no / Gout is a disease caused by the abnormal accumulation of uric acid in the body, which can result in sodium urate crystals forming tophi at joints, with associated erosion of bone and cartilage. Only two examples of tophi have been reported from archaeological individuals, and the diagnosis of gout based on dry bone manifestations can be difficult. This paper presents preliminary results of a new technique to aid the diagnosis of gout in palaeopathology, namely high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Five archaeological skeletons with suspected gout (diagnosed using visual and radiological analysis) and three controls were analysed. Two of the gouty individuals had a white powder in their erosive lesions. HPLC showed the presence of uric acid in bone in four of the five individuals with evidence of gouty arthritis and was negative for uric acid in bone from the three controls. The white powder was also positive for uric acid. With reliance on the presence of articular erosions, cases of gout will be missed in archaeological human bone. HPLC measurement of uric acid could prove useful in the differential diagnosis of erosive arthropathy in archaeology. It may also be useful in identifying individuals with an increased body pool of uric acid, linked to conditions included in the term `metabolic syndrome¿. As a result, HPLC uric acid measurement also has the potential to provide additional information on health and lifestyle in past communities.

no / A buried or dumped body may be accompanied by a range of materials, including clothing and other textiles, metals such as tools and weapons, as well as plastics and paper products. This chapter concentrates on clothing and metal fastenings associated with clothing. Bodies that have been subject to clandestine disposal may be clothed, semiclothed, or naked. Reconstructing the nature and position of this clothing is critical to understanding the circumstance of disposal as well as perhaps to assisting in establishing motive and offender behavior. In addition, clothing and personal effects may provide assistance in establishing identity, although this will need confirmation by dental records or DNA. Modern clothing, footwear, and accessories are made from a range of materials: natural and synthetic textiles, leather, plastic, and metal. Along with the body they may be subject to a range of depositional environment, including surface disposal and burial in a range of soil types and microclimates. These materials will respond and degrade at different rates often leading to differential preservation.

yes / Recent radiocarbon dating of a skeleton from Balevullin, Tiree, excavated in the early twentieth century, demonstrates that it dates to the Neolithic period, rather than the Iron Age as originally expected. Osteological examination suggests that the individual was a young adult woman, exhibiting osteological deformities consistent with vitamin D deficiency, most likely deriving from childhood rickets; an exceptionally early identification of the disease in the UK with potentially significant social implications. Isotopic analysis supports the osteological evidence for physiological stress in childhood and further suggests that the woman was most probably local to the islands. Analysis of the surviving written archive reveals that the surviving skeleton was one of several originally recovered from the site, making Balevullin an exceptionally rare example of a British Neolithic inhumation cemetery.

Atlantic Scotland provides plentiful and often dramatic evidence for settlement during the Iron Age but, like much of Europe, very little is known of the funerary traditions of communities in this region. Formal burial appears to have been rare, and evidence for alternative mortuary treatments is dispersed, varied and, to date, poorly understood. This study sets out to examine for the first time all human remains dating to the Iron Age in Atlantic Scotland, found in a variety of contexts ranging from formal cemeteries to occupied domestic sites. This data-set, despite its limitations, forms the basis for a new understanding of funerary treatment and daily life in later prehistoric Atlantic Scotland, signifying the development of an extraordinary range of different methods of dealing with, and harnessing the power of, the dead during this period. This information in turn can contribute to wider issues surrounding attitudes to the dead, religious belief, domestic life and the nature of society in Iron Age Europe. / Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Marinell Ash fund, Strathmartine Trust

There has been historical failure to exploit skeletal data in archaeological syntheses of the Neolithic, compounded by poor or cursory osteological reports. This project aimed to discover what Neolithic Orcadian life was like, arguing from skeletal evidence. Orkney¿s exceptional site preservation and large skeletal collections present opportunities for detailed analysis. The Orkney environment presented identifiable constraints to Neolithic lifeways. Isbister chambered cairn produced the largest assemblage of human remains from any single British Neolithic site. This was examined alongside other Neolithic collections to discover evidence for, and develop models of Neolithic life. The demographic structure indicates that twice as many adult males were deposited as females. Few young infants were in the assemblage but disproportionately many older children and young adults. Stable light isotope analysis suggested age and sex-related dietary differences with a predominantly terrestrial protein source. Pathological conditions included scurvy, multiple myeloma and osteoarthritis. Trauma and non-specific lesions were common and affected all age and sex groups. Prevalences of pathological conditions seemed high and may reflect a group selected for some reason related to disability or deformity. The interred individuals probably held some special status within their society. The chambered cairns¿ commingled bones do not indicate an egalitarian society or contemporary ancestor veneration but suggest monumental tombs had some special role possibly related to violent death or supernatural liminality. / Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). NERC-AHRC National Radiocarbon Facility grant (NF/2010/2/6).

