Bioarchaeological Evidence Research Articles

Rice, lamb and tuna. Food processing and acquiring strategies in the medieval harbour city of Qalhât (Oman): Bioarchaeological evidence from the twin houses' building (B94)

The rise of the kingdom of Hormuz during the 13th–15th c. CE led to the development of harbour cities such as Qalhât (Sultanate of Oman), considered as the kingdom's second capital. However, although some textual sources are available, a lack of bioarchaeological analysis means that the food-processing activities and subsistence strategies set up to feed this urban population are still largely unknown. Multi-proxy analyses, including zoological, ichthyological, and botanical, have therefore been undertaken on the twin houses building (B94) at the site of Qalhât. Cross-referencing these data allowed for the identification of several food processing activities and the function of some rooms due to their spatial distribution. In addition, these data give new insights into fishing practices (intensively exploited pelagic zone) and the composition and management of agropastoral systems (in the form of oasis date palm gardens, using a combination of crops, weeds and livestock), as well as food acquiring strategies that relied on the importation of plant products via the long-distance maritime trade networks of the western Indian Ocean. The study of building (B94) has provided major data to understand the way of life of the inhabitants of this region for this period, still too little studied.

The intersection of diet, class, and sex during the Eastern Zhou (770–221 BCE): Bioarchaeological evidence from the Dahan cemetery, China

The Eastern Zhou (770–221 BCE) was an important period of social transformation in ancient China. The development of class- and gender-based stratification of this period had profound effects on human diet. We aim to examine the relationships among diet, class, and sex (as a proxy for gender) during this period through comparative investigations of noble individuals and sacrificial human companions. We analyzed the stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values of bone collagen of 61 human (26 nobles and 35 sacrificial companions) and 32 faunal samples from the Dahan (大韩) cemetery (an Eastern Zhou archaeological site). There are statistically significant class-based dietary differences, with the nobles consuming more socially valued foods (high protein food and millets) compared with sacrificial companions, which is also supported by paleopathological evidence. Sex-based differences were specific to class, with no significant dietary differences found in the nobles, whereas males may have had better diets than females in the lower classes. Our dietary analysis suggests that some sacrificial companions may have benefited from the resources of their noble masters, however, most sacrificial companions had a poorer diet. In addition, one noble individual possibly experienced social mobility in his lifetime, as shown by the discrepancy in his burial treatment and his long-term diet. This cemetery-wide study of dietary differences between nobles and sacrificial companions allows for novel insight into the intersection of class, gender, and diet during the Eastern Zhou period.

Bioarchaeological Evidence of Violence between the Middle and Late Formative (500–400 BC) in the Peruvian North-Central Coast

Abstract In this study, we address interpersonal violence during the transition between the Middle and the Late Formative periods in the Central Andes, a critical period of political disintegration, hypothesized population pressure, and reorganization of the belief systems that is poorly known from a bioarchaeological viewpoint. Our objective is to understand the nature of the violence and associated factors in this context based on a detailed description of skeletal trauma in 67 well-preserved individuals (20 adolescents and adults and 47 subadults) recovered from Quebrada Chupacigarro cemetery (500–400 BC); this site is located in the middle valley of Supe on the Peruvian north-central coast. To detect patterns and potential causes, we registered the prevalence of traumatic injury according to age, sex, anatomic location, mechanisms (blunt, sharp, mixed, etc.), timing (antemortem or perimortem), and manner (inflicted or accidental). The results show a high prevalence of fractures in the whole population, but especially in adolescents and adults. Eighty percent of the adolescents and adults perished due to the intentional trauma and show patterns that suggest repetitive episodes of interpersonal violence. Perimortem injuries in the skull, face, and thorax are compatible with lethal interpersonal violence. The findings support a probable scenario of intercommunity violence in the middle valley of Supe around 500–400 BC.

The expendables: Bioarchaeological evidence for pauper apprentices in 19th century England and the health consequences of child labour.

