In 1999, the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) initiated the development of the Nandoni Dam. A component of this project was the relocation of seven rural villages, which include Mulenzhe, Budeli, Dididi, Mpego, Machivandihala Agricultural College, Mutoti and Tshilangoma. Upon request from the community, DWAF had to provide for the exhumation of approximately 1,000 graves dating to the 20th century. A comprehensive analysis of the 160 skeletons (118 adults and 42 juveniles) found in association with these graves was performed, and a description of the health and disease patterns of these rural communities was provided. A secondary objective of this study was to assess the biological affinity of the Venda by examining both craniometric and odontometric traits. A demographic profile of these communities revealed a high incidence of death in children less than 5 years of age and medium ranged adult mortality that peaked between 45 and 55 years of age. This profile is similar to other contemporary black South African communities, and has been associated with poverty, poor living conditions and poor sanitation. When compared to Iron Age populations, it was noted that a dramatic decline in child mortality and a slight increase in adult longevity has occurred in black South African populations within the past 800 years. This may be associated with a reduction in the number of children born per mother and general improvements in lifestyle and living conditions. Medical researchers suggest that infectious disease and parasite infestation were high in rural Venda communities during the 20th century. Despite the high pathogen load in the environment, skeletal markers of non-specific diseases in this study were found to be minimal. This may be attributed to the administering of medication at both hospitals and local clinics, which would have arrested the development of diseases caused by bacteria and parasites. Overall, it appears that medicine improved health for the individual, but it was relatively ineffective on reducing the number of pathogens in the general environment. Dental health was relatively good for these communities. Tooth decay was more common in Venda than other agricultural based populations and may be related to the increased consumption of western foods such as refined maize and sugar. The results of uni- and multivariate statistical analyses on the craniometric and odontometric traits are indicative of a stronger relationship between the Venda and South African Negroid populations than the East Africa groups. This supports the idea of local development of the Venda people in the Soutpansberg region. These results are also in agreement with other studies that have shown similarities in cranial and dental morphology of South African Negroids with the Venda. Due to the small sample size from K2, it was not possible to establish a direct relationship between this group and the Venda. However, it is prudent to say that both groups can be classified as South African Negroids. / Thesis (DPhil)-University of Pretoria, 2005 / Anatomy / unrestricted

No / A revised method for estimating adult age at death using the auricular surface of the ilium has been developed. It is based on the existing auricular surface aging method of Lovejoy et al. ([1985] Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 68:15-28), but the revised technique is easier to apply, and has low levels of inter- and intraobserver error. The new method records age-related stages for different features of the auricular surface, which are then combined to provide a composite score from which an estimate of age at death is obtained. Blind tests of the method were carried out on a known-age skeletal collection from Christ Church, Spitalfields, London. These tests showed that the dispersion of age at death for a given morphological stage was large, particularly after the first decade of adult life. Statistical analysis showed that the age-related changes in auricular surface are not significantly different for males and females. The scores from the revised method have a slightly higher correlation with age than do the Suchey-Brooks pubic symphysis stages. Considering the higher survival rates of the auricular surface compared with the pubic symphysis, this method promises to be useful for biological anthropology and forensic science.

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.