The present research examines the pathological changes and taphonomic alterations of buried human skeletal remains discovered in a burial feature underneath a construction site in a neighborhood house in Winchester, Massachusetts. Artifact association places the burial of these remains around the mid 1800s. Pathological changes were observed based on the presence of bone formation or destruction. The manifestations of pathological change observed for were related to or consistent with joint disease, infectious diseases, metabolic disorders, congenital abnormalities, dental disease, and neoplastic conditions. Taphonomic profiles of buried remains display certain characteristics that can be used to make comparisons to other known burial types, specifically traditional cemetery burials. The characteristics observed for to create the taphonomic profile were soil and mineral staining, bone condition and preservation, plant adherence and/or damage, postmortem damage, and the presence of coffin artifacts. The author hypothesized that the current sample of human skeletal remains from the Winchester Site would display pathological changes consistent with individuals from marginalized populations of the nineteenth century. The most prevalent pathological changes in the sample were those related to osteoarthritis (OA) and infection. The vertebral elements were most affected by OA, at 24.0% on the vertebral bodies and 17.5% on the vertebral facets. Of the remaining elements scored for OA, only 7.1% showed characteristics. Infection was observable on 10.9% of the postcranial elements, with the fibulae being the most affected, at 20.9%, followed by the tibiae at 18.3% and the clavicles at 16.1%. There were more cases of sclerotic bone, which indicated that the healing process started prior to death. There were only 11 cases of antemortem trauma that were observed to be either in the process of healing or already healed, as well as 2 cases of healed amputations of two proximal row pedal phalanges. Dentition was most affected by calculus at 33.3%, and had little instances of linear enamel hypoplasias. Other miscellaneous pathological changes were also observed, including Schmorl’s nodes, PH/CO, HFI, possible neoplasms, possible tuberculosis, and exostoses of the mouth. It was also hypothesized that the skeletal remains would display a different taphonomic profile compared to previously researched profiles of anatomized and cemetery remains. There is ubiquitous soil staining throughout the sample, postmortem damage at 69.4%, moderate cortical erosion at 15.7%, slight plant root adherence at 8.3%, and low mineral staining at 5.3%. There is a lack of anatomical hardware present throughout the remains, which indicates that the remains were not used for anatomical teaching. There is an abnormal pink stain on 1.0% of the skeletal remains, possibly the result of a historical embalming technique that used mercury. The analysis of the skeletal remains from the Winchester Site supported the hypothesis that the remains would display pathological changes consistent with marginalized populations. The author compared the Winchester Site to sites that reported having anatomized remains of marginalized individuals, specifically sites that were used as medical waste sites, poorhouses, and almshouses. The analysis of the skeletal remains also supported the hypothesis that the remains would display a taphonomic profile more consistent with cemetery remains buried directly in the soil and secondarily determined that the site was likely used as a medical waste site of anatomized remains. The analysis of the Winchester Site also confirmed that the remains did not display a taphonomic profile related to coffin cemetery remains or remains that have been prepared and used for anatomical teaching.

This essay is about the Mesolithic of Motala Canal and the depositions that have been found there, including a large number of animal bones. I would argue the most important discovery at this site was the human skulls, which will be the main topic of this essay. I will be working with ritual theory, and I will be working with past research on the Mesolithic, graves, and rituals. In this essay, I discuss whether this site has anything to do with rituals, and if so, are these mortuary rituals? The conclusion is that the site I have analysed was a ritualistic space. Some form of rituals that involved the craniums happened here for around 150 years during the late Mesolithic. What is not clear is if this was for mortuary purposes or other kind of purposes.

No description available.

This study compares the morbidity and mortality of non-adults in urban and rural cemeteries between AD 850-1859. It was hypothesised that the development of urbanisation and industrialisation with subsequenot overcrowding and environmental pollution, would result in a decline in human health in the urban groups. This would be evident in lower mean ages at death, retarded growth and higher rates of childhood stress and chronic infection in the children living in the urbanised environments. Non-adult skeletons were examined from Raunds Furnells in Northamptonshire (Anglo- Saxon), St. Helen-on-the-Walls in York (later medieval, urban), Wharrarn Percy in Yorkshire (later medieval, rural) and from the crypt of Christ Church Spitalfields, in London (AD 1729-1859). The results showed that it was industrialisation, rather than urbanisation that was most detrimental to child health. Weaning ages declined from two years in the Anglo-Saxon period to one year in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. Industrialisation was characterised by a lower mean age at death, growth retardation and an increase in the prevalence of rickets and scurvy. Although higher rates of dental disease and matemal stress were apparent in the urbanised samples, respiratory diseases were more common in the rural areas. Growth profiles suggested that environmental factors were similar in the urban and rural communities in the later medieval period. However, there was evidence that employment had a detrimental effect on the health of later medieval apprentices. This study demonstrates the importance of non-adult remains in addressing issues of health and adaptation in the past and, the validity of using skeletal material to measure environmental stress.

No description available.