Fire and smoke were fundamental ritual forces in Mesoamerican religious worldview. Found in varied contexts (funerary processing, animation ceremonies, and desecratory rituals), fire and smoke were applied to multiple media (human bodies, architecture, and ceramics). In the Postclassic (AD 950–1524) Maya lowlands, burning both processed honored ancestors’ remains and violated enemies’ remains. Ceramic incense burners with deity effigies were used to burn resins to communicate with supernaturals. Here we consider whether fire and smoke were applied in similar fashion to human bodies and censer effigies in the Petén lakes region of northern Guatemala during the Postclassic period. Specifically we document and compare (1) archaeological contexts in which human remains were burned (or have associations with burning), (2) archaeological contexts of ritual use of effigy censers, and (3) descriptions of ritual contexts involving the use of fire and smoke from codices and ethnohistoric and ethnographic accounts. Comparing human remains to representations of bodies suggests that both were subjected to similar ritual processes but that the former were particularly necessary under some political, and religious and calendrical circumstances.

Univerzita Karlova Přírodovědecká fakulta Antropologie a Genetika člověka Alizé Lacoste Jeanson, M.Sc. "NÁVRAT SVALŮ A TUKU ZPĚT NA KOSTI": 3D ANALÝZA VLIVU TĚLESNÉ KOMPOZICE A HMOTNOSTI NA KOSTNÍ ARCHITEKTURU "PUTTING FLESH AND FAT BACK ONTO THE BONES": A 3D ANALYSIS OF THE INFLUENCE OF BODY COMPOSITION AND MASS ON BONE ARCHITECTURE Disertačnn prace Doctoral thesis Školitel Supervisor: Prof. RNDr. Jaroslav Brůžek, CSc, PhD, HDR Praha, 2018 Prague, 2018 Charles University Faculty of Science Department of Anthropology and Human Genetics Abstract The understanding of biomechanics is essential to various studies in bioanthropology. Bone is a living tissue that constantly remodels in order to functionally adapt to biomechanical constrains. Long bones diaphyses in particular have been subjected to various analyses notably because the application of beam engineering principles has rendered possible the evaluation of their resistance to various directional constrains based on their shape. Body mass estimation methods lie on this principle. Body mass is partially used since the nineties as a proxy to control the influence of body size on bone's architecture prior to interpreting variations between populations. More recently, they have been used to estimate physical status (i.e. emaciation, norm, obesity)....

Submitted by Fabio Sobreira Campos da Costa (fabio.sobreira@ufpe.br) on 2017-03-30T12:47:35Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) DISSERTAÇÃOREBECAALENCAR.pdf: 1674477 bytes, checksum: 73b3f4178071e4581183cbaa12cc30e5 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-30T12:47:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) DISSERTAÇÃOREBECAALENCAR.pdf: 1674477 bytes, checksum: 73b3f4178071e4581183cbaa12cc30e5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-01-29 / CAPES / A produção de conhecimento científico na área de Bioarqueologia no Nordeste brasileiro ainda tem se mostrado escassa, apesar dos avanços que a disciplina tem provado e da quantidade de sítios com remanescentes humanos que tem sido alvo de estudos por parte da Arqueologia. A Furna do Estrago, sítio com presença de grafismos rupestres e deposição funerária no Agreste do Estado de Pernambuco, forneceu rico material arqueológico e tem sido alvo de pesquisas em diversas áreas da Arqueologia (Arqueobotânica, Zooarqueologia, Antropologia Física, Bioarqueologia) desde sua primeira campanha de escavação, em 1982. O material ósseo proveniente do sítio supracitado, objeto desta pesquisa, apresenta bom estado de conservação e múltiplas variáveis dignas de estudo. Esta pesquisa tem como foco as remodelações ósseas características da osteoartrite nos adultos jovens – com idade entre 20 e 34 anos – que foram inumados no sítio Furna do Estrago, utilizando os métodos e técnicas da Bioarqueologia, Paleopatologia e Antropologia Física. A osteoartrite é uma doença das articulações que afeta principalmente pessoas com idade avançada, mas pode ser causada também por fatores como estresse mecânico e consanguinidade. A partir da análise macroscópica das remodelações patológicas em 16 indivíduos, dentre os quais 4 femininos e 12 masculinos, foram identificados sinais de osteoartrite nas superfícies articulares em 13 (≈81%) indivíduos. A hipótese inicial de que a osteoartrite teria como fator principal a sobrecarga mecânica a que os esqueletos eram expostos não foi completamente descartada. Contudo, a causa possível para a presença de osteoartrite nos indivíduos jovens do grupo parece estar ligada à consanguinidade presente no grupo. Este estudo contribui para a caracterização de instâncias do perfil funerário de uma população pré-histórica do Agreste pernambucano, representadas pelas doenças articulares – osteoartrite –, indicando estresses associados ao tipo de mobilidade e demanda corporal possivelmente relacionada aos modos de interação social, subsistência e adaptação ambiental específicas. / Scientific production on Bioarcheology area in Brazilian Northeastern Region has been being