Burial Contexts Research Articles

The Multi-Period Settlement Dali in Southeastern Kazakhstan: Bronze Age Institutional Dynamics along the Inner Asian Mountain Corridor

Archaeological excavations at the Dali site complex located in southeastern Kazakhstan provide a rich picture of Bronze Age life spanning from the early third to late second millennia b.c. Nearly ten years of research at the site have produced an abundant assemblage of architectural remains, ritual and burial contexts, human and animal ancient DNA, and evidence for related economic practices and other material forms (ceramics, metallurgy). A systematic radiocarbon dating program provides detailed chronological context for the numerous stratigraphically documented phases of occupation, burial, and economy at the site. The settlement contexts at Dali provide some of the most varied and well-dated material assemblages known in the region and help illustrate how local pastoralist societies developed traditions of architecture, ceramic production, herd management, and ritual in the Early Bronze Age, while innovating and incorporating novel craft techniques, economic strategies, burial styles, and settlement construction in the Middle and Late Bronze Age. Taken together, the archaeological data from Dali allow for a detailed reconstruction of the local practices and regional interactions that engaged agro-pastoralist communities within diverse, shared institutional domains across the Inner Asian Mountain Corridor and beyond over a span of more than 2000 years.

Skeletal frailty at Kałdus, a medieval Poland early Piast dynasty cemetery

The objective of this project is to assess skeletal frailty, as estimated using a skeletal frailty index (SFI), at the medieval Polish site of Kałdus to better evaluate the impacts of living and social environments on individuals within this urban­izing population. We assessed biological frailty in adults from the Global History of Health Project database. 11 skeletal and dentoalveolar biomarkers were selected as representative of childhood and adulthood frailty and aggregated into an SFI by summing their occurrence in each individual. Cumulative skeletal frailty scores were tabulated for each individ­ual and could range from 0 (no skeletal markers of stressors present) to 11 (all skeletal markers of stressors present) based on the presence or severity of lifetime stressors that altered their living bones. As many skeletal frailty markers correlate with age, SFIs were compared between individuals within specific age groups: 18–25 (n = 21), 26–35 (n = 31), 36–45 (n = 31), and >45 (n = 25) years. In the overall sample, SFI averaged 4.13 (range 0–9, sd = 1.98). Among males (n = 56), SFI averaged 4.45 (sd = 1.90; range 1–8); among females (n=52), it was 3.79 (sd = 2.03; range 0–9). SFI was lowest in the youngest age group, 2.38 (sd = 1.83; range 0–6) and highest in the oldest, 5.48 (sd = 1.50; range 2–9; p < 0.001). In these medieval skeletons, SFI distributions were significantly different between males and females only when accounting for age (p = 0.044), with females exhibiting higher mean frailty within each age group. Skeletal frailty, as estimated from biomarkers of skeletal stress, suggests these individuals were exposed to considerable stress throughout their lives. As Poland’s written history in the medieval period is sparse, assessing skeletal frailty provides an alternative way to under­stand the lives and experienced stressors of its inhabitants. Further research connecting skeletal frailty to burial context and isotopic evidence will illuminate connections of SFI with diet, lifestyle, and health in medieval Poland.

Tracing the Materiality of Feathers in Stone Age North-Eastern Europe

The use of feathers in ritual costumes and everyday clothing is well described in ethnographic sources throughout the world. From the same sources we know that bird wings and feathers were loaded with meaning in traditional societies worldwide. However, direct archaeological evidence of prehistoric use of feathers is still extremely scarce. Hence, feathers belong to the ‘missing majority’: items that are absent from the archaeological record but which we can assume to have been of importance. Here we present microscopic analysis of soil samples from hunter-gatherer burial contexts which reveal the first direct evidence of the use of feathers in the Mesolithic period of north-eastern Europe.

Please Put Them Back: A Non-NAGPRA Case of Reburial

Wupatki National Monument archaeologists recently recovered artifacts from an exposed cist that were about to fall into a newly formed wash due to intensified downpours related to climate change. Monument staff worked with traditionally associated tribes to create an emergency excavation plan and a contingency for the reburial of cist contents should human remains be encountered. When no human remains were found, the Wupatki curator accessioned and cataloged the cist contents which included seven intact prehistoric pots. Because intact pottery is seldom found outside of a burial context, the monument and its Friend’s Group sought to place the items on display. However, when the Wupatki curator consulted with Hopi elders about the cist contents for the exhibit, she learned that what archaeologists thought to be a “pot cache” was something else entirely. The article discusses the events that led to the eventual “accession by mistake” process, the reburial of the cist contents, and the resulting lessons learned.

