The complex relationship between human societies and the environment has become a thriving field of research over the past three decades. The contribution of human osteoarchaeology to exploring this relationship, however, has been rather limited. Two unpublished late medieval skeletal assemblages unearthed in the historical centres of Bucharest and Braşov (located in southern and north-central Romania respectively) seemed ideal choices for investigating the impact of substantial climatic and environmental changes that took place worldwide between the 14th and the 18th century AD. As witnessed by medieval artistic and documentary sources, this unsettled climate was mirrored by human populations with social and political instability, epidemics, famine, but also through the rise of new cultural movements. The analysis of over 600 individuals (a minimum number of 421 individuals from Bucharest and 206 from Braşov) was carried out to: 1) Provide a thorough osteological analysis, and compare and test statistically the collected data to reconstruct demographic and pathological patterning; 2) Identify ‘skeletal environmental markers’, i.e. possible indicators of the effect of climatic shifts on the human body; 3) Cross-reference osteological, archaeological, historical and climatological data in order to present a robust biocultural assessment of the impact of environmental and historical events on the Romanian population during the Middle Ages. The identification of low life-expectancy, higher mortality rates for children and young adults and general high morbidity levels were in line with other studies on medieval populations. However, evidence for a high prevalence of specific physiological and psychological stress markers was observed in these two geographically, culturally and economically different urban communities. As a strong mortality- and morbidity-shaping factor, the detrimental effect of climate anomalies is one of the main explanations for such findings, and is supported by medieval historical sources and recent advances in Romanian climatological studies. Despite some limitations (i.e. incomplete chronological information for most of the burial contexts, minimal local historical sources, lack of funding for isotopic analyses, and time constraints), the results of the present study have offered a new perspective on the relationship between Romanian medieval populations and their living environment, and have shown the enormous potential of interdisciplinary bioarchaeological research in Romania.

abstract: The Egyptian New Kingdom city of Akhetaten (modern: Tell el-Amarna, el-Amarna, or simply Amarna) provides a unique opportunity to study ancient biocultural dynamics. It was a disembedded capital removed from the major power bases of Memphis and Thebes that was built, occupied, and abandoned within approximately 20 years (c. 1352–1336 BCE). This dissertation used the recently excavated Amarna South Tombs cemetery to test competing models for the development of disembedded capitals, such as the geographic origin of its migrants and its demographic structure in comparison to contrastive models for the establishment of settlements. The degree to which biological relatedness organized the South Tombs cemetery was also explored. The results suggest that the Nile Valley into the New Kingdom (1539–1186 BCE) was very diverse in dental cervical phenotype and thus highly mobile in respects to gene flow, failing to reject that the Amarna city was populated by individuals and families throughout the Nile Valley. In comparison, the Amarna South Tombs cemetery contained the least amount of dental phenotypic diversity, supporting a founder effect due to migration from larger, more diverse gene pools to the city or the very fact that the city and sample only reflect a 20-year interval with little time to accumulate phenotypic variation. Parts of the South Tombs cemetery also appear to be organized by biological affinity, showing consistent and significant spatial autocorrelation with biological distances generated from dental cervical measurements in male, female, and subadult (10–19 years of age) burials closest to the South Tombs. This arrangement mimics the same orderliness in the residential areas of the Amarna city itself with officials surrounded by families that supported their administration. Throughout the cemetery, adult female grave shaft distances predict their biological distances, signaling a nuclear family dynamic that included many females including mothers, widows, and unwed aunts, nieces, and daughters. A sophisticated paleodemographic model using simulated annealing optimization projected the living population of the South Tombs cemetery, which overall conformed to a transplanted community similar to 19th century mill villages of the United States and United Kingdom. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Anthropology 2018

