Mound building was a common practice in the Midwestern United States among the Adena and Middle Mississippian tribes from approximately 500 B.C. to 1500 A.D. Though they varied greatly in size, shape, and complexity between cultures, the mounds served a common purpose as means to bury the deceased. Mounds representing both cultures have been found dispersed throughout Indiana, in areas such as Randolph County, Henry County, Madison County, Knox County, and Vanderburgh County.Of particular interest in this investigation is an Adena burial plot, known as Windsor Mound, which is 2000 yrs old and located in neighboring Randolph County. An amateur excavation of the mound from 1986 to 1988 unearthed the fragmented remains of 44 individuals and several artifacts, all of which were loaned to the Ball State University Anthropology Department. Documentation of the excavation was poor and the exact location of artifacts and remains within the mound were not recorded, leaving anthropologists with many unanswered questions that could only be answered through genetic analysis. Pressing questions were the degree to which the 44 individuals were related and which of the five Native American lineages (haplotypes) they belonged to.For this analysis, dentin was recovered from the teeth of three Native American individuals exhumed from Windsor Mound. Two of the individuals (87.17.5 and 87.17.10) were found in the lower mound portion (70 B.C.), while the third individual (87.17.22) was found in the upper mound cap (1180 A.D.). Ancient DNA (aDNA) was extracted from each dentin sample, yielding an average of 0.072 ug/mg of dentin. A highly polymorphic portion of the mitochondria) DNA control region (nt 16,049 - nt 16,221) termed hypervariable region 1 (HVI) was amplified via PCR to generate 172 bp amplicons which were cloned into a plasmid vector. Following a transformation, 10 clones from each individual were sequenced and aligned to identify consistent mutations, as opposed to random post-mortem damage that may have occurred.Sequencing of the HVI region for Individual 87.17.5 revealed a T —~ C base substitution at nt 16,189, a C — T substitution at nt 16,192, and a deletion at nt 16,203. Identical mutations were seen in Individual 87.17.22 from the upper mound cap. The alignment for Individual 87.17.10 revealed a unique T --~ C mutation at nt 16,126 as well as the deletion at nt 16,203. A literature search revealed that the substitution at nt 16,189 is specific to Native American 1-laplogroups B and X. Haplogroup B first appeared in central Asia 60,000 yrs ago while Haplogroup X appeared in western Asia 30,000 yrs ago. The substitution at nt 16,192 is indicative of East Asian origin and specific to Japanese populations. To our knowledge the deletion at nt 16,203 has not been reported before in a Native American, thus its presence was thought to indicate kinship between the individuals. However, an alignment of the ancient consensus sequences to that of the three investigators revealed that the deletion was present in two of the modern samples and was not novel. Nothing is known about the substitution at nt 16,126. Further sequencing downstream of nt 16,221 is needed to identify additional mutations characteristic of Haplogroup B or X and a novel kinship marker. / Department of Biology

Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH) is a rheumatology term for a particular type of vertebral arthritis involving the calcification of the right aspect of the anterolateral ligament (ALL) and the presence of ligament ossification at particular peripheral joints. DISH is most common among middle to late age males and is thought to be present in 10% of males over the age of 65. Although the etiology of the disease is unknown, many have associated it with diabetes and a high status lifestyle. In this thesis, DISH is examined in a late nineteenth, early twentieth century almshouse cemetery known as the Milwaukee County Institution Grounds (MCIG) cemetery. Due to the health and diet of the immigrant peoples living in Milwaukee during the MCIG cemetery’s usage, 1850 to 1974, it is suspected that diabetes would not have been a common disorder, thus leading to little to no DISH presence in the cemetery population. However, DISH is seen in the MCIG population which suggests that the etiology of DISH is not a result of diet or diabetes but other factors altogether. / Department of Anthropology

