Limited research has assessed the lived experiences of juveniles during the Nubian Meroitic Period (300 BCE - 350 CE). Therefore, the focus of this research is to examine dietary patterns throughout development of elite juveniles from Sai Island, Sudan to identify if dietary variations exist throughout development that may be a result of social differences within the juvenile population. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analyses of tooth dentin from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd molars of 11 adult individuals interred at cemetery 8-B-52.B on Sai Island are utilized to examine diet through the life course. As each tooth corresponds to a different developmental stage, the dietary patterns from the entirety of juvenile life can be examined via a longitudinal approach. Mann-Whitney U tests and Kruskal-Wallis tests did not reveal statistically significant differences (p > 0.05) in isotopic values between the sexes or molar types. The individual data trends, however, suggest there are differences in dietary patterns between sexes and molar types. A Levene's homoscedasticity test found a statistically significant difference in nitrogen isotopic values between sexes (p = 0.02), indicating a dissimilarity in nitrogen variation between males and females. Carbon isotopic trends suggest that during juvenile life, individuals are primarily consuming either C3 or a mixture of C3 and C4 resources. Overall, the results suggest that disparate variations exist in dietary patterns between sexes during development. Males are observed to have substantially more variation in carbon and nitrogen isotopic values, likely indicating access to a wider variety of resources than females during development. Once individuals reach adulthood, males and females appear to consume more homogenous diets. This research is important as it demonstrates how juvenile life history can be analyzed in the absence of juvenile skeletal remains that are typically not preserved in bioarchaeological assessments.

Mandibles are one of the most common bones encountered in the human archaeological record. Variation in mandibular morphology is often associated with differences in subsistence strategy as masticatory stresses influence bone growth and development. Bone growth is stimulated by bone modeling, the process by which formation and resorption occur through the uncoupled activities of osteoblasts and osteoclasts, respectively. There is a limited understanding of bone modeling patterns in humans due to a lack of quantitative data and small sample sizes. The aim of this research was to address the question: is there a shared bone modeling pattern in the mandible of Homo sapiens? To address this question, this research analyzed bone modeling patterns during ontogeny in a sample of 48 mandibles from three geographically diverse populations with differing subsistence strategies: Western Europe (France and Germany), Greenland (Inuit), and South Africa (Khoe khoe and San). The sample was divided into four age categories. Epoxy replicas of the bone were analyzed under a digital microscope, and bone resorption was identified and quantified to create digital bone modeling maps. This study found subtle population differences throughout ontogeny, with bone modeling patterns that diverge during adulthood, possibly related to subsistence strategy. This study contributes to research on bone modeling patterns in the craniofacial system of H. sapiens, expanding on our understanding of bone growth dynamics and morphological adaptations.

The focus of this thesis is to learn more about the diets and lives of Nubian individuals who lived on Sai Island during the Meroitic period (250 BC to AD 250) using an approach based in life history, gender, and social identity theory. These individuals were in buried the cemetery 8-B-52.B and they were part of the elite social class. Dietary analysis was conducted by analyzing the stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes from bulk samples of human bone collagen. A total of 34 bone samples were analyzed, and 31 of those samples were determined to be well-preserved. These data were combined with data from 54 additional 8-B-52.B samples that were generated by Raisor (2020). Mann-Whitney U tests were used to test for statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) in this combined 8-B-52.B data set by comparing the carbon and nitrogen isotope values of the individuals divided into groups based on age or sex estimates. No statistically significant differences were found between the male and female individuals for the carbon or the nitrogen values. However, there were statistically significant differences between d13C values of the infants to when compared to all age groups, except the young adults, and the adolescents compared to the young and old adults. There were also statistically significant differences between the d15N values of the perinates compared to all groups, except the young adults, and the infants compared to all age groups. The general trends in the data suggested subtle variation in the diets of the male and female individuals, but most of the isotopic variation in the sample was likely caused by the lingering biological effects of different diets during different ages. Overall, these individuals consumed a combination of both C3 and C4-based foods in varying proportions, and it seems elite Nubians had similar diets after childhood.