O estado de Santa Catarina, Brasil, tem sido uma importante área de estudo de sambaquis desde o século XIX. A visível concentração de sítios com características bastante semelhantes e ativos por centenas de anos tem levado a alguns pesquisadores a sugerir que os sambaquieiros conformariam um sistema social complexo e duradouro, apresentando uma estabilidade econômica, social e política ao longo de sua permanência no litoral. Esta continuidade de mais de 5 milênios sofreu transformações a partir de aproximadamente 2000 anos AP, quando surgem evidências de grupos humanos provavelmente provenientes de regiões interioranas, sendo elas o aparecimento de camadas predominantemente icitilógicas nos estratos mais recentes de alguns sambaquis e a presença de cerâmicas das tradições Itararé/Taquara. A proposta deste projeto foi testar a hipótese de que a continuidade e a estabilidade das ocupações sambaquieiras no litoral sul de Santa Catarina estão refletidas também na estabilidade do perfil do estresse durante todo o período de ocupação dos sítios, desde os sambaquis mais antigos até os sambaquis tardios. Para testar essa hipótese foram selecionadas séries esqueléticas oriundas de dois sambaquis com uma longa duração de ocupação, Cabeçuda e Jabuticabeira II, e o acampamento conchífero Içara. Estas séries foram analisadas segundo a ocorrência de marcadores de estresse fisiológico sistêmicos potencialmente capazes de informar sobre eventos estressores ocorridos durante a infância, entre eles, a anemia. Os dados apontam para mudanças nos padrões de ocorrência de estresse fisiológico nas séries esqueléticas de Cabeçuda e Jabuticabeira II, sinalizando certa variabilidade biocultural entre eles, tanto diacrônica quanto sincrônica, mesmo se em sua essência estrutural tais grupos são semelhantes. No caso de Içara, os dados sugerem que os indivíduos lá sepultados poderiam ter uma relação mais próxima com o litoral do que apenas a prática de acampamentos temporários por alguns meses do ano, conforme postula a literatura. / The state of Santa Catarina, Brazil, has been an important area for the study of sambaquis since the 19th century. The visible concentration of sites with very similar and active characteristics for hundreds of years has led some researchers to suggest that the sambaquieiros did conform a complex and long-lasting social system, presenting an economic, social and political stability throughout their settlement at the coast. This continuity of more than 5 millennia underwent transformations from approximately 2000 years BP, when evidences of human groups appear most likely from the inland regions, such as the appearance of predominantly ichthyological layers in more recent strata of some sambaquis and presence of ceramics associated to the Itararé / Taquara culture. The aim of this project was to test the hypothesis of continuity and stability of sambaquieiro occupations in the southern coast of Santa Catarina. Included in this study is the analysis whether this stability also reflects in the stress profile during the entire period of occupation of the sites, from the older sambaquis to the late sambaquis. To analyze this assumption we selected humans skeletal remains from two sambaquis sites with a long duration of occupation, Cabeçuda and Jabuticabeira II, and the Içara conchiferous camp. These series were analyzed according to the occurrence of systemic physiological stress markers potentially capable of reporting on stressful events during childhood, including anemia. The data suggests a pattern change in the occurrence of physiological stress markers in the skeletal series of Cabeçuda and Jabuticabeira II, signaling a certain biocultural difference between them, both diachronic and synchronic, even though their group structure is similar. In the case of Içara, the data indicates that the individual burials at the coast could have been of cultural origin rather than an advantageous temporary settlement for some months of the year, as the literature postulates.

abstract: Social identities are fundamental to the way individuals and groups define themselves. Archaeological approaches to social identities in the Andes emphasize the importance of group identities such as ethnicity and community identity, but studies of gender and age identities are still uncommon. In this dissertation, I build on these earlier approaches to Andean social identities and consider community, gender, and age identities at the site of Chiribaya Alta using case studies. The coastal Ilo Chiribaya polity is associated with the Andean Late Intermediate Period in the lower Osmore drainage of southern Peru. Previous analyses indicate that Chiribaya sites in this area formed a señorío, an Andean chiefdom with separate occupational groups of fishers and farmers. The most complex excavated Chiribaya site in this region is Chiribaya Alta. At this time, excavations have sampled nine of the cemeteries present at the site. Two of these cemeteries, four and seven, have the most elaborate burials at the site and are each associated with different occupational communities. This dissertation examines community, gender, and age identities at Chiribaya Alta through the use of three case studies. The first case study argues that the iconographic designs on coca bags interred with the dead signified occupational community identities. Coca bags buried in cemetery four have designs relating to mountains and farming, whereas those from cemetery seven have symbols associated with water. These designs correspond to the occupational community groups associated with each of these cemeteries. The second case study uses grave good presence and absence to examine the nature of gender roles and identity at Chiribaya Alta. Multiple correspondence analysis indicates that normative gender roles are reflected in grave good assemblages, but that gender identity was flexible at the individual level. The final case study presents newly generated age-at-death estimations using transition analysis combined with mortuary analyses to explore the manner in which gender and age intersect for older individuals at Chiribaya Alta. This final paper argues that there is an elderly identity present amongst individuals at Chiribaya Alta and that gender and age intersect to impact the lives of older men and women differently. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Anthropology 2019

