International Journal of Osteoarchaeology最新文献

{"title":"Human Mobility in NW Iran During the Early Iron Age (c. 1250–850 bce): The Strontium Isotope Evidence From Masjed-e Kabud Cemetery","authors":"Solmaz Ahmadzadeh,&nbsp;Alireza Hejebri Nobari,&nbsp;Arkadiusz Sołtysiak","doi":"10.1002/oa.3374","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.3374","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age is one of the most discussed topics in the archaeology of Iran. This includes the processes that led to the formation of the Mannaean Kingdom in the northwestern part of the country, which is considered a forerunner of the famous Median Empire. Here, we investigate the pattern of migration during the four centuries preceding the establishment of the Mannaean Kingdom. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values were measured in enamel of early developing permanent teeth (first molars and incisors) in a sample of 28 individuals of both sexes from Masjed-e Kabud cemetery (modern Tabriz). Only two individuals have non-local strontium isotope values; however, they might have been inhabitants of the region located just a few kilometers south of the cemetery. No evidence of long-distance migration was identified, suggesting that the establishment of the early states in this region was not a consequence of migration, but rather of social development in the local population.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":14179,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Osteoarchaeology","volume":"35 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2024-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143447218","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Histotaphonomic Signatures of Thermally Altered Human Skeletal Remains: Implications for Archaeological Interpretation","authors":"Lauren A. Meckel,&nbsp;Sophia R. Mavroudas,&nbsp;Justin Z. Goldstein,&nbsp;Shelby L. Garza,&nbsp;Timothy P. Gocha","doi":"10.1002/oa.3371","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.3371","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Interpretations of burial sites from past populations have previously relied on archaeological artifacts, body position, and gross morphological skeletal analysis to reconstruct funerary practices. Recently, microscopic analysis of biotic and abiotic inclusions in bone have resulted in broad assumptions about the antemortem treatment of human remains, including whether the bioerosion is of endogenous and/or exogenous origin. To contextualize the diagenesis present in bone, researchers have developed indices to quantify histotaphonomic features including overall destruction (OHI, GHI), birefringence (BI), cracking (CI), and color changes due to burning (HI). Quantification of the histotaphonomy of bone also allows researchers to determine if the bone is preserved well enough for the application of histological methods, such as age-at-death estimation, which can contribute to the osteobiography of the skeletal remains. However, burned bone found at cremation sites may complicate these analyses if thermal alterations obscure histological structures. Though many studies have experimentally tested the impact of burning on bone, most have used excised bones, which presents a very specific example of the effect of burning on excarnated remains. The aim of this research is to test the histotaphonomic effects of thermal alteration on six fleshed human bodies using the indices listed above. One preburn sample of bone from the femur, sixth rib, and metatarsal was collected prior to burning, and the antimere was removed after the experiment, if recoverable (<i>N</i> = 33). These results show that the presence of body tissue and the amount of time the body is burned likely have the greatest impact on bone histological preservation. None of the remains showed evidence of biotic bioerosion, which was expected from previous research that suggests putrefaction in the early postmortem period contributes to microfocal destruction that can be observed soon after death.</p>","PeriodicalId":14179,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Osteoarchaeology","volume":"35 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2024-11-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/oa.3371","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143447215","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Zooarchaeology of an Iberian Medieval Jewish Community: The Castle of Lorca (Murcia, Spain)","authors":"Marcos García García,&nbsp;Jorge A. Eiroa,&nbsp;José Ángel González Ballesteros,&nbsp;Mireia Celma Martínez","doi":"10.1002/oa.3373","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.3373","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Archaeological excavations at the castle of Lorca (Murcia, Spain) led to the identification of part of the Jewish district of the town. This area, occupied between the 14th and 15th centuries, represents a unique example of a medieval frontier Jewish quarter defined by complex urban planning, a synagogue, and various domestic units. Archaeological work allowed the recovery of a large number of animal remains. This paper deals with the results of the zooarchaeological study of this archaeofaunal assemblage, aiming to shed light on the ways in which animals were exploited, distributed, prepared and consumed by medieval Jewish population of Lorca. The results reveal a model of animal economy centered on the exploitation of caprines (sheep/goat) and, to a lesser extent, cattle, chickens and other secondary species, although the presence of non-<i>kosher</i> species such as pigs and rabbit is noteworthy. The identification of butchery marks attributed to the porging of the hindquarters of caprines, a practice typical of medieval Jewish communities, represents a marker of ethno-religious identity of great historical interest.</p>","PeriodicalId":14179,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Osteoarchaeology","volume":"35 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2024-11-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/oa.3373","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143447128","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Underneath the Surface: Examining “Hidden Lesions” With Paleoimaging at Moita do Sebastião, Mesolithic Muge, Portugal","authors":"Dany Coutinho Nogueira,&nbsp;Rosa Ramos Gaspar,&nbsp;Inês Carreiro,&nbsp;Ricardo Miguel Godinho,&nbsp;Cláudia Umbelino","doi":"10.1002/oa.3367","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.3367","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Discovered 160 years ago, the Muge archaeological sites in Portugal yield the most significant documentation of human skeletons from the Mesolithic period in Western Europe (8200–7100 cal B.P.). However, sediment weight has caused significant postmortem alterations that have limited previous studies. Paleoimaging techniques were applied to overcome these limitations and provide previously inaccessible information. Thirteen crania from Moita do Sebastião (one of the Muge shell middens) were CT scanned for virtual reconstruction and morphological analysis. Meticulous examination of 2D and 3D images revealed bone changes not visible to the naked eye and unrelated to postmortem alterations. A comprehensive differential diagnosis was carried out identifying various pathological conditions including epidermoid or dermoid cysts, intraosseous hemangioma, and a possible case of anemia. These “hidden pathologies” offer new insights into the health status of one of Europe's last hunter–gatherer populations.