The Early Bronze Age in Western Anatolia is known to have been a period of emerging social differentiation and socioeconomic changes. Despite the extensive research addressing the communities and experiences of individuals in Early Bronze Age Anatolia and the recent increase in childhood bioarchaeological research, limited research investigating the lived experiences of the juveniles of this region. This thesis aims to address two main objectives: firstly, to investigate how the lived experiences of juveniles were affected by increasing and changing social differentiation, and secondly, to interpret the lived kinship structure of juveniles at Early Bronze Age Karataş-Semayük. Emerging social differentiation in Early Bronze Age Anatolia may have led to increased stress in the communities that occupied this space and time. Stress is embodied in skeletal remains and in the archaeological record and can be interpreted in studies of kinship and lived experience. Previous research from Karataş-Semayük has suggested a social kinship in mortuary practice, but no research had previously been conducted on the lived kinship structure. Dental stress indicators, namely dental fluctuating asymmetry and linear enamel hypoplasia, were utilized to interpret the lived experiences of juveniles at the site. This data was synthesized with previous biodistance data, including dental metric and morphological data, to assess biological similarity in shared lived experiences. Results suggest that stress did not increase temporally at Karataş-Semayük despite changing and emerging social differentiation. Linear enamel hypoplasia and dental fluctuating asymmetry did not significant increase in frequency or severity between the periods of occupation at the site. Biodistance analysis and stress indicator analysis found no clustering of stress indicators according to either biological similarity or burial location, supporting the idea that Karataş-Semayük followed a social kinship in life as well as in death. The results from this research contribute to the existing body of knowledge about the lived experiences of juveniles in the archaeological record. The inhabitants of Karataş appeared to have experienced similar lived experiences according to embodiments of stress and so it is possible that the effects of social differentiation at the site were dampened by assimilation and affiliation practices used by the members of the community. Despite increasing social differentiation and the assumed associated stresses, the inhabitants of Karataş seemed to have had measures in place to buffer outside stressors.

The purpose of this thesis is to determine if there are spatial patterns in the ritual activities observed at the acropolis of Río Viejo, the political seat of the late Terminal Formative-period polity in the lower Río Verde valley of Oaxaca, Mexico. Using the 2012 and 2013 excavation reports and field notes, a GIS database was created to document the three-dimensional position of materials related to ritual activity at the acropolis. Contextualizing Río Viejo's public rituals within the broader region of the lower Río Verde valley grants the opportunity to assess if the patterns observed at the acropolis demonstrate ties to outlying communities or if distinct rituals were conducted as collective, regional-scale activities. To this end, four different ritual activities that were observed at outlying sites in the lower Río Verde valley are discussed in the context of the acropolis: ritual caches and offerings, communal labor practices, inhumations, and communal feasting. This thesis concluded that certain ritual activities at Río Viejo's acropolis, like food preparation, appear to be concentrated in a single area of the acropolis while other ritual activities, like offerings, appear to be scattered across the acropolis. This thesis also found that the ritual activities at the acropolis appear to differ from those found at other sites in the lower Río Verde valley.

This thesis creates a ceramic chronology for the site of Vista Alegre, a Middle Preclassic-Postclassic Maya port site on the northern coast of Quintana Roo, Mexico. As a member of the Proyecto Costa Escondida (PCE), I analyzed a sample of ceramic material (14,326 sherds) from three off-structure test units and their extensions (Pozos 8, 8A, 10, 12, 12A, and 12B). I completed "type: variety-mode" identification for 13,114 identifiable sherds with the help of the PCE and the Yucatán INAH ceramoteca facility, and I found a total of 101 established ceramic types and varieties, and twenty-five "specials" for which only the ceramic group can be determined. With this data and the PCE's previous working chronologies, I developed a ceramic sequence of six ceramic complexes to delineate Vista Alegre's site history. This thesis also establishes a new "Crema Inciso" variety for the Cetelac ceramic group and adds a tecomate vessel form (restricted-orifice neckless jar) for two other types. The findings here organize the ceramic data into a standardized, usable format and establish a chronology to reference and revise. Because a ceramic chronology is a tool, I demonstrate its utility by contributing to two ongoing research questions for the PCE: fluctuation in population levels at Vista Alegre compared to larger regional patterns; and the number of potential water storage vessels at the site over time as related to sea level rise and freshwater access. This ceramic sequencing project adds data to the site history of Vista Alegre, establishes a system of modern and more representative ceramic complexes with room to grow, and addresses a gap in scholarship on Maya maritime settlement in this area. The trading reach of Vista Alegre was wide, varied, and long-term, and its ceramic materials continue to inform us about its persistence and influence over the last 2,000 years.

The Indigenous people of Florida terraformed the region's relatively flat landscape into monumental vantage points for residence, burial, and displays of regional power. Known as mound structures today, these long-abandoned sites are now obscured by dense vegetation and thick tree canopies making their rediscovery difficult. Using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology these lost sites can be located remotely for protection and study. In this research, LiDAR is used to locate Indigenous mound sites along the St. Johns River within the Ocala National Forest. Using free an open source geographic information systems (GIS) and similar software, LiDAR point cloud data is processed and visualized into digital elevation models (DEMs). This supports manual feature extraction (MFE) in service of locating potential sites. MFE is the identification of features by visual interpretation (Quintas et. al. 2017:364). This form of desktop survey reduces physical labor requirements with traditional methods of site location (e.g., field survey) by providing exact location data of possible sites prior to fieldwork. The central purpose of this project is the identification of Indigenous mound sites within the project study area for the purposes of identification, verification, and protection. This includes identifying previously unrecorded and documented sites in order to validate the usefulness of manual feature extraction of potential features and sites from LiDAR data within the densely vegetative area of interest. The project successfully identified two previously unknown sites and provided critical information for updating information associated with an additional four known mound sites. All data contributed to new or updated archaeological records with the Florida Master Site File and the US Forest Service database. This research took place during 2020 and 2021, and all University of Central Florida and federal policies and guidelines associated with COVID were followed.