<p>This dissertation employs a multiscalar, life course approach to examine health in the ancient Nile Valley (<i>c</i>. 2000- 660 BCE) by analyzing population- and individual-level data of skeletal indicators of stress, health, and pathological conditions. Specifically, this dissertation explores a more detailed reconstruction of health under a life course approach through the inclusion of individuals of all ages, a contextualization of social and biological age categories, the examination of multiple non-specific indicators of general health/stress, and the timing and development of specific conditions. Results of the population-level data are expanded and highlighted through the examination of individual experiences of health, specifically those related to growing old, impairment, and disability. Population-level data examining cribra orbitalia and LEH demonstrated a significant difference between individuals that survived periods of childhood stress (adults) and non-survivors (juveniles) when examining cribra orbitalia. More specifically, there are relatively high frequencies of cribra orbitalia in individuals in the late juvenile social age category (7 – 14 years) and the transition adult social age category (14 - 20 years). A broad examination of old age at Tombos reveals that many individuals were living into their 60s, 70s, and 80s. Individuals at Tombos do not have many indicators of osteoarthritis or entheseal changes, indicating that the inhabitants of Tombos were not subjected to strenuous physical activities throughout their life. Individuals throughout the Tombos cemetery display oral health issues; it is common for members of this community to have significant dental wear, carious lesions, abscesses, and antemortem tooth loss. A case study of an older Tombos adult (U34.B1) investigates the intersection of old age, impairment, and disability through the consideration of the physical changes related to degenerative joint disease and oral health and the impact to U34.B1’s mobility, pain level, and daily life. Acute care related to a severe, non-union femoral neck fracture at the end of life is also considered for U34.B1. Finally, impairment and disability are considered in another individual (U35.Sh2.B10) with Léri-Weill dyschondrosteosis by utilizing the bioarchaeology of care approach. Overall, this dissertation demonstrates that population-level and individual-level analysis can incorporate various types of contextual data gathered using a culturally specific lens to create a rich narrative of health in the past. </p>

This thesis investigates changes in Iroquoian infant mortality and juvenile growth between 1250 and 1700 AD in the Lower Great Lakes region of North America. The objectives of this thesis are to investigate the tempo and quality of growth of Iroquoian infants and juveniles; to investigate the relationship between apparent neonatal and postneonatal mortality and predicted mortality ratios based on equal probability of mortality risk in the first year of life (1:11); and to investigate whether or not the ratio of neonatal to postneonatal mortality changed as a result of cultural change associated with the arrival of Europeans at around 1600 AD. These were investigated using a sample of infant and juvenile remains from twenty-one sites in upper New York state and Ontario. Tempo and quality of growth were examined by comparing femoral length at different ages to the Iroquoian adult femur length endpoint and to the growth patterns established in the Denver Growth Study and in other aboriginal North American archaeological samples. Above average infant growth is attributed to biocultural factors and infant mortality is largely caused by acute conditions. Below average juvenile growth, especially between two and seven years of age, is attributed to nutritional imbalances and overcrowding, poor sanitation, and infectious disease prevalence. Juveniles were likely chronically ill, resulting in poor attainment of stature, and this may have contributed to their deaths early in life. Apparent infant mortality was found to differ from predicted mortality, and this difference was attributed to cultural and environmental mortality biases that make interpretation difficult. Change in infant mortality ratios as a result of cultural change associated with European contact is evident in the Iroquoian context: the lack of neonatal remains in postcontact ossuaries is consistent with the ethnohistoric record, but the high proportion of neonates in precontact ossuaries suggests that observations made by ethnohistoric observers may not be applicable to our understanding of precontact burial patterns. The change in the ratio of neonatal to postneonatal remains in the pre- and postcontact periods is interpreted as evidence of changes in burial patterns rather than change in mortality risk.