This thesis utilises the evidence from mortuary archaeology to explore the identity of the inhabitants of Britain during the period of Roman rule. It assimilates burial evidence from diverse sources both published and unpublished and integrates it with other material and literary evidence to investigate the people of the province and examine aspects of their lives. By assessing the extent and reliability of the mortuary evidence and by combining this evidence from major cemeteries, smaller burial sites and individual or isolated burials it has been possible to determine aspects of their lives from a different perspective than that previously employed. The thesis has been divided into five parts. Part 1 (chapters 1 to 3) serves as an introduction. Part 2 (chapters 4 and 5) considers the evidence available while Part 3 (chapters 6 to 8) focuses on specific groups within the population. Part 4 (chapter 9) looks at instances of death and burial that differ from the norm and Part 5 (chapters 10-12) presents a picture of the daily life of these people. The study concludes with a summing up of the evidence and a look at the future of mortuary studies of Roman Britain. The introductory chapters set out the objectives of the dissertation, look at the work that has already been done in this area and evaluates the need for a synthesis of the available evidence. The scope of the project, both temporally and geographically is outlined in chapter 2. The third chapter takes a look at the contemporary written evidence available, in the form of literary and epigraphic contributions, and assesses its reliability as an indicator of the appearance and lives of the Romano-Britons. This survey looks not only at the Roman view of the natives of the province but extends beyond the Roman period to examine the literary evidence that is available from the subsequent centuries. Chapters 4 and 5 take an in-depth look at the evidence available on the people of Roman Britain. The extent of the burial evidence is reviewed in chapter 4 while chapter 5 deals specifically and in depth with how this evidence can be utilised. The skeletal evidence is assessed for its extent and reliability. Factors affecting the survival of the remains is appraised and the effects of the biases created by such differential survival considered. Grave-goods and the organisation of the cemeteries are brought into the evaluation and the strengths and weaknesses of all of the evidence evaluated. The following chapters (6 to 11) focus on discrete aspects of the population. Chapters 6 to 8 look at the representation of specific groups within the community - the young, the elderly and those who arrived from other parts of the empire. With the aim of providing an indication of the diversity of both the composition of the population, the communities they represent and the associated burial rites, chapter 9 examines some of the more distinctive burials from Britain during this period. An area of intense interest, decapitation burials provides the focal point of this chapter. What may appear to be more mundane aspects of the lives of these people occupy chapters 10 to 12. What kept them busy, their occupations and their pastimes is viewed from the perspective of the burial evidence in chapters 10 and 11, while chapter 12 examines the mortuary evidence, in the form of funerary art and the remains of clothing, hair and accessories for their appearance.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Anthropology Department, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Kandidatspeciale / MA)--Institute of Anthropology, University of Copenhagen. / Title from screen page; viewed 25 July 2005. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print format.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 743-826).

När Försvarsmakten brukar sitt materiel under krigslika förhållanden kan både personer och materiel ta skada. Hur mänskliga kvarlevor skall omhändertas ur ett reperationsobjekt är idag okänt. Problemet med hanteringen av mänskliga kvarlevor återfinns inte i teknisk tjänst reglemente eller någon annan styrning. Problemet med mänskliga kvarlevor i ett objekt kan både vara en fråga för logistik, sjukvård, polis, juridik, teknisk tjänst eller en kombination av dessa. Chefen på plats behöver ha i åtanke tre stycken olika huvudskeenden, såsom att ta hand om den avlidne, sanera utrustningen och slutligen reparera utrustningen. Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka hur hanteringen av mänskliga kvarlevor på en skadeplats bör regleras. Arbetet är avgränsat till att studera hur mänskliga kvarlevor lämpligen borde hanteras av den svenska försvarsmakten, från att en person blir skadad eller dödad i ett fordon, tills att vagnen kan bli lagad.  De metoder som används för datainsamling är intervju, frågeformulär och litteraturstudie. Resultat har visat att mänskliga kvarlevor indirekt påverkas nästan alla åtgärderna på en skadeplats och teknisk åtgärdstid. Det uppstår ett behov av att ta hand om den avlidna kroppen och att sanera utrustningen, vilket det finns bristande eller inga rutiner för. De rutiner som finns i reglementena är för generella för att ge stöd till beslutsfattaren. Vem som ska sanera och hur det ska genomföras inom försvarsmakten är fortfarande okänt. Författaren har tagit fram sju olika rekommendationer för fortsatta studier. / When the Armed Forces use their material under warlike conditions, both persons and material can come to harm. How human remains are to be disposed of from a damage vehicle is unknown today. The problem of managing human remains is not found in technical service regulations or any other control. The issue of human remains in an object can be an issue both for the logistical, medical, police, legal, technical service or a combination of those. The man in charge needs to keep in mind three different steps, such as taking care of the deceased, cleaning the equipment and finally repairing the equipment. The purpose of the essay is to investigate how the management of human remains in scene of an accident should be regulated. The work is limited to studying how human remains should suitably be handled by the Swedish Armed Forces, from when a person has been injured or killed in a vehicle, until the vehicle can be repaired. The methods used for data collecting are interview, questionnaire and literature study. The results of the study show that indirectly, almost all measures on a scene of an accident and technical response time are affected due to human remains. There is a need to take care of the deceased body and to clean the equipment, which is lacking or no routines for. The procedures available are too general to provide support to the decision maker. Who to clean and how to implement it within the Armed Forces is still unknown. The author has developed seven different recommendations for further studies

