs Individuen der autochthonen Sr-Signatur, während die Werte der restlichen fünf In-dividuen auf eine Herkunft außerhalb von Stillfried verweisen, also allochthone Individuen darstellen. Drei der allochthonen Individuen zeigen höhere Sr-Isotopensignaturen im Vergleich zur autochthonen Sr-Signatur, die restlichen zwei allochthonen Individuen niedrigere Sr-Isotopensignaturen. Dies weist auf mindestens zwei unterschied-liche Herkunftsgebiete hin, was für die Interpretation der Siedlungs-bestattungen in der Wallanlage von Stillfried von Bedeutung ist, da die daraus abzuleitende hohe Mobilität auch den Charakter der Siedlung als "Zentralort" unterstreicht. Auch im Kontext der überregionalen populationsdynamischen Entwicklungsprozesse in der europäischen Spätbronzezeit ist dieses Resultat von großer Relevanz. Die Ergeb-nisse dieser Studie basieren auf einer ausgewählten, kleinen Stichpro-be. Ihre Aussagekraft in Bezug auf Fragen zur Bevölkerungsstruktur des spätbronzezeitlichen Stillfried ist dementsprechend begrenzt. Schlüsselbegriffe Sonderbestattungen, Wallanlage, menschliche Skelettreste, späte Bronzezeit, Urnenfelderkultur, Stillfried/Niederösterreich, Stronti-umisotopie, diagenetische Veränderungen.

This thesis is concerned with the impact of socio-economic, political and environmental shifts on Early Medieval communities, specifically England and its links with continental Europe. I have utilised multi-tissue (bone, dentine and enamel), multi-isotope (δ13C, δ15N, δ18O and 87/86Sr) and multi-proxy data to analyse the lifeways of people in Early Medieval England within a European context in a multi-scalar way (sub-continental, regional, kingdom and community scales). This meta-analytical approach has allowed me to investigate Early Medieval transitions across the first millennium AD and better characterise and disentangle human-environment interactions in the period. Throughout this thesis high levels of isotopic variability and cultural dynamism within Early Medieval communities are clear. The core themes of this work are – climate and environment, changing foodways and migration.

This approach has allowed me to better provenance people based on isotopic diversity and see cross-cultural contact. It also highlights the impact of climate change (the Late Antique Little Ice Age and Medieval Warm Period) on human δ18O values, showing the widespread and relatively rapid impact these events had on climate and on drinking water sources.

The significant diachronic changes in both diet and in mobility patterns found here reflect the highly dynamic and far from insular position of England within Europe in the first millennium AD. My analyses support a model of continual and relatively large-scale migration from the continent Europe across the period, and changes to foodways which reflect not just shifts in economics and agricultural practice but changing worldviews (e.g. the impacts of Christianisation).

Isotopic data when combined with archaeo-historical evidence show that identity construction in Early Medieval communities was highly complex, and there is no clear link between isotopic patterns, genetics and grave goods usually seen as “ethnic” signifiers. I show that these were multi-origin communities in continual contact through long-distance networks which influenced the changes we see throughout the first millennium AD.

This thesis is concerned with the impact of socio-economic, political and environmental shifts on Early Medieval communities, specifically England and its links with continental Europe. I have utilised multi-tissue (bone, dentine and enamel), multi-isotope (δ13C, δ15N, δ18O and 87/86Sr) and multi-proxy data to analyse the lifeways of people in Early Medieval England within a European context in a multi-scalar way (sub-continental, regional, kingdom and community scales). This meta-analytical approach has allowed me to investigate Early Medieval transitions across the first millennium AD and better characterise and disentangle human-environment interactions in the period. Throughout this thesis high levels of isotopic variability and cultural dynamism within Early Medieval communities are clear. The core themes of this work are – climate and environment, changing foodways and migration. This approach has allowed me to better provenance people based on isotopic diversity and see cross...

Gladiatorial contests in the Roman Empire and their cultural and social significance are extensively researched thanks to ancient written sources and archaeological evidence. In this context, however, the image of the gladiator, in both general perception and science, is largely reduced to his appearance in the arena. The present work approaches gladiators as individual human beings. The aim of this paper is to explore how burial evidence originating from the western and eastern Roman provinces can help to better understand the personal aspects of a gladiator's life. For this purpose, several case studies of gladiator burials dating to the 1st to 3rd centuries AD are discussed, analysed and compared. The focus is on forensic investigations of human remains as well as on epigraphic and iconographic studies of tombstones. Despite the challenges associated with their identification, the existing material remains from gladiator graves can make a valuable contribution to giving voice to the deceased gladiators. While skeletal remains reveal information about their living conditions and biographies, tombstones provide insights into their self-perception and privacy. In this way, funerary archaeology illustrates the complexity of the gladiators’ lives and frees them from the previously biased image that exclusively presents them in their role as combatants in the arena.

Objectives: Human sexual dimorphism is frequently assessed through skull and pelvic size and shape. Researchers suggest that climatic variation and the associated stress may be significant factors in sexual dimorphism's etiology. However, little research has specifically investigated climatic effects on nonmetric skeletal indicators of sex. To further appreciate the plasticity of human biology, a comparative study of standard skull and pelvic nonmetric sex indicators is presented. Methods: A Native Alaskan archeological sample (n = 104) and a component of the Terry collection (n = 99) represent populations originating from different climatic environments in recent history. These sex-balanced groups are compared through Tukey-Kramer's method and Greene's t-test to determine any variation in degree of sexual dimorphism within and between samples. Results: The results reinforce the complex and multifaceted relationship between climate and sexual dimorphism. The Terry sample demonstrated a greater degree of sexual dimorphism with statistically significant differences in robusticity of the mastoid process and nuchal crest compared with the Native Alaskans. A more "male" morphotype and reduced dimorphism are appreciated in the pelves of Native Alaskans than the Terry sample. Conclusions: This research highlights a reduction in sexual dimorphism in populations under greater climatic stress and contributes to the production of more accurate skeletal assessments in future investigations. Discussion of confounding factors suggest more research is necessary to untangle climate and human morphology's complex relationship. This study contributes to a greater appreciation of human biological plasticity, ecogeographic variation, and the evolution of modern human diversity.