This thesis investigates changes in Iroquoian infant mortality and juvenile growth between 1250 and 1700 AD in the Lower Great Lakes region of North America. The objectives of this thesis are to investigate the tempo and quality of growth of Iroquoian infants and juveniles; to investigate the relationship between apparent neonatal and postneonatal mortality and predicted mortality ratios based on equal probability of mortality risk in the first year of life (1:11); and to investigate whether or not the ratio of neonatal to postneonatal mortality changed as a result of cultural change associated with the arrival of Europeans at around 1600 AD. These were investigated using a sample of infant and juvenile remains from twenty-one sites in upper New York state and Ontario. Tempo and quality of growth were examined by comparing femoral length at different ages to the Iroquoian adult femur length endpoint and to the growth patterns established in the Denver Growth Study and in other aboriginal North American archaeological samples. Above average infant growth is attributed to biocultural factors and infant mortality is largely caused by acute conditions. Below average juvenile growth, especially between two and seven years of age, is attributed to nutritional imbalances and overcrowding, poor sanitation, and infectious disease prevalence. Juveniles were likely chronically ill, resulting in poor attainment of stature, and this may have contributed to their deaths early in life. Apparent infant mortality was found to differ from predicted mortality, and this difference was attributed to cultural and environmental mortality biases that make interpretation difficult. Change in infant mortality ratios as a result of cultural change associated with European contact is evident in the Iroquoian context: the lack of neonatal remains in postcontact ossuaries is consistent with the ethnohistoric record, but the high proportion of neonates in precontact ossuaries suggests that observations made by ethnohistoric observers may not be applicable to our understanding of precontact burial patterns. The change in the ratio of neonatal to postneonatal remains in the pre- and postcontact periods is interpreted as evidence of changes in burial patterns rather than change in mortality risk.

No description available.

This research is a comparative analysis of oral health from three historic African-American cemeteries in Georgia. The Area 1 (9CH1168), Area 2 (9CH875) and the Avondale (9BI164) cemeteries were excavated and relocated from 2008-2010. The aggregate population consists of 486 individuals, spanning pre-and-post-Reconstruction eras. Statistical and bioarchaeological techniques are used to address the hypothesis that differential nutrition and subsequent health outcomes significantly vary (as estimated from dental analyses), based on the cemetery’s composition, location, and individuals social status. Oral pathological conditions were characterized in an effort to identify variation between populations, while moving beyond a monolithic narrative of the African-American experience in the post-Bellum South. A statistical range of variation within and between the cemeteries was observed, revealing differences in the frequency of pathologies between cemeteries based on age and sex. Maladies most greatly afflicted Avondale’s population, Area 1 experienced the least and Area 2’s females had the most oral pathologies.

This dissertation explores patterns of health and variability among hunter-gatherers during the Holocene in two distinct ecological settings: the semi-arid Lower Pecos and Central Western Gulf Coastal Plain regions of Texas. Skeletal indicators of long-term and short-term stress were examined for 279 individuals representing 20 cemetery sites. To test the assumption that stress indicators, and therefore interpretations of health, for hunter-gatherers are not homogenous but extremely variable, patterning in age, sex, porotic hyperostosis, cribra orbitalia, linear enamel hypoplasia and periostitis are analyzed. There are no significant differences in the frequencies of cribra orbitalia for adults by region; a significantly greater proportion of subadults in the Coastal Plain region were affected with anemia in infancy (40%) than adults (13.8%). If severity is not taken into account, or if only the mildest lesions are considered, a larger proportion of Lower Pecos adults show porotic hyperostosis, a sign of anemia in childhood, than Coastal Plain adults. Overall there are no statistically significant differences by sex for any of the skeletal indicators analyzed with the exception of cribra orbitalia, where males and females for Lower Pecos region are significantly different with significantly fewer males showing cribra orbitalia (0%) than females (33.3%). In analyzing linear enamel hypoplasias, only the mandibular second incisors of Lower Pecos adults were found to have a significantly greater prevalence of hypoplasia than those of the Coastal Plain. A greater proportion of adults from the Coastal Plain show periosteal lesions in the tibia and fibula (30-40%) than those from the Lower Pecos. The results of this bioarchaeological case study indicate that more complex interpretations of health patterning which include important factors such as the osteological paradox, relevant ecological variables, and a framework which stresses the age of occurrence of skeletal indicators within hunter-gatherer groups are vital and relevant to archaeological and bioarchaeological research as a whole. Increasing sample sizes in the future, using sites that are more temporally discrete, and expanding sites used from other ecological regions in addition to drawing on data from stable isotopes may help further this research.