River networks and funerary metal in the Bronze Age of the Carpathian Basin.

Archaeologists use differences in metals from burial contexts to identify variation in social inequalities during the European Bronze Age. Many have argued that these social inequalities depended on access to, and control of, trade routes. In this paper, I model critical gateways in the Tisza river—a river system in the Carpathian Basin that might have enabled privileged access to metal in some areas but not others. I then evaluate the concentration of metal on different topological nodes of the river network in an attempt to understand what best explains the distribution of metals across this landscape. I do this by describing Bronze Age metal consumption and display in cemeteries from four micro-regions of the Tisza, and compare them with network ‘betweenness centrality’ values for locations along the river. I find support for the argument that favourably located river nodes had better access to metal in the earlier part of the Bronze Age.

Compositional and microstructural outlook of grave goods from Anta do Malhão and Soalheironas (Portugal): The diachronic use of arsenical copper in southwestern Iberian Peninsula

Although in recent years the prehistoric metallurgy of southwestern Iberian Peninsula has become increasingly well understood, the southernmost region still requires additional research. This work presents the technological study of artefacts from burial contexts located in this area, namely the necropolises of Anta do Malhão and Soalheironas (Algarve region). Typologies of metalwork and pottery ascribe the single inhumation at Anta do Malhão to a late phase of the “Ferradeira Horizon” (last quarter of the 3rd millennium BC), while assigning the necropolis of cists at Soalheironas to an earlier phase of the Middle Bronze Age (1st half of the 2nd millennium BC). The elemental and microstructural composition of artefacts was established by micro-energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy with X-ray microanalysis. Results show artefacts made of arsenical copper alloys (2.01–3.40% As) with very low iron content (<0.05% Fe). The microstructures display deformed equiaxed grains with annealing twins and slip bands, evidencing cycles of hammering and annealing, followed by a finishing hammering operation. The integration of results in the prehistoric metallurgy of southwestern Iberian Peninsula suggests a shared technological tradition, while a more comprehensive discussion discloses important developments involving the increased production of strain-hardened tools and weapons, together with a rising substitution of the copper metal by arsenical copper alloys from the 3rd to the 2nd millennium BC.

New insights into Early Iron Age connections between Sardinia and Etruria: Archaeometric analyses of ceramics from Tavolara

The island of Tavolara off the coast of northeastern Sardinia (Italy) was intermittently occupied from Neolithic to modern times, and recent excavations at the site of Spalmatore di Terra have revealed the presence of Villanovan ceramics on the island dating to the 9th century BCE (according to the traditional chronology). Contacts between Etruria and Sardinia during the Early Iron Age are well documented by the recovery of Nuragic vessels and metal objects in Etrurian burial contexts, but the presence of Villanovan artefacts in Sardinia is comparably rare. Indeed, discoveries from Spalamatore di Terra represent the first evidence of Villanovan ceramics in Sardinia, likely originating from Tyrrhenian Etruria.To investigate the provenance of the ceramics found at Spalamatore di Terra, a representative sample of these materials was chosen to be studied through a combination of petrographic and geochemical characterisation. A particular emphasis was placed on the Villanovan materials that were most abundant, but a selection of Nuragic sherds was also included. The results of these analyses are significant in that they reveal a surprisingly diverse range of ceramic fabrics that can be linked to Etruria, thus providing insights into Tavolara’s place within a broader trans-marine network of interaction.

Soil Fungal Communities Investigated by Metabarcoding Within Simulated Forensic Burial Contexts.

Decomposition of animal bodies in the burial environment plays a key role in the biochemistry of the soil, altering the balance of the local microbial populations present before the introduction of the carcass. Despite the growing number of studies on decomposition and soil bacterial populations, less is known on its effects on fungal communities. Shifts in the fungal populations at different post-mortem intervals (PMIs) could provide insights for PMI estimation and clarify the role that specific fungal taxa have at specific decomposition stages. In this study, we buried pig carcasses over a period of 1- to 6-months, and we sampled the soil in contact with each carcass at different PMIs. We performed metabarcoding analysis of the mycobiome targeting both the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) 1 and 2, to elucidate which one was more suitable for this purpose. Our results showed a decrease in the fungal taxonomic richness associated with increasing PMIs, and the alteration of the soil fungal signature even after 6 months post-burial, showing the inability of soil communities to restore their original composition within this timeframe. The results highlighted taxonomic trends associated with specific PMIs, such as the increase of the Mortierellomycota after 4- and 6-months and of Ascomycota particularly after 2 months, and the decrease of Basidiomycota from the first to the last time point. We have found a limited number of taxa specifically associated with the carrion and not present in the control soil, showing that the major contributors to the recorded changes are originated from the soil and were not introduced by the carrion. As this is the first study conducted on burial graves, it sets the baseline for additional studies to investigate the role of fungal communities on prolonged decomposition periods and to identify fungal biomarkers to improve the accuracy of PMI prediction for forensic applications.