This thesis applies a new methodology to dietary reconstructions of a unique population excavated from Kellis 2, a Romano-Christian era (c.50-450 AD) cemetery located in the ancient city of Kellis, Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt. Previously, stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses were conducted on bulk hair keratin from 216 individuals to examine their dietary practices and health status. Although this research identified the presence of specific dietary choices in the community, the researchers were not able to determine what fraction of the diet was composed of those resources. This is the first such study to use a priori dietary reconstruction data in combination with the Bayesian mixing-model Food Reconstruction Using Isotopic Transfer Signals (FRUITS) to quantify the contributions various food groups make to a diet of age groups within this community. Combining paleodiet stable isotope analysis with FRUITS modeling provides an opportunity to predict and evaluate percentages of food groups consumed in previously identified dietary and social practices, such as weaning, and dietary dynamics between adult males and females and during aging. When C3 plants, C4 plants and protein sources were evaluated, FRUITS modeling confirmed that juvenile weaning began around 6 months of age at which time the addition of herbivore dairy and cereal grains were added to their diet. Younger aged adults (~15-35 years) ate a common omnivorous diet with no discernable differences between males and females, while elderly individuals (+50 years) appear to transition to a diet with greater emphasis on protein. The use of FRUITS modeling in this study has added greater clarity to previously identified food practices at Kellis 2 and demonstrated the applicability of this method on archaeological samples when investigating food group quantification and dynamics of diet resources within an ancient community.

Exploring dietary choices during life and status after death provides information about status and identity within an evolving and expanding Christian community. Through a combination of multi-isotopic analyses (carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, strontium), GIS mapping, and historical evidence, the life story of Medieval French Christians, buried in the elite cemetery of Saint-Jean de Todon (9th – 13th century) (n = 192) and lower-status cemetery of Saint-Victor-la-Coste (9th – 13th century) (n = 21), can be elucidated. Dietary differences were found between the two cemetery populations using carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis from bone collagen. Incorporating archaeological evidence with isotopic data, a hierarchy within the Saint-Jean group was also discovered. Using tooth dentin collagen from permanent molars, carbon and nitrogen isotopes were employed to investigate childhood diet between the two cemetery groups. It was found that non-adults from both groups ate similar foods during childhood, but a closer look at childhood to adulthood diet found a dietary shift occurred after the age of 20. This coincides at the time males were following the rule on fasts, substituting meat for freshwater fish for approximately half the year, and working their way up through the church. Tooth enamel apatite is used to investigate region of origin and mobility patterns through oxygen and strontium isotopes. Data indicated most individuals originate from within France, moving to the Rhône River corridor after childhood. Some individuals (n = 11) show evidence of migrating to France from Spain and North Africa. Research suggests that burials at the Saint-Jean de Todon cemetery belong to priests and monks and their families, as well as founding families and others who provided gifts or extra services to the church to be buried there. These data from this research explores the impact of Christianity on diet, mobility, and social status during the Medieval period in rural southern France.

Mobility is an important, multifaceted process involving complex interactions of culture, politics, and economics while also intersecting with individual identities, like religion, status, gender, and age. As such, a multitude of people from different origins can comprise a settlement or a community, which may be detectable through biogeochemical assessment. This study employs stable oxygen and carbon isotopic analysis to evaluate evidence for residential mobility within the early to late Medieval Kilroot cemetery (c. 6th to 16th centuries A.D.) at County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The site is 2.8 miles (4.5 kilometers) east of Carrickfergus Castle and the surrounding town, which was an Anglo-Norman stronghold, and its presence may have influenced mobility in its hinterland. A total of 33 individuals were sampled to examine the bone apatite (later life) homogeneity in δ18O and δ13C stable isotope compositions of the Medieval community as well as variation between sex and age groups. This research revealed no statistically significant differences between males and females, adults and subadults for δ18O and δ13C ratios, indicating that there was no gender or age preference when it came to residential mobility. By the narrow variation and isotopic homogeneity, the research shows that the Medieval Kilroot cemetery only comprised those considered local, regardless of sex or age. This suggests there was no distinguishable mobility within the region and the cemetery only included those from surrounding areas, which may imply preference for local residents around the Belfast Lough. Such homogeneity is consistent with the restricted nature of Irish tuatha (petty kingdoms or chiefdoms) described in historical documents, with Medieval individuals living, dying, and ultimately being buried around the area of Kilroot. These results provide a meaningful contribution to the growing literature for Medieval Irish movement and isotopic variation, presenting salient insights to mobility and community expectations for the time period.