still scarce, despite the advances the subject has been shown and the quantity of sites with human remains which has been made objects of studies by Archaeology. Furna do Estrago (Damage Cave), site with presence of rocky graphs and funerary deposition on Agreste region of Pernambuco state, provided rich archaeological materials and has been made object of research on several areas of Archaeology (Archaeobotany, Zooarcheology, Physical Anthropology, Bioarcheology) since the first excavation campaign there, in 1982. The bone materials originated from the mentioned site, object of this research, shows a good conservation status and multiple variables worthy of study. This research focuses the bone remodelingthat characterizes ostheoarthritis on young adults - between 20 and 34 years old - who were buried in Furna do Estrago site, utilizing the methods and techniques of Bioarcheology, Paleopathology and Physical Anthropology. Osteoarthriris is a disease that occurs on joints and affects mostly people with advanced age, but may be also caused by factors such as mechanical stress and consanguinity. From macroscopic analysis of the pathological remodeling on 16 individuals, included 4 females and 12 males, signs of osteoarthritis were identified on 13 (≈81%) individuals. The initial hypothesis that osteoarthritis should have mechanical overload as the main cause was not completely discarded. However, the possible cause for the presence of osteoarthritis on young individuals of the group seems to be linked to consanguinity present on the group. This study contributes to characterization of instances of the funerary profile of a prehistorical population of Pernambucan Agreste, represented by joint diseases - osteoarthritis -, indicating stress associated to the type of mobility and body demand possibly related to ways of social interaction, subsistence and specific environmental adaptation.

The presented work entitled "Mobility of Human Populations at the End of the Stone Age" describes, generalizes, summarizes and subsequently evaluates the factors of migratory tendencies in prehistory - for the period of Neolithic over Eneolithic to Early Bronze Age. Emphasis is placed on the clarification of all interdisciplinary issues. Further on a detailed description of individual processes and archaeological approaches to them. As a basis for my own research, a database of data impacted by articles based on the study of strontium isotopes was created. In the next steps, the database was processed using statistical tools and its outputs were contingency tabletables and charts. Spatial assessment and their contexts were conducted in the GIS (Geographic Information System).

Uppsatsen har analyserat tandhälsan hos 20 vuxna individer med tandsten från medeltida S:t Hans, Visby, med fokus på: tandsten, karies, abscesser, parodontit, emaljhypoplasi och ante mortem tandförlust. I syfte att dra slutsatser om populationens tandhälsa och huruvida tandsten korrelerar med övrig tandhälsa. Resultatet påvisade en population med bristande tandhälsa, där 75 % av individerna hade minst ett kariesangrepp och 19 av 20 hade parodontit. Tandhälsan lär ha resulterat i tandvärk och komplikationer av allmänhälsan för S:t Hans populationen. Varken en negativ eller positiv korrelation mellan karies och tandsten kunde bevisas i materialet. Dock konstaterades att män hade en högre tandstensgrad, medan kvinnor påvisade grövre karies. Det leder till en tolkning om könsskillnader i diet i S:t Hans. Emaljhypoplasier är funna främst hos män. Det underbygger diettolkningen, samt tolkas som en indikation på könsbunden barndoms-mortalitet. Jämförelser med samtida befolkningar utfördes för att ge en vidare inblick i materialet; S:t Hans hade statistiskt fler individer med karies samt mer parodontit. Det kan innebära olika diet på fastlandet och Visby, eller indikera att tandsten leder till försämrad tand-hälsa då samtliga analyserade individer har tandsten. / The thesis focuses on the dental health of 20 adult individuals with dental calculus from medieval St. Hans, Visby. The dental health assessments were done with a focus on dental calculus, caries, dental abscesses, periodontitis, enamel hypoplasia and ante mortem tooth loss. The result of the thesis showed a lacking dental health due to a great amount of caries, 75 % of analysed individuals had at least one instance of caries, as well as periodontitis which was found in 19 out of 20 individuals. No clear negative nor positive correlation between dental calculus and caries could be seen in the material. However, men had a higher degree of dental calculus whilst women had more severe cases of caries. This leads to a possible conclusion of differing diets between the sexes. Enamel hypoplasia is found mainly in men, which supports the theory regarding diet and is posed as an indication of sex-bound childhood mortality. St. Hans popu-lation had a greater statistic of individuals with caries than contemporary Swedish populations as well as more periodontitis. This could indicate a bad dental hygiene and dental health amongst the individuals from St. Hans or it could indicate that dental calculus leads to worsened dental health since only individuals with dental calculus were analysed.

