Burial Contexts Research Articles

Metabarcoding to investigate changes in soil microbial communities within forensic burial contexts

The estimation of the time elapsed since death (post-mortem interval, or PMI) is one of the key themes that forensic scientists have to address frequently. However, the estimation of PMI still suffers from poor accuracy and biases especially when decomposition stages are prolonged, so further improvements in methods for PMI estimation are desirable. Soil microbial communities associated with decomposing bodies have been shown to be good candidates for the estimation of the PMI of exposed bodies. Nevertheless, further research is required to better understand the bacterial succession associated with decomposition of buried carcasses in order to test its reliability and applicability for the estimation of PMI and to better understand the dynamics involved with decomposition within this particular scenario. Therefore we explored the succession of soil microbial communities associated with four decomposing pig carcasses (from one to six months PMI) using a metabarcoding approach. The sequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA variable region 4 (V4) revealed trends linking particular microbial taxa with specific PMIs, and notably an increase in Proteobacteria, Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes at specific PMIs as well as a decrease in Acidobacteria. Our results, in accordance with previous studies conducted on exposed bodies of different mammalian species (including humans), also showed a general reduction of the taxonomic richness from two months PMI onwards, as well as an incomplete re-establishment of the starting soil microbial conditions after six months PMI. We also found specific mammal-derived taxa, such as Bacteroides spp., being still present in the soil after six months PMI. As such, this study serves as a baseline for additional research to allow the characterisation of biomarkers associated with specific PMIs. Due to the similarity between the results presented here and those reported in other types of decomposition studies we believe that the metabarcoding approach has considerable potential in the estimation of the PMI, particularly to clarify cases involving heavily skeletonised bodies or for the investigation of clandestine graves in which the carcass has been moved from its original place of deposition.

Jews, Ships, and Death: A Consideration of Nautical Images in Jewish Mortuary Contexts

AbstractRecurrences of ancient ship carvings and drawings in Jewish burial caves are curious phenomena, which rarely capture the attention of scholars. Few narrative Jewish texts, which might otherwise illuminate this pattern, explicitly describe any link between ships and death. The ubiquity of nautical images in graffiti and monumental art throughout the ancient Mediterranean, moreover, obscures their particular significance in any mortuary context, whether associated with Jews or their neighbors. This article suggests that consistent appearances of ship imagery in Jewish burial contexts throughout time and across distant regions, attest to the varied iconographic and ideational significances of ships to Jews within mortuary settings. Cross-cultural similarities between acts of drawing, carving, and commissioning ship images inside and around commemorative spaces, this article argues further, document corresponding continuities between the mortuary activities and beliefs of Jews and their Egyptian, Greco-Roman, and Christian neighbors throughout the ancient Mediterranean.

Brief report on the laboratory archaeology of the tomb M1 at Dahekou

Abstract In 2007, Shanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology conducted excavation to the Dahekou Cemetery of the Western Zhou Dynasty in Yicheng County. In the excavated M1, the wooden parts of the lacquered wares have decayed away and were very difficult to recover and process suitably in the fieldwork condition. Because of this, Conservation and Research Center for Cultural Heritage of the Institute of Archaeology, CASS was invited to conduct laboratory archaeology to these artifacts. By the onsite preservation and reinforcing processing and entire encasing acquisition, these artifacts and their burial context were removed to the laboratory and subject to recovery. The suitable propping materials and reinforcing reagents were selected to comprehensively process and conserve. These methods provided technological standards for the processing and preservation of the lacquered wooden objects unearthed from the semiarid areas; the completion of this project also clarified the characteristics, requirements, patterns and workflow of the laboratory archaeology.

IRON AGE MORTUARY PRACTICES AND MATERIAL CULTURE AT THE INLAND CEMETERY OF TSIKALARIO ON NAXOS: DIFFERENTIATION AND CONNECTIVITY

