The majority of what is currently known about the Albee Phase comes from mortuary sites, the largest of which is the Commissary site (12-Hn-2), located in Henry County, Indiana. Excavation methods at Commissary left burial context in question and the materials could not be used for research on mortuary patterns. Examination of the skeletal material and supporting documentation led to a determination of the relationship between the two grids utilized during excavation, which clarified burial context and allowed for a more complete description of mortuary patterns at the site. Analysis reaffirmed previous conclusions regarding demography, clarified burial composition, and generated new data on burial orientation. Comparisons of the Commissary site with four other Albee Phase mortuary sites and an Oliver phase site indicate that the sites share a mixture of characteristics and that, due to its immense size, the Commissary site remains a unique example of Albee Phase mortuary patterns. / Department of Anthropology

The purpose of this paper is to describe the Commissary Site mortuary population in terms of mechanical stress and then to assign possible cultural causes to explain this wear. This consisted of discussing basic anatomy in terms of bones and muscles, then in describing the osteological material excavated at the Commissary Site. Each joint was examined for wear and the entire bone for heavy build up of the cortex caused by the action of the muscles. This information was then interpreted with the aid of the associated artifacts and the burials themselves in terms of the grinding of food stuffs, the use of tump lines, hunting, handedness, and the preparation of hides.

The purpose of this study was to determine if the histomorphometric analysis of age could be used to determine the age at death of subadults from the Commissary Archaeological Site. The histomorphometric analysis was used because of the fragmented condition of the bones. Sections from the left femur were obtained and processed for light and electron microscopy. Using the regression formula of Ahlqvist and Damsten and Ubelaker, age was estimated from the percentage of Haversian canals per 1 mm unit of bone. Results show the subadult population ranged in age from 0.9- 16.7 years. The correlation between the thickness of compact bone, the midshaft width, and the marrow cavity width to that of the assigned age supports the validity of the regression formula. The study demonstrates that the histomorphometric analysis can be applied to estimate age in subadult skeletons. This study further provides the first scientific analysis of age for the subadult skeletons of the Commissary site, an Early Late Woodland Native American population. / Department of Anthropology

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the health status of Indiana Special Olympics athletes who participated in Healthy Athletes® health screenings during 2008. Height, weight, body mass index (BMI), bone density t-scores, smoking habits, and eating behaviors of the Indiana Special Olympics athletes, both overall and by gender, were compared to data recorded in the National Special Olympics Healthy Athletes® Software System (HASS). A total of 743 Special Olympics athletes ranging in age from 19 to 64 years were obtained from the HASS data base. Of these, 34.6 percent (n=257) were Indiana Special Olympics athletes and 65.4 percent (n=486) were non-Indiana Special Olympics athletes from California, Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana, and Montana. Results indicated that, despite no difference by gender or height, Indiana Special Olympics athletes were significantly more overweight (26.8%) or obese (50.3%), had a lower bone density (0.049 ± 1.421 vs. 0.750 ± 1.591), a higher frequency of tobacco use (12.5% vs. 6.6%), and a lower daily fruit and vegetable consumption than the non-Indiana Special Olympics athletes (74.8% vs. 84.0%). Results will be used to identify appropriate health education programs for the Indiana Special Olympics athletes / Department of Family and Consumer Sciences

The purpose of this project was to determine if the human skeletal remains of two distinct Native American cemeteries, found in close geographic proximity, represent the same population. These archaeological sites are similar in location and artifacts. Burial practices, however, vary between the sites. These differences may represent class distinction or a difference in the times the cemeteries were used. Radiocarbon techniques have given dates of AD 230±300 and AD 635±105 for these two sites. Several methods of DNA isolation were compared for their ability to yield PCR amplifiable DNA. DNA isolation using a combination of CTAB and phenol/chloroform/isoamyl alcohol (24:24:1) provided the best results and yielded amplifiable DNA form two individuals, Hn I (8F-410) and Hn 10 ( 27F-8-14 b). Purification of the DNA by extraction from low melting agarose gel was required prior to PCR, and PCR conditions were optimized to maximize the DNA yields. Regions of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genome of isolated DNA were amplified by PCR using primers which are specific for the HincII region of the mtDNA genome. Inability of restriction enzyme HincII to digest the amplified DNA of these two individuals suggested that they belong to the Native American mtDNA lineage C characterized by the loss of this restriction site. / Department of Anthropology