The purpose of this thesis is to assess the mortuary program at Morton Shell Mound (16IB3) using osteological and spatial analyses. Because of the fragmented and commingled nature of the remains, the analysis of mortuary practices includes quantitative assessment of the elements, examination of bone fracture patterns, and distributional analyses of the fragments. The collection includes 15,714 fragments with a total of 93 individuals represented. The elements exhibit primarily late-stage postmortem fractures, and are randomly distributed throughout the mound. These data indicate a complex mortuary program that that may have been used for longer than 900 years. Morton has the variability of burial styles, few grave offerings, and communal burials characteristic of Middle and Late Woodland mortuary practices. The compatibility of the methods used, and their applicability to fragmented remains, makes them advantageous tools in the quantification of commingled collections both in bioarchaeological and modern forensic investigations.

L’estimation du Nombre Minimum d’Individus (NMI) constitue une étape essentielle de l’étude des ensembles osseux, à la fois en contexte funéraire et médico-légal. En anthropologie funéraire, cette estimation va permettre d’affiner les profils paléodémographiques mais aussi de proposer de meilleures hypothèses quant à la gestion et l’utilisation de l’espace funéraire, tandis qu’en anthropologie médico-légale, elle revêt un intérêt majeur en vue de l’identification des victimes et des implications judiciaires qui en résultent.Les méthodes actuellement connues permettant d’estimer le NMI possèdent certaines limites dépendantes de la subjectivité des critères utilisés. Considérant ces limites, nous proposons une nouvelle méthode mise en place via une approche biométrique basée sur le principe de l’allométrie. A partir d’une sélection de 136 mesures ostéométriques, nous avons calculé les paramètres de 18360 équations de régressions linéaires permettant d’obtenir la prédiction d’une mesure biométrique à partir d’une autre ainsi que les bornes de l’intervalle de prédiction individuelle à 99% associé.Nous avons élaboré un outil informatique de tests itératifs permettant d’obtenir, à partir de l’exclusion très hautement probable d’appartenance des os à un même individu, une estimation du NMI.Les résultats du NMI par exclusions obtenus dans diverses applications montrent que ce NMI se révèle être particulièrement performant dans de nombreux cas.Au final, nous proposons une nouvelle méthode, objective et fiable, d’estimation du Nombre Minimum d’Individus - le NMI par exclusions - pouvant être utilisée aussi bien en contexte funéraire que dans un cadre médico-légal. / Estimation of the Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI) constitutes an essential stage of the study of commingled remains, both in physical and forensic anthropology. In physical anthropology, this estimation allow to improve paleodemographic profiles but also to propose better hypotheses as for the management and the use of the funeral space, whereas in forensic anthropology, it takes a major interest in identification procedures of victims and in the judicial involvement which result from it.Nowadays used methods estimating the MNI possess certain limits dependent on the subjectivity of the used criteria. Considering these limits, we propose a new method organized through a biometric approach based on the allometric principle. From a selection of 136 osteometric measures, we calculated the parameters of 18360 equations of linear regressions allowing us to obtain the prediction of a biometric measure from another one as well as the borders of the interval of individual prediction at 99 %.We elaborated a computer tool of iterative tests allowing to obtain, from the very highly likely exclusion from membership of bones in the same individual, an estimation of the MNI.The results of the MNI by exclusions obtained in different applications show that this NMI is particularly successful in numerous cases.In the final, we propose a new method, objective and reliable, of estimation of the Minimum Number of Individuals - the MNI by exclusions - useful as well in archaeological and forensic context.

The pre-Hispanic archaeological site of Kuelap in Chachapoyas, Peru, is representative of the variation in mortuary practices observed throughout the Chachapoya region. The goal of this study was to analyze the human skeletal remains excavated in the center of the Circular Platform between residential structures at Kuelap by creating an inventory of the remains (n=2,573) and determine the minimum number of individuals originally interred in the mortuary context. This study observed a total of 171 femora, 159 humeri, 74 calcanei, 110 ilium bones, 86 temporal bones, and 74 maxillae. Results show that this mortuary context was an ossuary of secondarily, commingled remains of at least 75 individuals and it is a previously undescribed type of tomb at Kuelap. There were significant statistical differences between the expected adult MNI (n=47) and the actual MNI counts of the ilium and cranial bones. Based on its location and the large number of individuals, I argue that this secondary ossuary had special ritual meaning to the people at Kuelap. This research is anthropologically significant because Kuelap is a major archaeological site and the variability of mortuary practices demonstrates the complex ways that people in the past treated the dead.

Focussing on Archaeozoological faunal analysis, this dissertation aims to investigate the animal food utilization practices of the Ndzundza Ndebele by combining archaeozoologcial methods, archaeological data, ethnographic and historic information. The Ndzundza Ndebele inhabited three different sites in the Steelpoort River Valley during c. 1700 AD – 1900 AD. They were forced to relocate from KwaMaza and Esikhunjini to KoNomtjarhelo as a result of continual fighting between themselves and contemporary Iron Age/Historic communities, the British and the Boers during this period. I aim to identify the animal species utilized by the Ndzundza Ndebele in addition to whether or not the hostile and politically unstable period had any effect on Ndzundza animal food procurement, use and discard. Additionally I investigate whether the faunal remains recovered from the three sites can be used to identify ethnic affiliations, gender roles and ritual use with regards to animals and/or animal parts. Ultimately, I aim to demonstrate that faunal remains cannot be fully understood and interpreted without incorporating relevant ethnographic and/or historic information and as comprehensive an archaeological context as possible. Copyright / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Anthropology and Archaeology / unrestricted