The burial type referred to as bundle burials was a rare occurrence during the Neolithic era and little research has been done on the topic. Three graves from the Ajvide/Jakobs site at Eksta parish, Gotland have been identified as this specific type of burial. There are several potential explanations to why this type of burial would potentially occasionally be implemented or why the excavated remains would be found in this types of positions. The purpose of this thesis is to present and search for different explanations to this phenomenon. Furthermore, the main purpose of the study is to explore how taphonomic research can potentially deepen our knowledge regarding rituals and practices of the past, particularly within the field of mortuary archaeology. / Paketgravar under den neolitiska perioden är en ovanlig förekomst och lite forskning har gjorts om ämnet. Totalt tre paketgravar har identifierats vid Ajvide /Jakobs, Eksta socken på Gotland. Det finns många möjliga förklaringar till varför denna typ av begravning potentiellt skulle kunna praktiserats eller varför benelementen skulle kunna påträffats i dessa typer av positioner. Syftet med denna uppsats är att presentera och undersöka olika möjliga förklaringar till detta ovanliga gravskick. Vidare är syftet med studien även att utforska hur tafonomisk forskning potentiellt kan fördjupa vår kunskap om ritualer från det förflutna, framförallt inom gravarkeologi.

The present study entails descriptions of several well-preserved skulls from the pampathere species Holmesina floridanus, recovered from Pliocene localities in central Florida and housed in the collections of the Florida Museum of Natural History. Bone by bone descriptions have allowed detailed reconstructions of cranial morphology. Cranial foramina are described and illustrated in detail, and their contents inferred. The first ever description of an isolated pampathere petrosal is also included. Cranial osteology of Holmesina floridanus is compared to that of Pleistocene species of Holmesina from both North and South America (Holmesina septentrionalis, Holmesina occidentalis), as well as to the other well-known pampathere genera, to closely related taxa among glyptodonts (Propalaehoplophorus), and to extinct and extant armadillos (Proeutatus, Euphractus). This study identifies a suite of apomorphic cranial features that serve to diagnose a putative, progressive series of more inclusive monophyletic groups, including the species Holmesina floridanus, the genus Holmesina, pampatheres, pampatheres plus glyptodonts, and a clade formed by pampatheres, glyptodonts, and Proeutatus. The study highlights the need for further anatomical investigations of pampathere cranial anatomy, especially those using modern scanning technology, and for analyses of pampathere phylogenetic relationships.

Throughout Scandinavia the funeral practices of the Iron Age were, in general, inhumation or cremation. The Iron Age society held many overarching beliefs but with a great ritual flexibility where practices could vary between communities. This study examines the Iron Age burial ground at Nygårds in the parish of Västerhejde, Gotland. The graves consist of both cremated and skeletal remains dating to the period of 400–600 AD. Thus, two different funeral customs were practiced at the burial ground during the same time period. Although excavated in the 1970s, no detailed analyses have been carried out on the Iron Age remains from Nygårds or their grave goods. This study aim is consequently to contribute with new information about the burial ground at Nygårds and the individuals who were interred there. By examining the spatial composition of the two burial customs, their demographic and grave goods, differences and similarities emerge. With the burial grounds spatial structure as a framework, this study discusses the different aspects of the Iron Age life and what the actions of the living can tell us about their dead.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(理学) / 甲第20047号 / 理博第4232号 / 新制||理||1608(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院理学研究科地球惑星科学専攻 / (主査)准教授 生方 貴男, 教授 酒井 治孝, 教授 平島 崇男 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

