This project tested the reliability and validity of the Portable Osteometric Device Version 1 (PODv1) the Paleo-Tech Lightweight Field Osteometric Board (PaleoTech), by providing measurements of intra-observer and inter-observer error during the collection of osteometric data. The PODv1 is a device that the author invented for measuring anthropometric data from human skeletal material. This device was 3D printed and uses laser sensors with time-of-flight technology to measure distance. Twenty-three different volunteers with various osteological experience from the Mississippi State University community collect osteometric data for this project. These volunteers measured four different bones using both the POD and the PaleoTech devices over three different rounds. The results show that the PODv1 is a reliable and valid device compared to the PaleoTech. Both devices were prone to the same issues, but the PODv1 can improve on these issues with more modifications and research, unlike the current osteometric board designs.

Situated at the two sides of Eurasia, Western Asia and China are both important centres for the origins of agriculture and civilization. Key suites of domestic crops, animals, and technologies were independently developed at these two centres. Scholars have been interested in seeing whether there was communication between these ‘nuclear centres’ in prehistory, and how they were influenced by each other. The domestication of sheep and goat, which first occurred about 10,000 years before present (BP) in the region of modern-day Syria, Turkey, and Iran, has long been assumed as introduced from the West to China, behind which there were population movements and cultural exchanges. However, this hypothesis has not yet been systematically examined. This is because in Western China there is such a complex distribution of wild Caprinae and Gazella species, which all have similar skeletal morphology to domestic sheep (Ovis aries) and goats (Capra hircus), and are difficult to separate from each other based on fragmentary and eroded archaeological remains. This project carries out a systematic osteoscopic and osteometric study of the Caprinae and Gazella in Western China and different Ovis species in Eurasia by examining a large quantity of the modern specimens. Systematic differences in correlating elements between these species were found to be related to the ecology of the animals. These criteria were applied to the archaeological specimens from five sites in Western China from Epipaleolithic era (c. 10,000 BP) to the Bronze Age (c. 3500 BP). Together with other methods, a process of transition from the local wild Caprinae hunting to the adoption of sheep husbandry was discovered. There might be complex interactions between the different animals and humans in the unique ecological and social contexts.

Sex and age determination are vital when attempting to establish identity from skeletal remains. There are two methodological approaches to sex determination, namely morphological and metrical methods. In this study the shape of the scapula was studied in order to gain information on its development and sexual dimorphism. One drawback to studying the scapula is its fragility, making it difficult to obtain adequate osteometric measurements. The aim of this study was to use geometric morphometrics to study the ontogeny and sexual dimorphism of the scapula. The sample consisted of 45 adult males and 45 adult females, as well as 81 juvenile scapulae of known individuals. The scapulae were photographed and 21 homologous landmarks were plotted to use for geometric morphometric analysis with the ‘tps’ series of programs, as well as the IMP package. The consensus thin- plate splines, as well as the vector thin- plate splines for adult males and females, as well as each consecutive year of growth in juveniles were compared with each other. The CVA and TwoGroup analyses yielded significant differences between males and females. The lateral and medial borders of females are straighter and the supraspinous fossa of females was more convexly curved than those of males. More than 91% of the adult females and 95.6% of the adult males were correctly assigned. Goodall’s F- test yielded a p- value of 0.20014 which was not significant. Hotelling’s T2- test yielded a significant p- value of 0.00039. Geometric morphometrics were found to be a valuable tool in the study of changes in shape in the growing years and it was found that the lateral border of juvenile scapulae remained constant with advancing age, while the medial border remained constant during early childhood up to the age of six, varying during older childhood and early adolescence and once again becoming constant from age 15 upwards. The largest changes in the juvenile shape could be seen in the supraspinous fossa, with the superior border having a concave shape up to the age of 10, and then displaying a convex shape from 12 to 19 years of age. Differences between the sexes in juveniles were not significant, but a larger sample may yield different results. In conclusion it was found that significant differences between the shapes of adult male and female scapula exist. / Dissertation (MSc (Anatomy))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Anatomy / unrestricted

