Yes / The You Are What You Ate project is a collaboration between historians, archaeologists, museum officers, medieval re-enactors and food scientists. We aim to encourage public debate and personal reflection on modern eating habits through exploration of the dietary choices of the medieval and early modern period. This paper will discuss our osteology workshops, aimed at adults or at school children. We use archaeological examples of diet-related conditions, including dental disease, scurvy, rickets and gout, plus those associated with obesity such as osteoarthritis and DISH, to help the public visualise how dietary choices can affect the body. This information is delivered via an introductory talk and carefully monitored bone handling sessions – and, for the children, includes the analysis of a plastic skeleton modified to display pathological conditions. Evaluation data shows that the majority of adults and all children feel they have learnt something new during the sessions, and that this has led them to think about healthy eating. The inclusion of examples of dental pathology has promoted dental hygiene to school children, although it was not one of our primary aims. It is difficult to assess if these short-term experiences translate to long-term knowledge gain or to changes in behaviour.

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This thesis aims to outline the causes, symptoms, and treatments related to leprosy, and how it can be diagnosed in patients and identified in human remains. The thesis also aims to demonstrate the ways in which care for leprosy sufferers developed as the disease became more prevalent and more commonly, and correctly identified. It analyses the social stigmas inflicted upon sufferers, and the medical care and attention provided for them by religious institutions when other groups or organisations shunned those suffering from leprosy. The rationale for this study is to identify trends surrounding the social stigmas attached to leprosy and care from the first identifiable case of strain three of Mycobacterium leprae in the 1st century AD to the late Middle Ages when the number of cases of leprosy appears to begin to decline. Using archaeological evidence, historical records, and the published research of experts in the field, this thesis demonstrates that as leprosy spread throughout the Middle East and Europe, religious organisations often took on the role as care givers for leprosy sufferers through the ideal of religious, often Christian, charity; to look after the poor, sick, and needy. As the trends presented in this study have yet to be published elsewhere in this way, this thesis aims to contribute via an interdisciplinary approach to the fields of religious archaeology, anthropology and bioarchaeology.

In the spring of 2018, a prospection and subsequent research excavation of a previously unstudied area related to the rampart of the Viking age town of Birka, Sweden, was undertaken by students and professors from the archaeological science department affiliated with Stockholm University.The purpose of this paper is to examine and categorise the various excavated finds, the ensuing conservation and preservation of the metal objects as well as to investigate the context and possible function of the site regarding the spatial distribution of said finds.The main method used is that of metal conservation with the wet-chemical technique EDTA; a method that was deemed adequate for the treatment of the dry metal finds from the rampart excavation.The conservation and categorisation suggest that the metal posts consist of assorted metal objects, predominately rivets and nails as well as unidentified fragmented objects; the occasional slag fragment was evident. The material category of clay and ceramics contains assorted burnt clay and ceramic sherd fragments, some with decoration. Whetstone (or hone stone) and flint fragments make up most of the stone finds while the category of glass consists of a few bead fragments. The bulk of the osteological material consists of burnt and unburnt animal bones, some with slaughter marks in the form of cuts and hacks. Two human bone fragments were found; a humerus- and cranial fragment.Post holes and charcoal in the context of the rampart suggests the possibility of wooden supports and/or a superimposed wooden structure on the rampart itself that likely burnt at some point in time. The interpretation of the excavated area, based on the distribution of the finds and material categories, is that of a dumping site for discarded town refuse, most likely set against or near a walled construction; the rampart. The dating of the site is based on object similarities as well as stratigraphy and set to; Early to Late Viking Period, c. A.D. 820-1000(1150).The analyses, materials and the stratigraphy of the site together with a contextual analysis of the objects in question furthers the knowledge of Birka’s rampart and will enable future scientific inquiries into this specific rampart as well as similar fortification structures.