From the years of 1956 through 1977, Archaeologist Robert H. Dyson, Jr., directed the excavations of the archaeological site of Tepe Hasanlu, located in the West Azerbaijan region of Iran. Several archaeological reports of the finds include the overview of over 400 skeletons discovered in Hasanlu’s Lower Mound cemetery, though only 97 were ever retained for osteological analysis. Totaling 113 burials examined, 88-individuals were derived from the Low Mound and 25 individuals were from the High Mound. The excavated artifacts and skeletons are now split between The Pennsylvania Museum and The National Museum of Iran in Tehran. The Upper and Lower Mound burials of Tepe Hasanlu were examined through bioarchaeological, osteological, and archaeological (burial connotations) methodologies in an attempt to reveal the lifestyle, burial practices, and economy of the famous ancient city. It was hypothesized that there is a correlation between pathological conditions, sex, and the perceived economic/social status of the Bronze through Seluco-Parthian burials based on the associated grave goods and sociocultural characteristics viewed and examined within the burial space. This hypothesis was tested through skeletal and archaeological analysis, and it was found that individual pathological conditions correlate with the burial goods classified in Levels 1 and 2, however, Level 0 is more variable. The variations found among the level classifications and the frequencies of their individual pathological conditions reveal a high rate among Level 1 and a low rate among Level 2 burials. Additionally, it is possible that the different associated economic classes at Hasanlu exhibited dissimilar biological susceptibilities, nutrition, health, and lifestyles relating to their pathological conditions. However, this could also be a result of differential sampling, or the burials were excavated from a class-based cemetery. Age was found to be a major factor in the presentation of age-related degenerative pathological conditions, which was especially evident in the dentition of the sampled Hasanlu population. Furthermore, the High and Low Mounds appear to be drastically different in the associated economic class of their burials, as the LM appeared to contain individuals of higher classes (Level 2), and the HM exhibited a preference for burials with little (Level 1) to no grave goods (Level 0). As a result of such, it is theorized that the LM and HM were exhibiting different social structures and values, possibly representing separate societal class structures (egalitarian/non-egalitarian) influenced by economic opportunities or Hasanlu’s influence on the region. From the data examined, it appears that the social preferences exhibited by the Hasanlu peoples was evident in nearly every aspect of the burial space dictated by age, sex, and perceived economic class (Levels 0-2) through the burial characteristics of side, position, goods location, grave construction, interments, and possibly orientation. It is with this data that there are proven differences in the various subjects of archaeology and osteological features within the sampled burial population likely influenced by wealth, lifestyles, and/or various burial preferences.

The phylogenetic relationships of Pseudophryne and the closely related monotypic Metacrinia are resolved with the use of morphological characters and comparison with representatives species of Crinia, Uperoleia, and Taudactylus as defined out-groups. Characters describing musculature are not sufficient to resolve the relationships, but do provide support when used in combination with osteological and external characteristics. When all data are considered, parsimony and maximum likelihood analyses yield the same hypothesis of relationships within Pseudophryne + Metacrinia. Thus, a monophyletic lineage of Pseudophryne + Metacrinia is supported by four synapomorphies: (1) the absence of toe fringes, (2) wide frontoparietal fontanelle, (3) m. abductor indicis longus arising from the humerus and radioulna, and (4) neopalatine in contact with the maxilla. The columella is shown as a relatively plastic characteristic, present ancestrally but lost in the common ancestor to Pseudophrye+Metacrinia and then reappearing within that taxon as well as one outgroup species (Crinia riparia). Analyses of size data reveal shape trends among the outgroup taxa that differ from the in-group of Pseudophryne and Metacrinia. Interpretations of shape differences are congruent with the placement of Uperoleia as more closely related to Pseudophrye. This study suggests support for re-synonymy of Metacrinia nichollsi with Pseudophryne, but formal change of status depends on access to more complete data.

A persistent problem for Australian paleontology has been a lack of diagnostic characters for identifying lizard fossils. Eremiascincus is one of the most widespread genera in Australia, so it was examined for distinguishing features and how it fits into a model of skink evolution. Skulls of Eremiascincus were examined within five separate contexts: 1) a description of the cranial osteology, 2) a qualitative comparison of individual cranial elements of Eremiascincus to closely related Ctenotus, 3) a description of the cranial allometry in Eremiascincus using linear morphometrics, 4) using cranial morphometrics of skinks to deduce their phylogeny, and 5) using geometric morphometrics to distinguish between individual elements of Eremiascincus and Ctenotus. Although linear morphometrics is adept at describing allometric changes to the skull during ontogeny, it only displayed a phylogenetic signal for small, closely related groups. Also, geometric morphometrics was just as capable distinguishing Eremiascincus from Ctenotus as qualitative characters.

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