codirection : Emmanuel Milot (Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières) / La bioarchéologie donne un accès inédit à l’histoire des populations passées à travers l’analyse directe des restes humains. Au Québec, peu d’études bioarchéologiques explorent l’histoire des populations à grande échelle durant la période coloniale en raison de divers facteurs (ex. fouilles peu exhaustives des cimetières en raison de mandats limités, mauvaise conservation des squelettes, aspects historiques minimisés comme la traite des esclaves). Seules les études génétiques, généalogiques et démographiques ont permis de constituer un portrait phylogénétique des différentes populations qui ont cohabité depuis les premières colonies européennes. Cette thèse vise à appliquer des approches méthodologiques issues de la morphométrie géométrique 3D pour contribuer à explorer l’histoire coloniale à travers la variation phénotypique de l’os temporal. L’os temporal qui constitue la partie latérale (voire basale) du crâne est l’un des ossements les mieux préservés dans les collections bioarchéologiques au Québec. Comme cet os formé très tôt in utero est reconnu pour être moins influencé par les pressions environnementales externes, sa morphologie reflète des signaux biologiques directement hérités des ancêtres. Un total de 214 os temporaux issus de sept cimetières coloniaux ; cinq catholiques (ascendance française) et deux protestants (ascendance britannique) établis dans la vallée du Saint-Laurent ont été numérisés en 3D au moyen de la photogrammétrie. Des analyses en morphométrie géométrique 3D ont permis d’explorer la variation phénotypique au niveau intra — et inter-régional des cimetières qui retracent des périodes clefs de l’histoire coloniale ; de la formation de la Nouvelle-France sous le régime colonial français, à sa capitulation au profit du régime colonial britannique, jusqu’à l’ère industrielle (XVII-XIXe siècles). Les résultats morphométriques ont révélé une différenciation régionale significative entre tous les cimetières catholiques canadiens-français. Ils montrent notamment (i) la faible variation morphologique observée à Montréal au cours de deux siècles d’occupation coloniale, et (ii) des différences morphologiques significatives entre les cimetières catholiques les plus anciens, reflétant une régionalisation rapide des populations liée à l’effet fondateur, aux goulots d’étranglement et à un éventuel isolement géographique entre la ville et la campagne. L’absence de différences entre le cimetière protestant de Saint-Laurent (Montréal) et tous les cimetières catholiques récents, par rapport au cimetière protestant de Saint-Matthew (Québec), pourrait indiquer la présence potentielle d’individus irlandais. Les cimetières Saint-Lawrence et Saint-Antoine étaient tous deux en usage durant les importantes migrations irlandaises et épisodes épidémiques qui ont causé une importante mortalité chez ses populations. Enfin, trois individus d’origine potentiellement non européenne ont été identifiés dans les cimetières protestants de Saint-Matthew à Québec (n=2 ; ascendance africaine ou métissée) et dans le cimetière catholique de Notre-Dame à Montréal (n=1 ; ascendance autochtone ou métissée). Les deux cimetières reflètent deux périodes importantes : (i) le développement de la colonisation française (Notre-Dame, 1683-1799) et (ii) britannique (Saint-Matthew, 1771-1860). Ces deux périodes et lieux ont également connu la plus forte concentration d’esclaves ; ce qui indique le potentiel statut social de ces trois individus. Cette recherche met en évidence les avantages de l’utilisation de l’os temporal et de la morphométrie géométrique pour documenter la variation inter — et intra-groupe au niveau phénotypique de populations passées apparentées. Ces nouveaux outils méthodologiques offrent des alternatives aux contraintes taphonomiques tout en minimisant la manipulation