How Useful Are Osteoarchaeological Methods in Supporting Current Interpretations for Violent Death? A Review of the Data from Iron Age Burial Contexts in England

Welcome to the home of the SHARE e-Journal! Here we strive to promote interdisciplinary and subject-specific research from the fields of archaeology, conservation, history and religion. We are a vibrant team of postgraduate research students in the School of History, Archaeology and Religion (SHARE) at Cardiff University, dedicated to publishing excellent and impactful research from the variety of our fields.

The Use and Significance of Early Bronze Age Stone Battle-axes and Axe-hammers from Northern Britain and the Isle of Man

The perforated stone battle-axes and axe-hammers of Early Bronze Age Britain have been used either to interpret the status of individuals they were buried with or have been overlooked; this is especially the case with axe-hammers. Previous understandings have assumed battle-axes were purely ceremonial, while the rougher axe-hammers were neither functional nor prestigious, being too large and too crude to be prestige items. Studies of the 20th century were focused on creating a typology and understanding the manufacture and petrological sources of the stone, concluding that haphazard exploitation of stone was used to create a variety of different shapes of both implements. This paper revisits the question of how these artefacts were used. It presents the results of the first large-scale application of use-wear analysis to British Early Bronze Age battle-axes and axe-hammers, from northern Britain and the Isle of Man. Combining the results of the wear analysis with experimental archaeology and contextual analysis, it is argued that these objects were functional tools, some of which saw prolonged use that might have spanned multiple users. The evidence shows that the few implements found in burial contexts were both functional and symbolic; their inclusion in burial contexts drawing upon relational links which developed through the itineraries of these objects. It is also apparent that use and treatment were similar across all types of battle-axe and axe-hammer, with some regional variation in the deposition of axe-hammers in south-west Scotland. It is concluded that battle-axes and axe-hammers had varied and multiple roles and significances and that it is possible to discover what each artefact was used for by deploying a use-wear analysis methodology.

Flint ‘figurines’ from the Early Neolithic site of Kharaysin, Jordan

During the Early Neolithic in the Near East, particularly from the mid ninth millennium cal BC onwards, human iconography became more widespread. Explanations for this development, however, remain elusive. This article presents a unique assemblage of flint artefacts from the Middle Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (eighth millennium BC) site of Kharaysin in Jordan. Contextual, morphological, statistical and use-wear analyses of these artefacts suggest that they are not tools but rather human figurines. Their close association with burial contexts suggests that they were manufactured and discarded during mortuary rituals and remembrance ceremonies that included the extraction, manipulation and redeposition of human remains.

Jewellery from Burial 2 Kurgan 1 Filippovka 1 Cemetery: Manufacturing Techniques, Purpose and Semantics of Images

The article is dedicated to the publication of the unique jewelry which was found in the untouched noble female’s grave-pit of the Early Sarmatian elite burial ground located at Southern Urals. It stands out with an unordinary complicated construction, polychrome style, a variety of materials and techniques used in its manufacture, central disc containing cloisonne artwork. Analysis of the item’s burial context convincingly showed this item was not worn as a decoration in social life, but it was the precious relic used in religious ceremonies and ritual practices for short periods of time. A detailed study of manufacturing technology allows us to reconstruct the fastening ways and application methods for this jewelry. The search of analogies for images placed on the central medallion, made it possible to clarify its compositional semantics. Its central character is the sacred tree, guarded by the divine power of “khvarenah” deity. “Khvarenah” is presented by two guises - the winged sun disc and the sacred Veraghna birds. General meaning of the ritual reflects the idea of increasing fertility: ensuring the well-being and increasing offspring numbers, health, wealth and prosperity of the family. New Assyrian compositional scheme used in the medallion. It appeared at the beginning of the IX century BC and actively spread in Urartu and pre-Achaemenid Media since the VIII-VII centuries BC. This relic was found in the early nomadic burial site dating back to the IV century BC. All these show the significant continuity of ancient Iranian religious cults. They continue to exist in the satrapies of Achaemenid Iran, they are perceived by the elite of the Sarmatian tribes of the Southern Urals and they spread in a nomadic environment.