Child labour is the most common form of child abuse in the world today, with almost half of child workers employed in hazardous industries. The large-scale employment of children during the rapid industrialisation of the late 18th and early 19th centuries in England is well documented. During this period, the removal of pauper children from workhouses in cities to work as apprentices in rural mills in the North of England was commonplace. Whilst the experiences of some of these children have been recorded historically, this study provides the first direct evidence of their lives through bioarchaeological analysis. The excavation of a rural churchyard cemetery in the village of Fewston, North Yorkshire, yielded the skeletal remains of 154 individuals, including an unusually large proportion of children aged between 8 to 20 years. A multi-method approach was undertaken, including osteological and palaeopathological examination, stable isotope and amelogenin peptide analysis. The bioarchaeological results were integrated with historical data regarding a local textile mill in operation during the 18th-19th centuries. The results for the children were compared to those obtained from contemporaneous individuals of known identity (from coffin plates) of comparable date. Most of the children exhibited distinctive 'non-local' isotope signatures and a diet low in animal protein when compared to the named local individuals. These children also showed severe growth delays and pathological lesions indicative of early life adversity, as well as respiratory disease, which is a known occupational hazard of mill work. This study has provided unique insights into the harrowing lives of these children; born into poverty and forced to work long hours in dangerous conditions. This analysis provides a stark testimony of the impacts of industrial labour on the health, growth and mortality risk of children, with implications for the present as well as our understanding of the past.

Is it all about the economy? To what extent did the Roman economy shape the morphology of livestock?

The main domesticated animals (pig, cattle, sheep and chicken) underwent some of the most prominent size increase and morphological changes in past husbandry practices during the Roman period. The phenomenon is now well described for many parts of the Roman Empire. Variability in the timing and intensity of changes have been highlighted between different regions. The purposes of rearing taller and more robust animals have also been extensively discussed with a strong bias in favour of economic explanations. This paper aims to further investigate the drivers of cattle morphological evolution by combining both bioarchaeological evidence and written sources. A comparative approach between several areas of the Roman Empire will be conducted to take into account the environmental, economic, cultural, and religious factors behind these major changes in animal management. In particular, this paper will address the question not yet investigated of the impact of the ritual practices on the dynamics of morphological changes in livestock. By adopting a similar holistic approach to this phenomenon in different regions of the Roman Empire, this paper also aims to clarify the respective roles of regional and supra-regional drivers in the animal economy.

Mobility and kinship in the world’s first village societies

Around 10,000 y ago in southwest Asia, the cessation of a mobile lifestyle and the emergence of the first village communities during the Neolithic marked a fundamental change in human history. The first communities were small (tens to hundreds of individuals) but remained semisedentary. So-called megasites appeared soon after, occupied by thousands of more sedentary inhabitants. Accompanying this shift, the material culture and ancient ecological data indicate profound changes in economic and social behavior. A shift from residential to logistical mobility and increasing population size are clear and can be explained by either changes in fertility and/or aggregation of local groups. However, as sedentism increased, small early communities likely risked inbreeding without maintaining or establishing exogamous relationships typical of hunter-gatherers. Megasites, where large populations would have made endogamy sustainable, could have avoided this risk. To examine the role of kinship practices in the rise of megasites, we measured strontium and oxygen isotopes in tooth enamel from 99 individuals buried at Pınarbaşı, Boncuklu, and Çatalhöyük (Turkey) over 7,000 y. These sites are geographically proximate and, critically, span both early sedentary behaviors (Pınarbaşı and Boncuklu) and the rise of a local megasite (Çatalhöyük). Our data are consistent with the presence of only local individuals at Pınarbaşı and Boncuklu, whereas at Çatalhöyük, several nonlocals are present. The Çatalhöyük data stand in contrast to other megasites where bioarchaeological evidence has pointed to strict endogamy. These different kinship behaviors suggest that megasites may have arisen by employing unique, community-specific kinship practices.