des restes humains archéologiques. Combinées à des approches éthiques basées sur la réciprocité, ces méthodes démocratiques permettent d’engager plus activement les communautés de descendants dans le domaine de la bioarchéologie, pour à terme, faciliter les demandes de rapatriement et ramatriement, particulièrement dans le cas d’individus sans documentation précise ni contexte archéologique. / Bioarchaeology provides unique access to past population histories through the direct analysis of human remains. In Quebec, few bioarchaeological studies explore the history and processes of admixture during the colonial period, due to a variety of factors (e.g. limited cemetery excavations, poor skeletal conservation, neglected historical aspects such as the slave trade). Only genetic, genealogical and demographic studies have provided a phylogenetic overview of the different populations that have lived alongside each other since the first European colonies. This thesis aims to apply innovative conceptual and methodological approaches to help in exploring colonial history through phenotypic variation. The temporal bone, which forms the lateral (or basal) part of the skull, is one of the bestpreserved bones in general, and in bioarchaeological collections in Quebec in particular. Because this bone is formed in utero, it is known to be less influenced by external environmental pressures. Its morphology reflects biological signals directly inherited from ancestors. Temporal bones (n=214) from seven colonial cemeteries, five Catholic and two Protestant ones, in the St. Lawrence Valley were digitized in 3D using photogrammetry. Geometric morphometric analyses explored phenotypic variation at intra- and inter-regional levels for cemeteries that illustrate key periods of colonial history; from the formation of New France under French colonization to its handover under British colonization through to the industrial era (17th-19th centuries). Morphometric results revealed significant regional differentiation between all French-Canadian Catholic cemeteries. They demonstrate (i) low morphological variation observed in Montreal over two centuries of colonial occupation, and (ii) significant morphological differences between the oldest Catholic cemeteries. It reflects, rapid regionalization linked to the founder effect, bottlenecks and possible geographical isolation between city and countryside. The absence of differences between the Protestant cemetery of Saint-Lawrence (Montreal) and all recent Catholic cemeteries, compared with the Protestant cemetery of Saint-Matthew (Quebec), could indicate the potential presence of Irish individuals. Finally, three individuals of potentially non-European origin were documented in the Protestant cemeteries of Saint-Matthew in Quebec City (n=2; African ancestry or admixed) and in the Catholic cemetery of Notre-Dame in Montreal (n=1; Indigenous ancestry or admixed). Both cemeteries reflect two important periods: (i) French colonization (NotreDame, 1683-1799); (ii) followed by British colonization (Saint-Matthew, 1771-1860). Both periods and locations also had the highest concentration of slaves, indicating their potential social status. This research highlights the benefits of using temporal bone and geometric morphometrics to document, inter- and intra-group variation at the phenotypic level and investigate colonial variability along the St. Lawrence Valley. These new methodological tools offer alternatives to taphonomic constraints while minimizing the manipulation of archaeological human remains. Combined with ethical approaches based on reciprocity, these democratic methods make it possible to engage descendant communities more actively in the field of bioarcheology, ultimately with the aim of easing repatriation and rematriation requests -especially in the case of individuals without precise documentation or archaeological context.

Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wurden die Kinderskelete der frühbronzezeitlichen Mad'arovce-Kultur aus Jelšovce / Slowakei auf Erkrankungen untersucht. Diese Ergebnisse helfen die Lebensbedingungen der in der Frühbronzezeit in Mitteleuropa lebenden Menschen zu beschreiben. Es zeigt sich, dass schon in der Bronzezeit die Gesundheit der Menschen durch klimatische und geographische Faktoren stark beeinflusst wurde. Zu Vergleichszwecken wurden frühbronzezeitliche Populationen aus Niederösterreich und Anatolien, sowie mittelalterliche und neolithische Kinderpopulationen herangezogen. Im Laufe der Frühbronzezeit nimmt die Erkrankungshäufigkeit fast aller Krankheiten zu. Die Kinder der Mad'arovce-Kultur sind überdurchschnittlich häufig betroffen. Eine interessante Vergleichsmöglichkeit ergibt sich durch die frühbronzezeitlichen Populationen der Nitra-, und Aunjetitz-Kultur, die ebenfalls vom Gräberfeld in Jelšocve stammen, allerdings zeitlich früher datiert werden. Die diachrone Untersuchung der drei Kinderpopulationen von Jelšovce zeigt, einen Häufigkeitsanstieg der Infektions-, Zahn- und, mit Ausnahmen, auch der Mangelerkrankungen im Verlauf der Frühbronzezeit in Jelšovce, bei annähernd gleichem Krankheitsspektrum. Dies spricht für ein sehr ähnliches Biotop über den gesamten frühbronzezeitlichen Siedlungszeitraum hinweg. Für die dort lebenden Menschen waren die gleichen positiven wie negativen Aspekte relevant, wie sich in der annähernden Übereinstimmung des Krankheitsspektrums zeigt. Der beobachtete Unterschied in den Krankheitshäufigkeiten wurde sehr wahrscheinlich durch eine Erschöpfung der Ressourcen sowie die Zunahme der Populationsgröße verursacht. Ursachen für die beobachteten Unterschiede zwischen den weiteren bronzezeitlichen Populationen sind in den unterschiedlichen Biotopen sowie den sich im Verlauf der Frühbronzezeit deutlich ändernden klimatischen Bedingungen zu suchen. Sich wandelnde kulturelle und gesellschaftliche Grundlagen spielen offenbar ebenfalls eine Rolle. Auch die Größe der Populationen und deren materieller Reichtum und die damit verbundenen notwendigen Ressourcen beeinflussten die Lebensbedingungen der bronzezeitlichen Menschen. Obwohl es sich bei der Population der Mad’arovce-Kultur um eine relativ reiche Population handelt, sind ihre Kinder häufig von Erkrankungen betroffen. Dies zeigt, dass das Biotop in der Vergangenheit einen größeren Einfluss auf die Gesundheit der Menschen und das Auftreten von Erkrankungen hat als bisher angenommen wurde. Der Skorbut wird in dieser Arbeit bevorzugt behandelt, da zum einen ein System zur Diagnose von kindlichem Skorbut vorgestellt wird, welches eine Diagnosefindung erleichtern soll. Zum anderen treten in der Mad'arovce-Kultur in Jelšocve relativ viele Fälle von Skorbut auf, so dass sich hier eine genauere Betrachtung anbietet. Außerdem kann ein Skorbut als möglicher Cofaktor die hohe Prävalenz an entzündlichen Erkrankungen in der Mad'arovce-Kultur mit erklären. Spuren einer Kauterisation an einem Kinderschädel weisen auf einen Behandlungsversuch im frühbronzezeitlichen Jelšovce hin. In einem anderen Fall wurde ein ossärer Tumor nachgewiesen. Bei zwei Kindern konnten Erkrankungen der Knochen festgestellt werden, die es in dieser Form heute offenbar nicht mehr gibt. Somit liefert die Untersuchung der Kinderskelete von Jelšovce auch medizinhistorisch interessante Befunde.

Sex estimation is a challenging problem in both forensic anthropology and bioarchaeology. Sexual dimorphism is most noticeably displayed by the pelvis; however in instances when it is not preserved, sex is estimated by skull. There is a multitude of approaches that use the skull, however, their population specificity and variable sexual dimorphism oscillation reduces their effectiveness (Bruzek and Murail, 2006). We base our contribution on the study by Abdel Fatah et al. (2014) that estimates sex based on exocranial and endocranial surfaces with a high success rate of 97%. Our approach uses anonymized CT scans of skulls from recent french population, from which the exocranial surface was segmented. On these surfaces, CPD-DCA (Dupej et al., 2014) was performed. We analyzed both form and shape (form after size normalization) of these surfaces in 104 skulls (53 males, 51 females) aged 18 to 92 years. The mean age was 58 years in females and 52.46 years in males. Classification was performed using support vector machines (SVM) with a radial kernel. Leave-one-out crossvalidation was also applied. The highest success rate (87.5 %) was achieved with the first 27 principal components of form. Classification of shape was less accurate by only 2 %. Even though our success rate was lower than that of Abdel...