Identifying the Brazil nut effect in archaeological site formation processes

The Brazil nut effect (BNE) is a physical phenomenon by which large granular particles (i.e., archaeological artifacts) in a bed of small disturbed particles (i.e., soil), rise to the top surfaces. This paper examines the physical forces acting on archaeological artifacts—scattered on the surface and buried underground—to identify the major elements of site formation processes (SFPs). Combining theoretical advances in archaeology, pedology, granular physics and spectroscopy, we conducted accelerated laboratory tests on seven typical Israeli soils to form a SFP model. We suggest that the SFPs are the result of two opposing and continuous processes: soil coverage of the site started soon after human activity has ceased, and a force(s) that tends to lift buried artifacts up to exposed surfaces, acting in accordance with Brazil nut effect (BNE). The post-burial forces pressuring artifact movement upward are affected by the artifacts' density and size, soil characteristics and the local environment. As a result, some archaeological artifacts reach exposed surfaces, some are lifted to higher soil deposits but remain buried, and the rest remain in their original burial context.

Lead astray: The potentials and pitfalls of lead isotopes in a New Zealand colonial burial context

Lead isotopes can be used to identify migrants in archaeological sites, and are particularly useful when individuals may have migrated from areas of high anthropogenic or environmental lead into lower-lead concentration environments. For this reason they are ideal for identifying first European settlers (coming from a UK Industrial Revolution context) to colonies such as New Zealand. In this study, however, we highlight how ornate Victorian burial practices may introduce lead into the burial environment. This introduced lead masks the in vivo lead isotope ratios, negating its use as an indicator of foreign origins. We show that pressed pewter (tin-lead alloy) coffin strips at the colonial site of St. John’s Milton (SJM) render all individuals isotopically “European”, despite all children at the site having been born in New Zealand.

Archaeological human hair in a burial context: Microscopical evaluation of samples from Iași, Romania (18th–19th centuries)

Owing to its resistance to degradation, hair is an important bio‐sample with unique properties used to study post mortem decompositional changes. The present paper is a microscopical approach to preserved human scalp hair discovered at the 18th–19th‐century archaeological site of Iași, Romania. The hair fibre alterations were assessed using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, image analysis and hair histological scores. External alterations showed a statistically significant heterogeneous degradation. Image analysis results of the internal degradation of hairs were correlated to external lesions. The results consider the implication of intrinsic biological factors in the post mortem degradation of human hair preserved in graves with comparable environmental conditions.

Numerical Parametric Study of Countermeasures to Alleviate the Tunnel Excavation Effects on an Existing Tunnel in a Shallow-Buried Environment near a Slope

This paper studies the influence law of existing tunnels on the construction of intersecting new tunnels in a shallow slope burial context through 3D numerical analysis. The emphasis is on exploring the effect of new tunnels constructed in 54 conditions, including three ratios of overburden to tunnel height (C/H), three ratios of slope distance to tunnel span (D/W), two backfilling conditions of the existing tunnel (“hty” and “htn” conditions), and three magnitudes of surface loads (10 kPa, 20 kPa, and 30 kPa), on the deformation of lateral slopes and the overlying road. As the results show, the rigidly separated area between the existing and newly built tunnels in parallel to the excavation direction was precisely the sensitive area affected by the existing tunnel backfilling condition. The road settlement simulations perpendicular to the excavation direction revealed that various C/H and D/W ratio combinations controlled the shape and size differences of the settlement trough curve. This was because the C/H ratio primarily controlled the effective span and height transition of the newly built tunnel, whereas the D/W ratio mainly controlled the intersection position of the tunnels. Next, model A-A (“hty” condition) was identified as the only feasible construction model among all models in accordance with the engineering safety control criteria. Lastly, comparison of monitoring data with simulations found a slight difference in the distribution pattern between the two. Nevertheless, the final maximum settlement fully satisfied the construction control requirements overall. Aside from proving the correctness of simulation results, the present study also sets an excellent referential example for similar projects.