Naxos, the largest of the Cycladic islands, offers a nuanced insight into Iron Age funerary behaviour in the Cyclades and relations between social groups as reflected in the archaeological record. The focus of this paper is the cemetery of Tsikalario in the hinterland of the island, with emphasis on two burial contexts which exhibit a range of activities related to funerary ceremonies and the consumption of grave-offerings. The grave-tumuli found in the Tsikalario cemetery comprise a mortuary ‘phenomenon’ not found otherwise on Naxos during the Early Iron Age. Such a differentiation in mortuary practice can be interpreted as a strategy used by the people of inland Naxos to distinguish their funerary habits from the more typical Naxian practices of, for example, the inhabitants of the coastal Naxos harbour town. This distinctive funerary practice can speak in favour of an attempt by the kinship group(s) that buried their deceased in the cemetery of Tsikalario to articulate status and identity. Beyond these tumuli, evidence from a different type of grave context at Tsikalario – Cist Grave 11 and its vicinity (Burial Context 11) – offers an additional example of a well-thought-out staging of funerary beliefs in the inland region of Naxos. Not only does it illustrate the coexistence of other types of burials in the cemetery, but, alongside the tumuli and their finds, it also demonstrates, through the symbolic package of the grave-offerings and the multifaceted network of interactions they reveal, that inland Naxos participated in the intra- and supra-island circulation of wares and ideas.

“Whare ye ennemy used to bury there dead”: A New Englander burial at the 18th century Fortress of Louisbourg in Atlantic Canada

AbstractKnown as one of the largest and most expansive French fortress sites in North America, Louisbourg had a short yet rich history of prosperity, warfare, and abandonment during the 18th century. Throughout its tumultuous 45‐year history, the community at Louisbourg was a mosaic of individuals including civilians, soldiers, fishermen, merchants, and privateers, originating from both North America and Europe. This diverse population no doubt contributed to Louisbourg's large and multifaceted cemetery composition. During recent excavations at Louisbourg's Rochefort Point, variable burial patterns have begun to emerge that contribute to our understanding of who these individuals were and how they fit within this 18th century community. This paper presents a case study analysis of Burial 21/2017, an adult male aged between 27 and 33 years who was buried in a coffin that bore biographical information that is consistent with previously documented English burials. When comparing this unique coffin adornment with temporally similar examples from Britain and other British colonies, it is clear that despite burial on French soil, this individual's identity as a New Englander was maintained through mortuary treatment. Evidence of healed fracture trauma to multiple skeletal elements, infection, and likely gout speaks to their lived experience as a soldier. This case study highlights the significance of burial context when extrapolating elements of identity from skeletal remains and the challenges of bioarchaeological research when working in regions with highly transient and mobile individuals.

Hydroxylysine deficiency, conspicuous skeletal lesions and a strange burial practice in a historical German island population

AbstractEighty‐two complete and partial human skeletons were excavated from a burial site on the island of Borkum in the North Sea. The site covers a period of 400 years from the middle of the 14th century AD until 1720 AD. The position of the skeletons in situ suggests rapid disposal of the bodies. About 75% of the skeletons were male and of a quite robust constitution, and about 60% of all individuals died rather young between 20 and 40 years of age. All male skeletons exhibited particular pathological alterations as a result of the typical daily activities of seafaring men, including severe degenerative joint disease and pronounced osteochondropathies. In juvenile skeletons, these pathologies were accompanied by inflammatory processes without exception. Palaeodietary reconstruction by stable isotope analysis resulted in a protein rich diet, confirming fishing as an important part of the subsistence economy. The juveniles derived substantially more protein from plant food than the adults. Bone collagen amino acid profiles were short of hydroxylysine, suggesting that the conspicuous pathological lesions could also have been caused by a systemic connective tissue disease. Possible etiology of the disease is discussed and related to both the uneven sex ratio of the inhumations and the burial context.

The Bell Beaker multiple burial pit of La Atalayuela (La Rioja, Spain): stable isotope insights into diet, identity and mortuary practices in Chalcolithic Iberia.

La Atalayuela is a Middle Chalcolithic (ca. 2900–2500 cal BC) multiple burial pit located in the mid-upper Ebro Valley (north-central Iberia) where a large number of individuals (more than 70) were inhumed. The site shows an apparently constrained period of funerary use, which includes the probable simultaneous burial of a large proportion of the deceased. This offers an outstanding opportunity to investigate the lifeways and identity of the members of what was presumably a single community living and interring their dead at the very beginnings of the Bell Beaker culture in the region. Here, we present stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values on bone collagen from 46 humans. While the overall results are consistent with diets focused on C3 plants and terrestrial animal resources, as would be expected, the variability still demonstrates some interesting patterning. Thus, there is a significant differentiation in δ13C values between burial context base (the earliest funerary use identified, interpreted as a ‘house of the dead’) and the following context a2 (interpreted as a mass grave), supporting the existence of potentially distinct funerary uses. Remains from the vestibule (a structure to the south of the pit interpreted as entrance), whose carbon isotope values also differ from those of a2, have been tentatively associated with base and interpreted as a result of potential bone arrangements prior to the mass interment. Statistically significant age- and sex-related isotopic differences are also identified, which allow social insights, such as possible differential access by children and women to certain food sources, which may in turn reflect a possible sexual division of labour. The results are set in the context of other Late Prehistoric Iberian funerary and isotopic data.