Humans, like all animal species, are subject to Bergmann's (1847) and Allen's (1877) environmental rules which summarize physical adaptations to the natural environment. However, humans are in addition cultural animals and other bio-cultural factors such as social, economic and political status, general health, and nutrition, have a noticeable influence on stature and body proportions. Importantly, socio-economic status has a powerful influence on stature, which has been used to elucidate status differences in past societies (Bogin and Loucky, 1997; Floud et al., 1990; Schutkowski, 2000a). Furthermore, bio-cultural factors influence all dimensions of the human body, including weight, relative limb length, and relative length of the different limb segments. Given minimal migration and shared natural environments, all populations in this study, coming as they do from the last 2000 years of English history, should demonstrate similar morphology (c. f Ruff, 1994) if climatic variables were the only influence on stature and body proportions. In order to assess such bio-cultural factors in individuals from archaeological populations, skeletal populations from sites such as known leprosaria and medieval hospitals, rural and urban parish cemeteries, victims from the battle of Towton in A. D. 1461, and individuals from monastic cemeteries were analysed. The osteometric data from these populations were assessedfo r within and between population variability and indicate effects of bio-cultural factors on attained body proportions and stature. The results indicate a strong relationship between bio-cultural factors and body proportions, body mass index, prevalence of pathologies, sexual dimorphism, secular trend, and general stature from Roman times to the post-medieval period. The usefulness of stature, weight, and physical indices as markers of the bio-cultural environment is demonstrated. The main findings include: a greater sensitivity to external stressors in the males rather than the females of the analysed populations, rendering male statures more susceptible to varying bio-cultural conditions; a potential for very tall stature has existed in the analysed populations but was only realised. in very high status individuals in medieval times, and from the beginning 20'h century with better socio-economic conditions for the population at large; a less stratified socio-political environment, as in the late Anglo-Saxon period resulted in taller average male statures that a more stratified one, such as the medieval Nation-States; and medieval monastic institutions could have high status, e.g., the Gilbertines, or lower status, such as the mendicant orders, while leprosaria had the lowest status of all.

Humans, like all animal species, are subject to Bergmann's (1847) and Allen's (1877) environmental rules which summarize physical adaptations to the natural environment. However, humans are in addition cultural animals and other bio-cultural factors such as social, economic and political status, general health, and nutrition, have a noticeable influence on stature and body proportions. Importantly, socio-economic status has a powerful influence on stature, which has been used to elucidate status differences in past societies (Bogin and Loucky, 1997; Floud et al., 1990; Schutkowski, 2000a). Furthermore, bio-cultural factors influence all dimensions of the human body, including weight, relative limb length, and relative length of the different limb segments. Given minimal migration and shared natural environments, all populations in this study, coming as they do from the last 2000 years of English history, should demonstrate similar morphology (c. f Ruff, 1994) if climatic variables were the only influence on stature and body proportions. In order to assess such bio-cultural factors in individuals from archaeological populations, skeletal populations from sites such as known leprosaria and medieval hospitals, rural and urban parish cemeteries, victims from the battle of Towton in A. D. 1461, and individuals from monastic cemeteries were analysed. The osteometric data from these populations were assessedfo r within and between population variability and indicate effects of bio-cultural factors on attained body proportions and stature. The results indicate a strong relationship between bio-cultural factors and body proportions, body mass index, prevalence of pathologies, sexual dimorphism, secular trend, and general stature from Roman times to the post-medieval period. The usefulness of stature, weight, and physical indices as markers of the bio-cultural environment is demonstrated. The main findings include: a greater sensitivity to external stressors in the males rather than the females of the analysed populations, rendering male statures more susceptible to varying bio-cultural conditions; a potential for very tall stature has existed in the analysed populations but was only realised. in very high status individuals in medieval times, and from the beginning 20'h century with better socio-economic conditions for the population at large; a less stratified socio-political environment, as in the late Anglo-Saxon period resulted in taller average male statures that a more stratified one, such as the medieval Nation-States; and medieval monastic institutions could have high status, e.g., the Gilbertines, or lower status, such as the mendicant orders, while leprosaria had the lowest status of all. / Ministere de la Culture, de l'Enseignement Superieur et de la Recherche, Luxembourg; Department of Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford; Andy Jagger Fund; Francis Raymond Hudson Memorial Fund