Diversity of Chachapoya mortuary practices is not well understood archaeologically, even though the region has received some attention for the monumental constructions and visually striking mortuary complexes located high on open cliff faces. This may be due to the difficult accessibility and often poor state of preservation consistent with many Chachapoya mortuary and occupation sites. This thesis reconstructs mortuary practices at La Petaca in the Chachapoyas region of Peru, applying paleodemographic and GIS methodological approaches to facilitate and improve the bioarchaeological study of commingled skeletal remains in an open, disturbed communal funerary context. Research focused on SUP CF-01, a natural cave context utilized as a group burial. The sample of human remains retrieved from SUP CF-01 (n= 8182) estimated an MNI of 43 adults and 12 juveniles, including a range of demographic categories. By employing a total station to record the cave structure, and a GIS to analyze the deposit of commingled remains, this thesis was able to measure the distances between paired elements and to explore possible post-depositional practices that could have created this commingled and disturbed deposit. This bioarchaeological analysis incorporating demographic and spatial analysis indicated that this collective burial was a primary context, and most likely a result of a gradual accumulation of complete bodies and movement of later skeletonized elements to make room for successive burials. When compared to other mortuary contexts at this complex, including a comparative secondary cave context and over 120 constructed mausoleums, it appears that all community members were included in the mortuary practices at this complex.

The aim of this study was to establish whether the asymmetry of bilateral elements of the skeleton is useful for the reassociation of paired elements in the analysis of commingled skeletal remains; particularly addressing the forensic scenario of Chilean Human Rights cases. The asymmetry of the appendicular skeleton of the modern adult Chilean population was investigated in its morphological aspect, using both traditional anthropometry and geometric morphometrics. The sample was selected from the Colección Subactual de Santiago, housed in the University of Chile, Santiago, Chile, with N= 131 (69 males and 62 females). The traditional metric analysis of size and the geometric morphometric analysis of shape showed that there was a significant difference between sides in both sexes with a strong component of directional asymmetry. Mean metrics and ranges of asymmetry were established, contributing to the characterization of this population. A method to pair match elements from commingled settings, which is a combination of metric ranges of asymmetry and principal component analysis of shape variables, was created resulting in 95% accuracy when pair matching the humerus, radius, femur and tibia. This constitutes an important contribution to the analysis of shape in forensic contexts due to its strong mathematical component, objectivity and repeatability.

The following research examined the overall biological profile of an anatomized human skeletal assemblage discovered in Winchester, Massachusetts (Middlesex County) in 2020. This assemblage was discovered during construction of a private house in a suburban neighborhood. In addition, this project examined the history of medical teaching specimens and how this new collection connected to the anthropological understanding of this history. For centuries, marginalized individuals, including Black people, poor people, and criminals, were utilized as the cadaver supply for medical schools. The author examined the general biological profile, including sex, age, population affinity, and stature, of the Winchester assemblage. Since none of the fragmented postcranial bones were able to be matched to particular individuals, these estimations served as a profile for the general population of the Winchester assemblage. The skulls were the only parts of the sample that could be treated as specific individuals. Craniofacial nonmetric traits were observed as well as postcranial aspects of the skeleton. The total number (NISP) of adult remains was 14,469. The MNI of the adult remains was 35 based on the left femora. The author hypothesized that the majority of the remains would consist of male individuals, and the age profile would reflect the average age at death during the mid-1800s, which was about 20-40 years old. In addition, it was hypothesized that the majority of individuals would be of Black population affinity, which might indicate that the remains were robbed from Black cemeteries. The majority of the assemblage was indeed comprised of males. Specifically, 60.5% of the pubic symphyses and 58.8% of the greater sciatic notches analyzed were determined to be male. The general average age at death of the sample was 23 to 45 years old. Estimation of population affinity of the sample was attempted; however, the results were not compelling due to the fragmentation of the remains and limited ability to reconstruct crania. The stature of the remains was estimated to range from 58.1 to 69.9 inches or 4 feet 10 inches to 5 feet 10 inches. This biological profile was compared to the demographics of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and the United States presented by the 1850 U.S. Census and data from the military during that time. The Winchester adult remains had more males than females, similar to the sex representation in Massachusetts’ poorhouses, penitentiaries, jails, and houses of correction during 1850. Unlike these institutions, the general population of Middlesex County had more females than males. The 1850 Census indicates that the majority of individuals in Massachusetts’ poorhouses, penitentiaries, jails, and houses of correction were 24 years and older, which aligns with the estimated aged range for the Winchester adult remains. White and Black individuals were the only population affinities compared in the 1850 Census, and there were significantly more White individuals. The average height of a White male in the US military was 63.7 inches, which aligned with the general stature interval of 58.1 to 69.9 inches for the adult Winchester remains. Future research, including DNA and isotope analyses, could provide further insights into the origins of these individuals discovered at this site.

No description available.

Yes / Archaeological skeletal material from most sites represents a cross-sectional, opportunistic sample of the burials. These are influenced by the proportion and area of the site which is excavated, the taphonomic conditions and survival of tissues. This may not be representative of the population, and in an attritional cemetery may represent a long period of use, during which humans will have differing life-courses. Here we describe a commingled skeletal assemblage, the only human remains recovered from the historically significant medieval site of St Stephen’s Chapel, Palace of Westminster, London. Using carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) stable isotope ratios of bulk bone collagen and incremental dentine to investigate dietary life histories from 5 individuals, we combine the evidence with radiocarbon dating to assign them to two different temporal cohorts.