Towards the detection of dietary cereal processing through absorbed lipid biomarkers in archaeological pottery

The uptake of cereal agriculture in the Neolithic is one of the most important processes in later human prehistory. However, in many parts of Europe, early evidence from pollen or macrofossils is scarce or inconclusive, and there are considerable ambiguities about timing, intensity and the mode of transition to agriculture in these regions.An alternative approach is organic residue analysis, a technique that targets lipids preserved in the walls of unglazed ceramic pots used for storage and processing of foodstuffs. By analysing the molecular and isotopic composition of absorbed lipid residues, many different food items and processing techniques can be detected and distinguished. However, this approach is by-and-large limited to animal-based food sources, and despite their importance, many plant-based food items including cereals are currently not accessible with this approach.For a better understanding of the behaviour of cereal lipids, cooking experiments were conducted and the uptake of cereal-specific compounds such as alkylresorcinols and plant sterols into the ceramic matrix was investigated using a new sensitive method based on GC-Q-ToF-MS. Furthermore, changes in the lipid composition through post-burial degradation was assessed by incubation of potsherds dosed with cereal lipids at 35 °C in compost. The cooking experiments showed that only small quantities of cereal lipids are liberated, but additional lipid sources (meat) can increase the transfer of cereal biomarkers into the ceramic matrix. Anoxic degradation conditions allowed for twentyfold higher levels of alkylresorcinols and twofold higher levels of plant sterols after 20 weeks compared to oxic conditions. Therefore, samples from anoxic burial environments should be targeted and high sensitivity methods are a necessity to detect the trace amounts of cereal-specific biomarkers. To test the applicability of these biomarkers for archaeological pottery, organic residues from ten coarse ware vessels from an anoxic burial context at Vindolanda were analysed. Plant sterols and stanols were detected in three sherds, and two of the sherds also contained traces of alkylresorcinols.

The Malham Pipe: A Reassessment of Its Context, Dating and Significance

The Malham Pipe is a musical instrument formed from the tibia of a sheep, and was discovered in 1950 among artefacts revealed during the excavation of a Bronze Age burial mound at Seaty Hill on Malham Moor in the Yorkshire Dales. On the basis of associated finds the pipe was dated originally to the Iron Age, and in a study published in 1952 the musical properties of the pipe were examined physically at a level of detail that set a benchmark for the characterization of other such objects discovered subsequently. However, in the intervening period the dating of the pipe has been questioned. In this paper, following a detailed reappraisal of the Seaty Hill finds and dating evidence, including burial practice and settlement remains in the locality, and their wider historical context, we have concluded that the Malham Pipe is of post-Roman date. We believe, therefore, that although the Malham Pipe may no longer be claimed to be the earliest known duct flute found in the British Isles, nevertheless it appears to be the first recorded bone flute found in a post-Roman (Anglo-Saxon) burial context.

Caractérisation de l’industrie lithique de la fin du Néolithique, dans le bassin de la Seine (de la deuxième moitié du IVe millénaire à la fin du IIIe millénaire av. J.-C.)