Faunal remains from the burials of the 2nd-1st millennia BC in Tuva: Main results and perspectives of the study (based on the materials excavated by the Tuva Archaeological Expedition of IHMC RAS in 2010- 2018)

he article deals with faunal remains from the Late Bronze — Early Iron Age buri- als of Tuva (from the middle of the 2nd to the end of the 1st mil. BC.) obtained in the course of archaeological excavations con- ducted by the Tuva Expedition of IHMK RAS in 2010–2018. The authors analize both scat- tered bone fragments of various animals and intact skeletons or skeletal parts found in situ in burial contexts. In some cases these bones seem to represent leftovers of funeral food, whereas in other cases the animals might have been buried to serve as livestock in the “other world”. Some of the burials contain accumulations of sheep and goat skulls be- longing to all the main age and sex groups: newborn, young and old animals, males and females. These accumulations are thought to symbolize the herds. One of the promising ways for extracting cultural information from osteological collections is associated with the possibility to determine the seasonali- ty of funerals based on the age of young an- imals whose bones were found in burial con- texts. This method has been extensively used by the authors and produced interesting re- sults which are discussed in the inal section of the paper.

ОСОБЕННОСТИ ДЕМЕМБРАЦИИ В ПОГРЕБАЛЬНОЙ ПРАКТИКЕ НАСЕЛЕНИЯ КАТАКОМБНОЙ КУЛЬТУРЫ НА НИЖНЕМ ДОНУ

The paper is devoted to the analysis of a series of Middle Bronze Age burials from the barrow cemeteries of Veselyi I, Chaltyrskiy XI, Glubokaya II and Molokanovskiy III in the Lower Don region. All of them present a hitherto unknown type of demembration which involves a complete of partial displacement of bones “in blocks”, i. e. in anatomical articulation. Judging by both their inventory and ritual details, the burials in question belong to the late stage of the Catacomb culture (late stage of the Donets culture, Bakhmur variant, and the Manych culture). The displacement of bones “in blocks” (and penetration into the grave) took place during the first year after the funeral. There is a number of hypotheses that attempt to explain the appearance of demembration in ritual practices of ancient people. The burial contexts described in this paper support the hypothesis ac- cording to which demembration served as a method of rendering the dear harmless.

Creating a body-subject in the Late Moche Period (CE 650 – 850). Bioarchaeological and biogeochemical analyses of human offerings from Huaca Colorada, Jequetepeque Valley, Peru

ABSTRACT Human offerings in the archaeological record are commonly defined by their community affiliation, the ceremonial events following their death and the places where they are interred. The deposition of an individual links kin members to the landscape but also seems to mark time and memory. Here we argue that inter-generational memory, created through cyclical depositions of local, coastal community members at Huaca Colorada, reflects political alliances during the Late Moche Period of northern Peru. Using multiple lines of evidence, which include osteological, isotopic and burial context data, this article interprets the human offerings among the Moche of the Andes and argues that the significance of foundation offerings lies not exclusively in the spectacle of sacrifice, but in creating memory that maintains or transforms sacred landscapes.

Growing up different in Neolithic China: A contextualised case study and differential diagnosis of a young adult with skeletal dysplasia

This paper presents a case study of a young adult from the late Neolithic Yangshao cultural period site (∼3300–2900 years BC) of Guanjia (关家) located in Henan Province on the Central Plains of China, who has evidence for skeletal dysplasia characterised by proportional stunting of the long bones and a small axial skeleton, generalised osteopenia, and non-fusion of epiphyses. We provide a detailed differential diagnosis of skeletal dysplasia with paediatric onset and conclude that this is likely a form of hypopituitarism or hypothyroidism, an extremely rare finding within the archaeological context. This paper highlights the issues of distinguishing the forms of proportional dwarfism in palaeopathology because of the considerable variation in manifestation of these conditions. Finally, we assess whether there were any health and social implications for this person and community through the consideration of a bioarchaeology of care approach across the lifecourse, burial context, and information on social perceptions of ‘difference’ in the community.标题：中国新石器时代不同的成长历程：一个青壮年骨发育异常案例的情景分析及鉴别诊断本文以中国中原地区河南省新石器时代晚期仰韶文化关家遗址（公元前3300年～2900年）的一个青壮年为研究对象。该个体表现出骨骼发育异常，包括长骨成比例发育不良，较小的中轴骨，全身骨质稀少，及骨骺不融合。我们对该个体进行了儿科骨骼发育不良的详细鉴别诊断，并得出结论，这可能是垂体功能减退或甲状腺功能减退的一种形式。这在考古学背景下是极为罕见的发现。由于各矮化疾病的表现形式有较大的变异性，本文着重讨论了在古病理学中分辨不同形式的成比例矮化的问题。最后，我们结合对整个生命历程的生物考古护理研究、埋葬背景、“差异”个体的社会认知等信息，评估是否对该个体和社区有健康或社会影响。