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":14179,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Osteoarchaeology","volume":"35 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2024-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143446742","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The uncertain death. Estimating mortality structure by random sampling","authors":"Daria Moser,&nbsp;Sandra L. Pichler,&nbsp;Ana Luisa Santos,&nbsp;Florian Klimscha,&nbsp;Katharina Fuchs","doi":"10.1002/oa.3363","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.3363","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Imprecise data produced by commonly applied osteological age-at-death estimations profoundly affect all research on age-dependent mortality in past societies. With uncertain death estimation (UCD), we propose a novel approach to estimating the mortality structure from imprecise data and present a corresponding R package for simple application. Through repeated random sampling of imprecise age-at-death ranges, UCD estimates the mortality structure of a given skeletal sample. We demonstrate the applicability of UCD in a proof-of-principle study on two samples with known age at death (Bass-Mercyhurst Collection and Coimbra Identified Skeletal Collection). Two case studies of German Neolithic skeletal material illustrate UCD's applicability to archeological samples with dissimilar states of preservation. To comparatively quantify the accuracy of UCD, maximum likelihood estimations, Kaplan–Meier survival estimations, and age-category mortality profiles were calculated for all four study samples. UCD outperforms similar existing procedures while incorporating the uncertainty inherent in osteological data. The proof-of-principle study produced significantly more accurate mortality profiles from UCD than from maximum likelihood estimation and Kaplan–Meier survival estimation. Both archeological case studies indicate UCD's ability to provide meaningful new insight into age-dependent mortality in past societies. UCD allows for comparative studies into age-dependent mortality in past societies without requiring a large sample of precise age-at-death estimations. UCD provides an opportunity for fast and simple analysis of mortality structures on a large dataset without neglecting the information contained in the raw data, thereby facilitating a critical study of patterns in age-dependent mortality on a large scale.</p>","PeriodicalId":14179,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Osteoarchaeology","volume":"35 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2024-11-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/oa.3363","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143446905","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Faunal Exploitation Strategies, Dietary Habits, and Social Status in Tang Dynasty Chang'an: Zooarchaeological Insights From Xiajiazhuang","authors":"Marcella Festa,&nbsp;Yanli Guo,&nbsp;Miao Wu,&nbsp;Quanmin Zhang,&nbsp;Suyuan Li","doi":"10.1002/oa.3369","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.3369","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Zooarchaeology in China has consistently enhanced our understanding of past environments and human–animal interactions. However, this research has predominantly focused on prehistoric contexts. Our knowledge of animal exploitation strategies in historical periods remains largely reliant on written and iconographic sources, lacking direct and quantifiable faunal evidence. This paper examines the animal remains found in the residential district of Xiajiazhuang to better understand faunal exploitation strategies, dietary habits, and meat procurement patterns in Chang'an (Xi'an, China) during the Tang dynasty period (618–907 <span>ce</span>). Zooarchaeological evidence identifies caprines as the primary meat source, supplemented by cattle, dogs, pigs, and poultry. Our findings indicate a targeted meat procurement strategy, with animals selected based on their age to secure high-quality meat, thereby hinting at the potential high status of Xiajiazhuang's residents. Along with other lines of evidence, our results suggest that interactions within the city and between the capital and its surrounding areas could have played a significant role in shaping faunal resource management strategies in Xiajiazhuang during the Tang dynasty.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":14179,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Osteoarchaeology","volume":"35 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2024-11-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143446903","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Writing a First Osteoarchaeology Article: Some Advice for Early Career Researchers","authors":"Robin Bendrey,&nbsp;Piers D. Mitchell","doi":"10.1002/oa.3370","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.3370","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Writing a journal article is a different skill from writing a postgraduate thesis or a technical report. Getting published is an important step in academic careers, so it is a key skill to master. It is obviously good to publish completed research to disseminate the research to wider academic and public communities. Your first publications are also often your formal introduction to the academic community and can help shape the next steps of your career. They help to establish reputation and may contribute to employment or funding application decisions (Nicholas et al. <span>2017</span>; Bazeley <span>2003</span>).</p><p>Academic article writing is a different style of writing for some to learn when coming out of a postgraduate degree. Remember, you can ask senior colleagues and peers to look at drafts, and you can also reach out to journal editors to check if your topic or study is within scope before submitting. Resilience and determination are important qualities to have in academic careers—as anyone who has published a lot will tell you, there are also rejections along the way. Listen to feedback; revise, and if necessary, resubmit elsewhere. Good luck with your writing and submissions!