Cet article présente une synthèse sur l’industrie lithique du Néolithique récent et final dans le bassin de la Seine (entre 3500 et 2100 avant notre ère). Son objectif est de distinguer l’industrie lithique du Néolithique récent de celle du Néolithique final et, plus largement, de préciser la définition des groupes culturels, leur localisation et leur chronologie par l’étude du mobilier lithique en contexte domestique et sépulcral. La première étape de la caractérisation porte sur les modalités de l’approvisionnement, généralement réalisé à proximité des occupations durant le Néolithique récent et final. L'importation de matières premières suit une même tendance, sur deux aspects, le sens de circulation des pièces en silex secondaire et tertiaire mais aussi la forme sous laquelle ces produits circulent. Le Néolithique final se distingue par une diffusion d’artefacts en roche verte et en silex du Turonien supérieur de la région du Grand-Pressigny. Au Néolithique récent, la production laminaire présente certaines caractéristiques au niveau du type de percussion utilisé (indirecte et directe tendre) mais aussi de la répartition géographique de ces techniques et sur le statut des produits laminaires en contexte sépulcral. Plusieurs indices suggèrent que le ralentissement de la production laminaire domestique débute à partir du Néolithique final. Cette période se distingue aussi par une diversification de l'outillage et par l’existence d’une production d’éclats par débitage centripète sur la façade maritime. L’étude comparative de plusieurs zones du bassin de la Seine met en évidence les variabilités temporelles et spatiales et interroge la validité des faciès régionaux (Augereau et al., 2007). L''existence d'un « faciès Marne » , proposé à l’issue de synthèses sur les pratiques funéraires, le mobilier en matière dure animale et la parure, est à nouveau validée par l''industrie lithique.

Fishing in life and death: Pleistocene fish-hooks from a burial context on Alor Island, Indonesia

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Birds in burials: the role of avifauna in Eneolithic Tripolye mortuary rituals

Bird remains are rare at Tripolye sites; therefore, researchers hypothesize that they were not an important economic resource for the Tripolye. The use of ornithographic iconography, vessels, and figurines suggests avifauna were important symbolically in Tripolye ideology. Here, we investigate the role of birds in a Tripolye burial context to assess their symbolic and/or economic significance in mortuary behaviours. We analysed bird remains from the Verteba Cave cemetery, located in western Ukraine and occupied by the Tripolye during phase BII through CII. Bird remains (n = 178) comprise approximately 2% of the faunal sample excavated among human burials from the cave. In contrast to species represented symbolically in Tripolye art, water and marsh birds are majorly underrepresented. The bird assemblage is dominated by grouse (Tetrao spp.), and common quail (Cortunix cortunix), but also includes birds of prey, corvids, and many songbirds. The large number of gamebirds leads us to conclude that the avifauna from Verteba Cave are likely the remains from funeral feasts or food grave offerings. It also supports the idea that birds were a seasonal and local economic resource. The presence of birds of prey, corvids, and male black grouse also suggests that feathers may have been a desired resource.

Religious Belief in Burial: Funerary Dress and Practice at the Late Antique and Early Islamic Cemeteries at Matmar and Mostagedda, Egypt (Late Fourth-Early Ninth Centuries CE)

This essay explores local, individual expressions of religious belief in a burial context, using the evidence of funerary dress and burial practices from the late fourth-to early ninth-century CE cemeteries of Matmar and Mostagedda, in Middle Egypt. It proposes that the communities at Matmar and Mostagedda, although most probably nominally Christian, developed particular practices and beliefs that to a large extent continued older local traditions. The mixing of elements of traditional and Christian beliefs is best described in terms of religious syncretism, engendered by concerns related to salvation, protection in the afterlife, or a desire to express the piety of, and veneration practiced by, members of these agricultural communities.

Mária Vargha, Hoards, Grave Goods, Jewellery: Objects in Hoards and in Burial Contexts during the Mongol Invasion of Central-Eastern Europe. (Archaeolingua Central European Archaeological Heritage Series 8.) Oxford: Archaeopress, 2015. Paper. Pp. vi, 95; many color and black-and-white figures. £30. ISBN: 978-1-78491-202-4.

Mária Vargha, <i>Hoards, Grave Goods, Jewellery: Objects in Hoards and in Burial Contexts during the Mongol Invasion of Central-Eastern Europe</i>. (Archaeolingua Central European Archaeological Heritage Series 8.) Oxford: Archaeopress, 2015. Paper. Pp. vi, 95; many color and black-and-white figures. £30. ISBN: 978-1-78491-202-4.