This paper uses an osteological approach and applies the study of entanglement in an attempt to understand the crematoria on Rapa Nui (Easter Island), which represent a unique tradition within the ceremonial spheres of the Polynesian area. Skeletal remains from the crematorium of ahu Hanga Hahave, which consist of both cremated - and unburned remains, have been analysed to reveal the different practices that took part in the cremation process and to identify the individuals that were deposited in such structure. Ethnohistorical records were applied to interpret the osteological evidence and to discuss the circumstances surrounding the possible use of the crematorium, as either a site for sacrificial offerings or a site for burials.  This paper aims at creating an underlying basis for the study of crematoria on Rapa Nui and provides an overview of the processes central to the disposal of the dead and the usage and significance of this structure. The results of this study showed that the ancient Rapanui through the practice of cremation, followed an internalised structure within their society to complete each cultural act that constituted the crematorium, and these were divided in the construction of the crematorium, the making of fire, and the treatment of the dead. The complexity of each cultural act presents the possibility that an organised society, with at least one designated head, may have been in charge of the practice of cremation physically and spiritually. The skeletal remains could not be applied to determine whether the crematorium of Hanga Hahave was used for sacrificial offering or for burial since the analysed remains only represented one-fifth of the entire bone collection from the crematorium. However, the findings of this study have pointed towards a burial practice rather than a sacrificial one. / Denna uppsats använder ett osteologiskt tillvägagångssätt och Hodders’’entanglement’ studie i tolkningen av krematorierna på Rapa Nui (Påskön), som representerar en unik tradition inom Polynesien. Skelettmaterialet från krematoriet i ahu Hanga Hahave har analyserats för att upptäcka de olika metoder som deltog i kremeringsprocessen och identifiera vilka individer som deponerades här. Etnohistoriska källor användes också i tolkningen av det osteologiska materialet och för att behandla frågorna kring krematoriernas användning: antigen som en plats för offring eller en plats för begravning. Syftet är att skapa en underliggande grund för studiet av krematorierna på Rapa Nui för att ge en överblick på de centrala processerna. Resultatet visade att den forntida Rapanui följde en internaliserad struktur inom sitt samhälle för att slutföra varje kulturell handling som utgjorde kremerings praktik och var uppdelade i konstruktionen av krematoriet, bruken av eld och hantering av de döda. Komplexiteten hos varje handling möjliggör att ett organiserat samhälle, där minst en ledare har varit ansvarig i fysisk eller andlig form. Skelettmaterialet från krematoriet i ahu Hanga Hahave kunde inte användas för att bestämma krematoriets användning eftersom det analyserade materialet endast representerade en femtedel av den totala bensamlingen, dock pekar studiet på en begravningsritual snarare än en offer.

Cremated bone occurs in many archaeological sites as small grey and white fragments. The high temperatures reached during heating induce structural, chemical and isotopic changes to bone apatite (the inorganic fraction of bone). These changes are investigated here by infrared spectroscopy and mass spectrometry (d13C, d18O and 87Sr/86Sr) in both modern heated bone and archaeological cremated specimens. The results of various heating experiments (in laboratory and natural conditions) highlight the significant carbon and oxygen exchanges with the fuel used as well as with bone organic matter (mainly collagen). While not informing on dietary practice and hydrology as is the case with unburned bone, the d13C and d18O values of calcined samples together with infrared results provide information on the conditions in which the bone was heated (e.g. presence of fuel, size of the pyre, temperatures reached, dry or fresh bone, etc.). In parallel, the effect of heat on the strontium present in bone is minimal, if not undetectable. Furthermore, as observed through artificial contamination experiments, post-burial alterations also appear to be extremely limited, which is to be expected due to the higher crystallinity of calcined bone apatite compared to tooth enamel and unburned bone. These experiments demonstrate that calcined bone provides a reliable substrate for mobility studies using its strontium isotope composition. The application of these results to the study of six Neolithic and one Bronze Age sites from Ireland showed the possibility of discriminating cremated individuals that ate food originating from different regions, as well as highlighting possible variations in cremation practices between different sites. The results of this thesis greatly extend the application of strontium isotopes to places and periods in which cremation was the dominant mortuary practice, or where unburned bone and enamel do not survive. They also provide insights into the reconstruction of ancient cremation practices.

The aim of this thesis was to reconstruct dietary choices for Neolithic populations in Anatolia and Poland using stable isotope analysis, and to examine the extent to which local environmental factors in these regions affected the isotope values recorded from skeletal collagen. In total 278 new δ13C and δ15N values were obtained from human and animal bone collagen for this project (161 from the site of Oslonki 1, 59 from Barçin Höyük, and 58 from the site of Aktopraklik). From an environmental perspective, the multi-level statistical modelling highlighted a clear relationship with δ13C and δ15N and moisture availability, which was most evident through the proxy of mean annual precipitation (MAP). The modelling highlighted a 0.4‰ decrease in d13C for every 100mm decrease of MAP, and a 0.5‰ decrease in d15N for every 100mm decrease between sites. The δ13C and δ15N values for the North-West Anatolian sites are the first dietary isotopic studies for the Neolithic period in the region. The values are largely commensurate with the dietary isotope studies from Neolithic sites located on the Central Anatolian plateau, with the caveat that the North-West sites perhaps had a greater reliance on herbivore protein (instead of plant protein) than their plateau counterparts. The dietary reconstruction of Oslonki 1 uncovered a rather unexpected outcome - namely that status exerted a degree of control over human diet. If this is indeed true it will be the earliest evidence in Europe of a distinct relationship between the socioeconomic status and diet of an individual.