</p><p>There are no conflicts of interest.</p>","PeriodicalId":14179,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Osteoarchaeology","volume":"34 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2024-11-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/oa.3370","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142860889","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Geometric morphometric approach to dental health in an 18th- to 19th-century English infirmary","authors":"Ellie Jo Terpstra,&nbsp;Max Price,&nbsp;Anwen Cedifor Caffell","doi":"10.1002/oa.3364","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.3364","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This study evaluated correlations between poor dental health and craniomandibular morphology for the Radcliffe Infirmary population buried between 1770 and 1855. The Radcliffe Infirmary is situated in Oxford, 90 km northwest of London, in what used to be a rural area. The original report for this population observed high prevalence rates of dental caries, antemortem tooth loss (AMTL), and periodontal disease. Industrial societies are acknowledged to have highly processed foods that not only are detrimental to dental health but also require less mastication. This softening of diet is suggested to be the leading influence on the modern morphology of the skull. By using two-dimensional geometric morphometrics (GM) and linear measurements of the skull, the Radcliffe population was evaluated for the effects of poor dental health and decreased wear on the masticatory structures. High frequencies of AMTL, periodontal disease, and caries and low amounts of dental wear were observed in this sample population. Caries and AMTL showed weak correlations with skull shape and craniomandibular dimensions according to the results of the morphometric analysis and Kendall's tau. Dental wear correlated with a wide bizygomatic breadth and a long narrow skull shape for the males only. Periodontal disease was the only dental health variable not correlated with shape or size. This study confirmed that the Radcliffe population ate a cariogenic diet and suggests that dental wear and pathology weakly correlates with craniomandibular shape and size. This unpredicted finding may be due to the limitations of two-dimensional shape analysis, a small sample size, and the sampling strategy. Future research is highly encouraged to better understand the consequences of poor dental health for skull morphology.</p>","PeriodicalId":14179,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Osteoarchaeology","volume":"35 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2024-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143446894","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sex estimation by discriminant function analysis of long bones in prehistoric Southeast Asian populations","authors":"Sophorn Nhoem,&nbsp;Kate Domett","doi":"10.1002/oa.3365","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.3365","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Biological sex estimation is an integral part of reconstructing the biological profile of an individual in forensic anthropological and bioarchaeological contexts. Formulating population specific discriminant function equations for metric variables is vital for reconstructing biological sex of fragmentary skeletal remains. This study aimed to develop multivariable and univariable sectioning point sex estimation equations from long bones of prehistoric Thailand and Cambodia people dated from 4700 to 1450 BP. A total of 481 individuals (236 females and 245 males) with 997 long bone measurements were analyzed. Discriminant function analysis was used to analyze sexually dimorphic measurements from long bones of humeri (177 females and 183 males), femora (169 females and 178 males), and tibiae (139 females and 151 males). Stepwise and direct multivariable functions offered the highest accuracies of 97.3% for humeri, 97% for femora, and 96.7% for tibiae. Univariable functions indicated that the recommended measurements for use in sex estimations with high cross-validation accuracies are the humeral epicondylar breadth (89.1%), femoral maximum head diameter (87.1%), and tibial midshaft circumference (88.3%). These equations are applicable for use in sex estimation for the specific prehistoric Southeast Asian populations to improve our understanding of the prehistoric demography. Further evaluation and validation of the equations are required to test whether these equations can also be applied to estimate biological sex of contemporary Southeast Asian populations.</p>","PeriodicalId":14179,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Osteoarchaeology","volume":"35 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2024-11-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143446777","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Inflammatory arthropathies: Perspectives from a Portuguese male individual (1574–1834 CE)","authors":"Nathalie Antunes-Ferreira,&nbsp;Francisco Curate,&nbsp;Carlos Prates,&nbsp;Carina Marques","doi":"10.1002/oa.3362","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.3362","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Arthropathies are common in past populations and can be categorized into two groups: those with predominant bone production (e.g., osteoarthritis) and those with significant bone loss (e.g., erosive arthropathies). The former is frequent in the archaeological record, whereas the latter are uncommon. We present a Post-Medieval male individual, recovered in the Convent of the Holy Spirit (Loures, Portugal), with multiple articular and entheseal bone changes, particularly extensive periarticular, marginal, and subchondral erosive processes, often exposing trabecular bone. Proliferative lesions and extensive ankylosis are also observed in the synovial joints. These pathological changes affect both the axial and peripheral skeleton in a polyarticular, bilateral, and asymmetric pattern. Given that the appendicular skeleton, particularly the hands and feet, are the most affected areas, the most probable diagnosis is a peripheral spondyloarthropathy such as psoriatic arthritis or reactive arthritis. This case study is the first archaeological instance of psoriatic arthritis or reactive arthritis described in Portugal, highlighting the importance of a differential diagnosis and the need for reflection when pathological changes characteristics overlap, advocating for a broader diagnostic approach.</p>","PeriodicalId":14179,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Osteoarchaeology","volume":"34 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142762701","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}