The study of human palaeopathology has developed considerably in the last three decades resulting in a structured and standardised framework of practice, based upon skeletal lesion patterning and differential diagnosis. By comparison, disarticulated zooarchaeological assemblages have precluded the observation of lesion distributions, resulting in a dearth of information regarding differential diagnosis and a lack of standard palaeopathological recording methods. Therefore, zoopalaeopathology has been restricted to the analysis of localised pathologies and ‘interesting specimens’. Under present circumstances, researchers can draw little confidence that the routine recording of palaeopathological lesions, their description or differential diagnosis will ever form a standard part of zooarchaeological analysis. This has impeded the understanding of animal disease in past society and, in particular, has restricted the study of systemic disease. This research tackles this by combining the disciplines of human palaeopathology and zoopalaeopathology and focusing on zoonotic disease. The primary aim of this research was to investigate the skeletal manifestation of bTB in cattle, sheep/goat and pig to establish differential diagnostic criteria for its identification in zooarchaeological assemblages. Methods commonplace in human palaeopathology were adapted and applied to zoopalaeopathology, in addition to radiography and aDNA analysis. The results emphasise the difficulties but also the potential associated with the identification of systemic diseases in zooarchaeological assemblages. An approach to the classification of potentially infectious lesions is presented that enables the calculation of crude prevalence in disarticulated assemblages. In addition, the potential for a DNA analysis to shed further light on animal disease in the past is emphasised. / Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) / Many of the images have been removed from the online version due to copyright restrictions. The embargo period for the thesis ended: 16th January 2018.

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.

The thesis discusses a category of cultural heritage that has been labelled "Sami circular offering sites", aiming to establish some basic facts about their origin, distribution and use, as well as their cultural and socio-political context and influence. The stone enclosures in question have been interpreted as Sami offering sites since the mid-19th century, but a discourse analysis of the research history indicates that this may have been based on a scholarly hypothesis rather than ethnographic or archaeological evidence. Furthermore it is questioned if all the structures that are currently included in this category are in fact remains of the same cultural practice. This is investigated through surveys of 81 suggested circular offering sites in Norway, two excavations and analyses of the find material. The large stone enclosures in counties Finnmark and Troms that were first categorised in this way prove to have quite consistent builds and measurements and a find material mainly dating between the 13th and 17th centuries. These structures are here labelled type 1. In contrast, constructions that have later been added to the category, particularly in other areas, have other and less consistent characteristics and seem to include remains of a range of different activities. They are here divided into two generic types 2 and 3. The thesis further discusses alternative interpretations for the type 1 structures, concluding that their materiality, construction, location, topography and finds are consistent with archaeological, historical and ethnographic evidence for wolf traps. Their distribution indicates a regional Sami cultural practice related to inland winter habitation and travel routes, while also apparently coinciding with the Russian/Karelian taxation area in northern Norway in the Middle Ages. Thus the builds may have been inspired by the fur trade or other activities of the latter groups. It is uncertain when exactly the installations fell into disuse, as datings are calibrated to AD 1450-1650. The abandonment could be related to the decline of Novgorod as a fur trade centre, Russian loss of taxation rights in northern Norway, increased Swedish impact in the inland areas and Norwegian activity along the coasts, which all led to changes in administration, taxation, trade patterns and demand for furs. The contemporary decimation of the wild reindeer population, increased reindeer herding and introduction of new weapons like crossbows, guns and foothold traps, may all have made permanent trapping installations less useful. The sites may, however, have gone out of use at different times. Certain finds of marrow split bones, very recent coins and other objects suggest a later reconceptualisation of some structures as offering sites, whether as a local explanation or inspired by the later scholarly definition. Throughout the thesis, the construction and distribution of the archaeological category and the preference for the ritual or religious interpretation are discussed as results of specific socio-political contexts, where stereotypical notions about Sami identity and culture have had a strong impact. The thesis explores how academic and other narratives influence each other within certain discourses of power and indigenous "rights and rites", and the continuous mutual impact on individual actions and emotions through networks of people, power and things. The present reinterpretation challenges existing academic and local narratives. It is based on the materiality of the structures, but the offering site explanation is not positively refuted. Yet, as part of an authorised heritage discourse, the present statement is more likely to impact future categorisation and practices than other narratives within other discourses, expressing a persistent and inherent power inequality. This may be ethically problematic in the context of an indigenous minority, but it may also be argued that the role of the archaeologist expert is precisely to expose the insisting materiality of the past and the power/knowledge networks that promote specific narratives about it.

This thesis describes and contextualises the Population & Cemetery Simulator (PCS), which represents agent-based demographic modelling software that can be used to model living populations based on archaeological and historical data as well as their cemeteries. The data used by the PCS are demographic in nature, e.g. age and sex data generated by osteoarchaeologists from excavated cemeteries or historical demographic data. This thesis seeks to provide a methodological foundation for modelling the demographics of archaeological populations. It focusses on case studies using data from early medieval Anglo-Saxon (South England) and Alamannic (South Germany) cemeteries, although excursions into neighbouring periods and regions are included as validation studies. The case studies show how the PCS can be used in archaeological research and the software is presented as a solution to various problems caused by the difference between the living population and the 'dead' cemetery data in archaeology.