This master's work was focused on the assessment of sexual dimorphism of external and internal morphology of frontal bone. Sexual diagnosis based on external surface of frontal bones and volume and surface of frontal sinuses was carried out using geometric morphometrics methods. Our approach used anonimized CT scans of 103 skulls from recent Czech population, from which 3D models of frontal bones and frontal sinuses were created. At first the analysis was aimed at studying form and shape of external surface of frontal bone. Our methodology is based on the work of Musilová et al. (2016) that estimates sex using exocranial surface of the entire skull. We analyzed variability and tested differences in males and females frontal bones. The main target of this work was sex classification. The highest success rate acquired 86,41 % with the first 20 main components of form. The following part of this study was focused on sex estimation using the methodology developed by Bulut et al. (2016), which was applied in Turkish population. This method classified Czech males and females with accuracy 70,87 %. In order to complete sex determination based on the frontal bone we also used classification of the radius of the frontal bone curvature with success rate of 77,66 %. The attention was also paid to studying...

En dépit des taux élevés de mortalité infantile dans les populations du passé, les sujets décédés en période périnatale ont longtemps été délaissés dans les travaux anthropologiques et paléoanthropologiques. Alors que les analyses biologiques portant sur les individus adultes intègrent l’étude de la variabilité comme une composante majeure, rares sont celles permettant de replacer un individu décédé en période périnatale dans le cadre de la variabilité individuelle ou populationnelle de cette classe d’âge. Le présent travail se propose ainsi d’investir le sujet de la diversité métrique et non-métrique des sujets décédés entre 22 et 48 semaines d’aménorrhée à partir de l’étude biologique de 116 sujets de trois collections archéologiques (une kerma et deux médiévales et modernes) et d’une collection actuelle virtuelle comportant 364 individus. Un premier axe de recherche caractérise la variabilité des corpus dans ses composantes intra-individuelles, inter-individuelles, populationnelles, ainsi que du point de vue des corrélations à l’âge au décès. Un second axe de recherche vise à identifier des caractères permettant d’estimer l’état de morbidité et de vitalité à la naissance de l’individu, donnée déterminante pour le statut du sujet dans la société. Pour le premier axe, l’étude révèle des différences de conformation selon l’âge au décès et les groupes populationnels, de même que l’existence d’asymétries directionnelles et fluctuantes. Les résultats vont ensuite dans le sens d’une forte proximité biologique pour le groupe kerma, traduisant potentiellement une certaine endogamie, au contraire du groupe médiéval et moderne dont la diversité plus importante pourrait refléter des facteurs socio-géographiques ou séculaires. Le second axe de recherche a permis de souligner que la mécano-sensibilité des régions d’insertion musculaire apparaît comme un nouveau paramètre à considérer pour discerner les sujets ayant survécu à la naissance. L’étude de la collection kerma livre également la première identification en contexte archéologique d’un critère de morbidité spécifique, la côte surnuméraire cervicale. Enfin, le croisement des analyses biologiques et des données archéologiques de la nécropole 8B-51 de l’île de Saï, permet d’appréhender et de discuter les traitements funéraires dévolus à la classe d’âge périnatale au Kerma classique. / Despite the high rates of child mortality in past populations, subjects deceased in perinatal period were often neglected in bioarchaeological and paleoanthropology studies. Unlike biological analysis on adults, investigations on newborns rarely include individual or populational variability comparisons as a major component. In the present work, we will focus on metrical and non-metrical diversity of subject deceased between 22 and 48 amenorrhea weeks, based on the biological study of 116 subjects from three archaeological collections (one kerma and two medieval and modern) and one current virtual collection with 364 individuals. The first research axis characterizes the intra-individual, inter-individual and populational variability, and differences by age at death in both samples. The second line of research aims to identify criteria making it possible to estimate individual morbidity and live birth on dry bones, informations that are needed to understand the child’s position in society. Biological studies reveal for the first research axis shape differences by age at death and populations, as well as the existence of directional and fluctuating asymmetries. Results provide evidences of strong biological proximity in the kerma group, potentially indicating of endogamy. On the contrary, the diversity of the medieval and modern group appears broader and could reflect socio-geographical factors or secular trends. The second line of research reveals the mechanical sensitivity of muscular insertions as a key parameter for tracking of live-born subjects. The study of the kerma collection provides the first archaeological identification of the supernumerary cervical rib, detected as a morbidity criterion in perinatal period. Lastly, crossing of biological and archaeological data on the 8B-51 necropolis provides an interpretative framework for funerary treatments dedicated to the perinatal age group in Classic Kerma.