Conflict, violence, and warfare among early farmers in Northwestern Europe

Bioarchaeological evidence of interpersonal violence and early warfare presents important insights into conflict in past societies. This evidence is critical for understanding the motivations for violence and its effects on opposing and competing individuals and groups across time and space. Selecting the Neolithic of northwestern Europe as an area for study, the present paper examines the variation and societal context for the violence recorded in the human skeletal remains from this region as one of the most important elements of human welfare. Compiling data from various sources, it becomes apparent that violence was endemic in Neolithic Europe, sometimes reaching levels of intergroup hostilities that ended in the utter destruction of entire communities. While the precise comparative quantification of healed and unhealed trauma remains a fundamental problem, patterns emerge that see conflict likely fostered by increasing competition between settled and growing communities, e.g., for access to arable land for food production. The further development of contextual information is paramount in order to address hypotheses on the motivations, origins, and evolution of violence as based on the study of human remains, the most direct indicator for actual small- and large-scale violence.

Bioarchaeology of Arsenic, an Invisible Natural Pollutant, and Its Effect on the Mitimaes of Camarones Cove, Arica, during Inca Times

During the expansion of Tawantinsuyo, the Inca Empire sustained its hegemony by using multiple strategies, including moving specialized groups called mitimaes to their conquered territories. This study examines bioarchaeological evidence from the Camarones 9 (CAM-9) Inca period cemetery at the mouth of the Camarones Valley in northern Chile. The waters in this valley contain concentrations of arsenic that are 100 times above the norm (10 μg/L) for human ingestion, causing serious health consequences. We study the environmental health effects on this population, using atomic absorption spectrometry and hydride generation to investigate arsenic concentration in the bone tissues of 16 individuals sampled from this burial site. Three of four individuals presented arsenic levels in their bones that were beyond the standard 1 μg/g, with a median of 3.6 μg/g; in some, the levels were nine times higher than those currently recommended by the World Health Organization. Considering previous and current bioarchaeological evidence, especially the high arsenic levels found in these individuals, we postulate that the CAM-9 site population corresponds to mitimaes who settled on the Camarones coast. This study is relevant to all regions of the world that present ecotoxic loads.

Correction to: The 4.2 ka BP Climate Event in Egypt: Integration of Archaeological, Geoarchaeological, and Bioarchaeological Evidence

Correction to: The 4.2 ka BP Climate Event in Egypt: Integration of Archaeological, Geoarchaeological, and Bioarchaeological Evidence

Bioarchaeological evidence of one of the earliest Islamic burials in the Levant

The Middle East plays a central role in human history harbouring a vast diversity of ethnic, cultural and religious groups. However, much remains to be understood about past and present genomic diversity in this region. Here we present a multidisciplinary bioarchaeological analysis of two individuals dated to the late 7th and early 8th centuries, the Umayyad Era, from Tell Qarassa, an open-air site in modern-day Syria. Radiocarbon dates and burial type are consistent with one of the earliest Islamic Arab burials in the Levant. Interestingly, we found genomic similarity to a genotyped group of modern-day Bedouins and Saudi rather than to most neighbouring Levantine groups. This study represents the genomic analysis of a secondary use site with characteristics consistent with an early Islamic burial in the Levant. We discuss our findings and possible historic scenarios in the light of forces such as genetic drift and their possible interaction with religious and cultural processes (including diet and subsistence practices).

Childhood in Captivity: Bioarchaeological Evidence from a Late Colonial Sugar Plantation in Central Peru

Children and childhood have emerged as important topics for understanding the history of African slavery in the Americas. In historical archaeology, analyses of subadult skeletal remains have provided valuable information about the biological and social conditions of captivity, yet children are infrequently the primary subjects of study in African diaspora bioarchaeology. Recent bioarchaeological research at Hacienda La Quebrada, a late colonial sugar plantation in central Peru, brings new data to bear on these subjects. Excavations at the cemetery for the plantation's enslaved African and Afro-descendant population recovered 158 subadults ranging from newborns to 20 years old, who represented 64% of the burial sample. Paleodemographic data and skeletal indicators of stress indicate that enslaved children were disproportionately affected by the conditions of life at Hacienda La Quebrada, particularly because of insufficient diets and susceptibility to infection and disease. Although these results are specific to the context of plantation slavery in Peru's coastal sugar economy, they contribute new information about the history of African slavery in Peru and about the study of childhood in conditions of captivity and colonialism in the Spanish Americas more broadly.