Dei anglosaksiske sverda. L-typesverd i England og Skandinavia

Anglo-Saxon swords or the L-type swords in England and ScandinaviaThis article discusses the L-type sword defined by Jan Petersen. The Norwegian L-type sword is comparable to the Anglo-Saxon swords known from the Viking period. This study is based on 99 swords found in Norway, England and other European countries. In Norway, the swords originate from burial contexts. On several of the L-type swords one can find traces of rich silver decorations on the hilt. The hilts use symbolism that strongly ties them to the Anglo-Saxon church. However, some L-type swords are without silver decorations of any kind.We can identify four different variants of sword hilts among L-swords found in Norway. Several of the swords known from Norway are without the pommel. In earlier research these were identified as broken L-swords. Norse graves from Wales, Isle of Man and Cumbria, whose burials seem to follow Norse traditions, include L-type swords of this type. As a result, the L-type sword without the pommel and decorations seems to be the preferred variant among the Norse inhabitants. Some graves with L-type swords found in Norway also include specialized tools for metalwork as well as woodworking. The L-type swords may have belonged to skilled craftsmen or traders educated in the west, rather than raiding Vikings. On the British Isles at the time, the price for trading or education as well as military service was «Primo Signato». In order to serve the king, they had to take the first steps towards Christianity.

Insights into the Copper-Bronze Age diet in Central Italy: Plant microremains in dental calculus from Grotta dello Scoglietto (Southern Tuscany, Italy)

Plant microremains were recovered from dental calculus of nine individuals found in the Final Copper-Early Bronze Age burial contexts of Grotta dello Scoglietto, a site in Southern Tuscany. Starch and phytolith analyses provided information about the plant use in the diet of a small but significant subset of the local population. The consumption of a remarkable variety of cereals is well documented, including Hordeum, possibly Triticum, and minor crops, representing an additional proof of the contemporary use of a variety of cereal crops by Copper-Bronze age populations, in accordance with previous data from other coeval sites in Tuscany and Italy which indicate a noticeable increase in the variety of crops in the diet. The presence of millets is particularly interesting because these crops were not recorded by the isotopic analysis in the same site. The large number of plant remains occurring in a very small amount of tartar deposit confirmed the suitability of dental calculus for collecting information about ancient diets.

Timber exploitation during the 5th–3rd millennia BCE at Arslantepe (Malatya, Turkey): environmental constraints and cultural choices

A considerable amount of charcoal remains from the archaeological site of Arslantepe (Eastern Anatolia) has been analysed. The anthracological assemblage comes from seven archaeological periods, ranging from the Late Chalcolithic 1–2 (mid-5th millennium BCE) to the Early Bronze Age III (late 3rd millennium BCE). The woody taxa exploited by the local communities appeared to have only minor changes throughout the investigated periods. For the evaluation of wood use practices, charcoal was chronologically grouped according to depositional context. The categories of depositional context identified differentiate between the uses of wood for structural parts of buildings, object manufacture, fuel, refuse, and wood found in outdoor areas or in burial contexts. Communities at Arslantepe, characterized by different cultural and socio-economic traits, appeared overall to select timber depending on its use: hydrophilous plants prevail in building material, with the exception of the 2900–2500 BCE period when environmental constraints probably motivate the dominance of woodland-steppe plants. The differential occurrence of taxa in the diverse depositional contexts highlighted cases of under/overestimation of remains, in particular in relation to the woods for construction. Finally, taxa have been attributed to different ecological groups. The interpretation of results and the comparison with other available palaeoenvironmental data point out that climatic factors play only a secondary role in the choice of wood exploitation in the area. Human choice may vary even with constant environmental records.

Bronze Age wool: provenance and dye investigations of Danish textiles

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‘Written in Bone’: New Discoveries about the Lives and Burials of Four Roman Londoners

AbstractThe Museum of London selected four individuals for multidisciplinary scientific analyses in order to establish their ancestry, aspects of their personal appearance and health. We also reinterpreted their burial context in order to better understand how identity was constructed and expressed in this unique Roman settlement. Our study discovered the presence of people with Black and White European ancestry, some of whom had migrated from the southern Mediterranean. The most surprising result was that Harper Road woman's chromosomes were male. Overall, our experience of undertaking a multidisciplinary study served to further underline the need for these different techniques to be used in combination when investigating past identities. The mtDNA results were very broad and required the mobility isotopes to better understand their significance, while the aDNA evidence confirmed the osteological analysis. In terms of public engagement at the Museum of London, the ability to determine hair and eye colour had a significant impact.

Finding Hama: On the Identification of a Forgotten Queen Buried in the Nimrud Tombs

Finding Hama: On the Identification of a Forgotten Queen Buried in the Nimrud Tombs