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Atlantic Scotland provides plentiful and often dramatic evidence for settlement during the Iron Age but, like much of Europe, very little is known of the funerary traditions of communities in this region. Formal burial appears to have been rare, and evidence for alternative mortuary treatments is dispersed, varied and, to date, poorly understood. This study sets out to examine for the first time all human remains dating to the Iron Age in Atlantic Scotland, found in a variety of contexts ranging from formal cemeteries to occupied domestic sites. This data-set, despite its limitations, forms the basis for a new understanding of funerary treatment and daily life in later prehistoric Atlantic Scotland, signifying the development of an extraordinary range of different methods of dealing with, and harnessing the power of, the dead during this period. This information in turn can contribute to wider issues surrounding attitudes to the dead, religious belief, domestic life and the nature of society in Iron Age Europe.

The primary focus of this thesis is to examine the relationship between diet, as reconstructed via stable isotope analysis, and bone lead levels, quantified by trace element analysis for individuals interred at the Royal Naval Hospital Cemetery (RNHC), A.D. 1793-1822, in Antigua, West Indies. Individuals of both African and European ancestries were recovered from this colonial-era cemetery, and samples from their remains were analyzed to determine stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values (as a proxy for diet), and bone lead levels. The data were then compared in order to elucidate any association among the variables. This investigation revealed that the relationship between diet and lead may have been affected by many variables including ancestry, status, agency, and duration of stay in the West Indies. However, from the results presented in this thesis, the strongest correlation between stable isotope signatures and bone lead levels is in the relationship between δ13Ccollagen and lead for individuals consuming a diet primarily consisting of C3 staple starches and C3 fed animals. A secondary focus of this thesis is to estimate the extent to which the individuals interred at the RNHC may have suffered from symptoms of lead poisoning. Through conversion of bone lead levels to blood lead levels, potential symptomatology may be estimated in order to determine the percentage of individuals from the population that may have experienced mild to severe lead poisoning. In this population, a majority of individuals had high enough blood lead levels that they may have suffered from a range of symptoms associated with exposure to lead, which is not inconsistent with historical assertions that lead poisoning was of considerable detriment to the health and well-being of individuals serving in the British military in the colonial Caribbean. This study provides further insight into the health and lifeways of lower-ranking naval personnel and enslaved labourers owned by the Navy in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century West Indies.

There has been historical failure to exploit skeletal data in archaeological syntheses of the Neolithic, compounded by poor or cursory osteological reports. This project aimed to discover what Neolithic Orcadian life was like, arguing from skeletal evidence. Orkney's exceptional site preservation and large skeletal collections present opportunities for detailed analysis. The Orkney environment presented identifiable constraints to Neolithic lifeways. Isbister chambered cairn produced the largest assemblage of human remains from any single British Neolithic site. This was examined alongside other Neolithic collections to discover evidence for, and develop models of Neolithic life. The demographic structure indicates that twice as many adult males were deposited as females. Few young infants were in the assemblage but disproportionately many older children and young adults. Stable light isotope analysis suggested age and sex-related dietary differences with a predominantly terrestrial protein source. Pathological conditions included scurvy, multiple myeloma and osteoarthritis. Trauma and non-specific lesions were common and affected all age and sex groups. Prevalences of pathological conditions seemed high and may reflect a group selected for some reason related to disability or deformity. The interred individuals probably held some special status within their society. The chambered cairns' commingled bones do not indicate an egalitarian society or contemporary ancestor veneration but suggest monumental tombs had some special role possibly related to violent death or supernatural liminality.

We present an unusual example of multiple mesosternal foramina (MMF). The alignment of the paired defects is unlike any previously described. Although single sternal defects are often encountered, paired defects are quite uncommon. This is the first documented example of bilateral paired defects in the sternum.

no / A buried or dumped body may be accompanied by a range of materials, including clothing and other textiles, metals such as tools and weapons, as well as plastics and paper products. This chapter concentrates on clothing and metal fastenings associated with clothing. Bodies that have been subject to clandestine disposal may be clothed, semiclothed, or naked. Reconstructing the nature and position of this clothing is critical to understanding the circumstance of disposal as well as perhaps to assisting in establishing motive and offender behavior. In addition, clothing and personal effects may provide assistance in establishing identity, although this will need confirmation by dental records or DNA. Modern clothing, footwear, and accessories are made from a range of materials: natural and synthetic textiles, leather, plastic, and metal. Along with the body they may be subject to a range of depositional environment, including surface disposal and burial in a range of soil types and microclimates. These materials will respond and degrade at different rates often leading to differential preservation.

yes / Recent radiocarbon dating of a skeleton from Balevullin, Tiree, excavated in the early twentieth century, demonstrates that it dates to the Neolithic period, rather than the Iron Age as originally expected. Osteological examination suggests that the individual was a young adult woman, exhibiting osteological deformities consistent with vitamin D deficiency, most likely deriving from childhood rickets; an exceptionally early identification of the disease in the UK with potentially significant social implications. Isotopic analysis supports the osteological evidence for physiological stress in childhood and further suggests that the woman was most probably local to the islands. Analysis of the surviving written archive reveals that the surviving skeleton was one of several originally recovered from the site, making Balevullin an exceptionally rare example of a British Neolithic inhumation cemetery.

Atlantic Scotland provides plentiful and often dramatic evidence for settlement during the Iron Age but, like much of Europe, very little is known of the funerary traditions of communities in this region. Formal burial appears to have been rare, and evidence for alternative mortuary treatments is dispersed, varied and, to date, poorly understood. This study sets out to examine for the first time all human remains dating to the Iron Age in Atlantic Scotland, found in a variety of contexts ranging from formal cemeteries to occupied domestic sites. This data-set, despite its limitations, forms the basis for a new understanding of funerary treatment and daily life in later prehistoric Atlantic Scotland, signifying the development of an extraordinary range of different methods of dealing with, and harnessing the power of, the dead during this period. This information in turn can contribute to wider issues surrounding attitudes to the dead, religious belief, domestic life and the nature of society in Iron Age Europe. / Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Marinell Ash fund, Strathmartine Trust

There has been historical failure to exploit skeletal data in archaeological syntheses of the Neolithic, compounded by poor or cursory osteological reports. This project aimed to discover what Neolithic Orcadian life was like, arguing from skeletal evidence. Orkney¿s exceptional site preservation and large skeletal collections present opportunities for detailed analysis. The Orkney environment presented identifiable constraints to Neolithic lifeways. Isbister chambered cairn produced the largest assemblage of human remains from any single British Neolithic site. This was examined alongside other Neolithic collections to discover evidence for, and develop models of Neolithic life. The demographic structure indicates that twice as many adult males were deposited as females. Few young infants were in the assemblage but disproportionately many older children and young adults. Stable light isotope analysis suggested age and sex-related dietary differences with a predominantly terrestrial protein source. Pathological conditions included scurvy, multiple myeloma and osteoarthritis. Trauma and non-specific lesions were common and affected all age and sex groups. Prevalences of pathological conditions seemed high and may reflect a group selected for some reason related to disability or deformity. The interred individuals probably held some special status within their society. The chambered cairns¿ commingled bones do not indicate an egalitarian society or contemporary ancestor veneration but suggest monumental tombs had some special role possibly related to violent death or supernatural liminality. / Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). NERC-AHRC National Radiocarbon Facility grant (NF/2010/2/6).

No description available.