Archaeological and Bioarchaeological Evidence from the Ottoman period Bosnia: The Case Study of Doboj-Čaršija

The Selimiye is a mosque complex located in the old city’s center of Doboj – the Upper Town (čaršija). We present the results of the first interdisciplinary analysis of archaeological and bioarchaeological finds from its excavations in 1994 attempting to get the first insights into living conditions of the Ottoman period Bosnia. Archaeological assemblage dated to the 16th-19th century is composed of pottery, clay tobacco pipes, small everyday metal objects, functional parts of costume, and glass fragments. Animal remains were probably associated with ritual context of food consumption during the Eid al-Adha feasts. Burial of a child inside the mosque’s harem indicates its belonging to an upper class Muslim family of Doboj.

HEALTH CARE IN THE MARKETPLACE: EXPLORING MAYA MEDICINAL PLANTS AND PRACTICES AT PIEDRAS NEGRAS, GUATEMALA

AbstractBotanical residues recovered from excavations in the Southeast Marketplace of Piedras Negras provide information about the healing and medical activities of the site's Classic period (a.d. 350–900) inhabitants, and point towards the intersection between commerce and medicine for the ancient Maya. The plants were likely exchanged at the market then used on-site for the purposes of healing. The botanical remains are complemented by both architectural and bioarchaeological evidence for healing at this locus, including a high concentration of sweatbaths and evidence for palliative tooth extraction. With the aid of ethnohistory, we identify health care practices potentially associated with the plant remains. However, we expand on basic understandings of “healing” with a critical look at how some medicinal plants may have been ritually invoked, even when never directly ingested or applied topically.

Bioarchaeological evidence for ancient human diet and migration at Epidamnus/Dyrrachion and Apollonia in Illyria, Albania

Bioarchaeological evidence for ancient human diet and migration at Epidamnus/Dyrrachion and Apollonia in Illyria, Albania

Historic and bioarchaeological evidence supports late onset of post-Columbian epidemics in Native California

SignificanceThe idea of precipitous continent-wide population decline beginning ca. 1492 has long influenced ecological and social narratives of North America. We analyze the largest systematic dataset of mortality records (n= 33,715 individuals) yet compiled across North America coupling archaeological and historic data to evaluate the nature and timing of Indigenous depopulation in what is now called central California. Findings indicate that mortality risk consistent with a plague-like age-at-death structure began after sustained contact with European invaders ca. AD 1770, suggesting that major depopulation began relatively late in this and possibly other isolated regions of North America. Our analysis does not support a "rebound" in native flora and fauna as a consequence of hypothesized epidemics before the first colonial settlements.

Establishing the Middle Sea: The Late Bronze Age of Mediterranean Europe (1700–900 BC)

The Late Bronze Age (1700–900 BC) represents an extremely dynamic period for Mediterranean Europe. Here, we provide a comparative survey of the archaeological record of over half a millennium within the entire northern littoral of the Mediterranean, from Greece to Iberia, incorporating archaeological, archaeometric, and bioarchaeological evidence. The picture that emerges, while certainly fragmented and not displaying a unique trajectory, reveals a number of broad trends in aspects as different as social organization, trade, transcultural phenomena, and human mobility. The contribution of such trends to the processes that caused the end of the Bronze Age is also examined. Taken together, they illustrate how networks of interaction, ranging from the short to the long range, became a defining aspect of the “Middle Sea” during this time, influencing the lives of the communities that inhabited its northern shore. They also highlight the importance of research that crosses modern boundaries for gaining a better understanding of broad comparable dynamics.

Non-Local Enemies or Local Subjects of Violence?: Using Strontium (87Sr/86Sr) and Lead (206Pb/204Pb, 207Pb/204Pb, 208Pb/204Pb) Isobiographies to Reconstruct Geographic Origins and Early Childhood Mobility of Decapitated Male Heads from the Majes Valley, Peru

Throughout much of the pre-Hispanic Andes, bioarchaeological and iconographic evidence shows that the decapitation, dismemberment, and display of human heads were important aspects of ritual practices. Researchers have debated about the social identities of these decapitated heads—were they revered local ancestors, non-local enemies captured in raids or war, or locals injured in distant combat partially repatriated for home burial—answers which have distinct implications for understanding the motivations and social contexts of this practice. We describe trophy-taking and trophy-making from the Uraca cemetery in pre-Hispanic Arequipa, Peru. To determine whether these trophies were locals, we employ radiogenic isotope analyses (87Sr/86Sr, 206Pb/204Pb, 207Pb/204Pb, 208Pb/204Pb) of tooth enamel from 37 individuals (25 non-trophies and 12 adult male trophies). To understand the degree of childhood mobility that occurred and whether that differed between individuals who became trophies and those who did not, we also examine 87Sr/86Sr, 206Pb/204Pb, 207Pb/204Pb, 208Pb/204Pb in paired teeth from infancy/early childhood and middle childhood of 18 individuals (8 non-trophies and 10 trophies). Results show that 20% of the non-trophies and 75% of the trophies were non-local relative to modeled local 87Sr/86Sr and mean (± 2 SD) of lead isotope values. Intra-childhood differences show that the individuals who became trophies experienced more childhood mobility than non-trophy individuals. This suggests Uraca’s external interactions and mobility were structured by violent intergroup raids and warfare throughout the region. Ongoing analyses will extend Uraca’s residential isobiographies to adolescence and late-life, refine the expected range of isotope ratios in the region, and clarify the extent of Majes Valley mobility during the mid-first millennium CE.

The status of women in Neolithic & pre-Imperial China: How bioarchaeological evidence informs ongoing debate

ABSTRACT Where do Chinese gender norms come from and how did they culturally evolve through time? This question receives ample debate in the context of Warring States, pre-Imperial, and Imperial China. Many archaeologists and interdisciplinary scholars contend that earliest China treated its women relatively well. This paper’s interdisciplinary examination of bioarchaeological evidence from Neolithic and pre-Imperial sources synthesizes new information to enrich this debate. Discussed are studies of sex-linked DNA drawn from human remains, sex ratio data from burials, and indicators of diet quality including isotopic studies of nitrogen and carbon as well as dental pathologies. The paper focuses on data drawn from polities within the phylocultural cultural trunk leading to Imperial China. Evidence indicates that women in pre-Imperial China were treated less well than in other early societies. Comparative lessons about the cultural evolution of Chinese gender norms in the context of norms in other early civilizations are drawn.

The Bioarchaeology of Migration in the Ancient Mediterranean

The Mediterranean is often regarded as characterized by high levels of human mobility and migration, which are in turn considered to have driven large-scale cultural effects. However, this supposition is problematic, in that it relies on various types of proxy for human movement, rather than on direct bioarchaeological evidence. Accordingly, in this study we attempt to quantify diachronic Mediterranean mobility and migration by undertaking the first meta-analysis of the burgeoning radiogenic isotope datasets now available from the Mediterranean. We gathered 87Sr/ 86Sr data derived from funerary populations from the Neolithic to the late Roman period. We imposed a data-hygiene regime, discarding low-quality, methodologically idiosyncratic, or other potentially erroneous data; this resulted in a cleansed and trimmed dataset (n = 899). Within this dataset, we find that mean rates of post-juvenile migration are relatively low. Utilizing the methodologies specific to individual studies, the mean nonlocal rate is 9.57%. Imposing a standard methodology on the most statistically robust data (resulting in n = 702) allows us to recompute a mean nonlocal rate of 5.84%. In both the data as originally reported and as recomputed, we detect comparatively higher levels of migration in the period 7000–3500 BC, followed by decreasing levels of migration in the later Holocene. We discuss the implications of these results for how we understand longterm cultural and behavioral change in the Mediterranean.

Food and Power in Early Medieval England: a Lack of (Isotopic) Enrichment

ABSTRACTThis work tackles long held assumptions in both archaeology and history surrounding elite diets in early medieval England i.e., that higher status individuals had a more meat-heavy diet and that this was especially true for males. We utilise the largest isotopic dataset on early medieval diets to date to show that not only were high protein diets extremely rare in England before Scandinavian settlement, but that dietary differences cannot be linked to gender or social status from the funerary record. Comparisons with the calculations made in our companion article and the bioarchaeological evidence demonstrate further that the lists of food demanded by eighth-century kings were not the basis for regular elite diet, and that these texts probably represent the supplies for infrequent feasts.