Congenital absence of the patella in an Anglo‐Saxon skeleton

A skeleton of a young Anglo‐Saxon woman aged about 25 years at the time of death is described. The distal femoral articulation was in two distinct parts separated by a deep groove in which the tendon of quadriceps femoris would have lain. The medial condyle of the femur was smaller than normal and there was no patellar surface on the anterior part of the articulation. The woman was of normal stature (1.53 ± 0.04 m) and no other abnormalities were found in the skeleton. It was considered that these findings were consistent with a diagnosis of congenital absence of the patella. This is the earliest recorded case of this condition. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A case of dyschondrosteosis in an Anglo‐Saxon skeleton

Osteological examination of a 9^th–11^th century skeleton from Black Gate Cemetery, Newcastle‐upon‐Tyne, reveals Madelung's deformity of both forearms and shortened stature due to reduced tibial length. These are indicative of dyschondrosteosis, a genetically transmitted mild form of mesomelia. This case adds to a small but growing presence of this condition in pre‐modern societies. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sexual dimorphism in diaphyseal cross‐sectional shape in the medieval Muslim population of Écija,Spain, and Anglo‐Saxon Great Chesterford,UK

Differences in adult male and female activity patterns may influence levels of sexual dimorphism in physical dimensions, including the cross‐sectional shape of long bone diaphyses. Previous studies of archaeological populations have demonstrated significant differences in diaphyseal shape between males and females. In this study, dimorphism in external diaphyseal shape of upper and lower limb bones (reflected in indices of external diaphyseal diameters), and bilateral asymmetry in these indices, were examined in two medieval populations: Muslim Écija (Spain) and Anglo‐Saxon Great Chesterford (UK). Attempts were made to relate observed patterns to documentary and other osteological evidence for differences in male and female activity patterns. While few significant differences in upper limb bone cross‐sectional shape were observed in either population, significant differences in shape were found in the lower limb diaphyses at Écija at the femoral midshaft and tibial foramen and midshaft levels, and at the tibial midshaft for Great Chesterford. Comparison with published data suggests that these differences are marked for Écija, and perhaps fairly high for Great Chesterford compared with other populations with an agriculture‐based economy. This is consistent with documentary and osteological evidence suggesting marked gender differences in behaviour in medieval Muslim Spain. No significant differences in bilateral asymmetry were found, but the effects of small sample size cannot be ruled out. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Diagnosis and Context of a Facial Deformity from an Anglo‐Saxon Cemetery at Spofforth,North Yorkshire

An individual aged between 6 and 7 years at death from a 7th to 9th century cemetery at Village Farm, Spofforth, North Yorkshire, presented significant pathological swelling to the left facial bones. The ectocranial surface was bulbous and uneven, and the expanded diploë was densely packed with a mass of thick trabeculae. Radiographic and histological analysis, in combination with the macroscopically observed pathological changes, supported the differential diagnosis of fibrous dysplasia. The skeletal changes to the left face and jaw would have resulted in a significant facial deformity. Examples of individuals with physical impairments or disfigurements from Anglo‐Saxon cemeteries are rare. Nevertheless, it seems that a significant proportion are afforded unusual burial practices more often associated with deviancy, for example, at the edge of cemeteries or on a reversed orientation, seemingly indicating that their diminished physical capabilities or altered physical appearance had a detrimental effect on their social status. The child from Spofforth was, however, buried in a normative manner, extended, supine and in a plain earth‐cut grave, with no indication that their facial deformity had prompted unusual funerary provision. This example of facial disfigurement contributes to a growing corpus of potentially disabled individuals from early medieval England. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

New York Yankees and Hollywood Anglos: The persistence of Anglo‐conformity in the American motion picture industry

Ideal types have received less attention than membership criteria in the ethnicity and nationalism literature. This article uses crowdsourced genealogical data and onomastics software to show that British Isles surnames and ancestry remain over‐represented among American actors, especially in roles connected with the national narrative. Conformity to the WASP ideal type persists despite the fact American actors are disproportionately born in Los Angeles, New York, and other large cities, where British ancestry is rare. Jewish actors are over‐represented, yet many have Anglo surnames. Compared to athletes and politicians, actors are significantly more likely to have Anglo surnames, especially those in genres depicting the nation. After declining among cohorts of stars born between the 1800s and 1961, the share of British Isles surnames has stabilised and remains in the majority. We argue that despite rising diversity, this reflects the continuing importance of the Anglo‐Protestant ethnic imago for American national identity.     

Anglo‐Saxon Style Pottery from the Northern Netherlands and North‐Western Germany: Fabrics and Finish,Regional and Chronological Patterns,and their Implications

This paper presents the results of a study of Anglo‐Saxon style pottery in the northern Netherlands and north‐western Germany, involving macroscopic and microscopic analysis of fabrics and finish. Both regions show similar developments in form and decoration in the pottery of the fourth and fifth centuries ad , the late Roman and Migration period, resulting in the typical decoration and shapes that are known as the Anglo‐Saxon style. In the northern Netherlands, this style is traditionally associated with Anglo‐Saxon immigrants. It has, however, been suggested that this style was, rather, part of an indigenous development in areas in the northern Netherlands where occupation was continuous, though influenced by stylistic developments in north‐western Germany. That hypothesis is supported by the analysis of fabrics and finish presented here. The characteristic of fabrics and surface treatment indicate technological continuity. The use of local clay sources for Anglo‐Saxon style pottery and for contemporary regional types indicates that most of the Anglo‐Saxon style pottery in the northern Netherlands was not brought by Anglo‐Saxon immigrants or as imports, but must have been made locally. That applies to settlements with continuous habitation, as well as settlements in the coastal area that were not inhabited during the fourth century ad .     

Molecular evidence for the mixing of Meat,Fish and Vegetables in Anglo‐Saxon coarseware from Hamwic,UK

Absorbed lipid residues from 24 seventh‐ to ninth‐century coarseware potsherds from the major Anglo‐Saxon trading centre of Hamwic (Southampton, UK) were analysed by gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (GC–MS) in order to reconstruct the dietary habits of its population. The results show that the vessels were used for preparing ruminant fats and leafy vegetables. In addition, evidence was found for a minor contribution of aquatic foods. Beeswax was found once and most probably relates to a sealing function or to honey. Remarkable features were: (i) the isomeric mixture of octadecenoic acid (C_18:1 Δ^{7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16}) and 8‐ to 16‐hydroxyoctadecanoic acid, and (ii) the co‐occurrence of C_17:1, C_19:1 and isoprenoid fatty acids. These features were proposed as biomarkers for ruminant and aquatic food sources, respectively. Furthermore, the carbonyl position distribution in mid‐chain ketones was used to identify mixtures of animal‐ and plant‐derived ketones. The paper highlights the difficulty in interpreting complex lipid signatures that show a mixture of various foods, as observed in the majority of the samples. This was linked to the preparation of stews or the recycling of vessels. The results are considered alongside ceramic usewear data and existing data relating to environmental remains recovered from the Hamwic excavations.     

Identification of the Archaeological ‘Invisible Elderly’: An Approach Illustrated with an Anglo‐Saxon Example

The aim of this paper is to present a method to facilitate age‐at‐death estimation of older individuals (generally those aged 50+ years) in a representative cemetery sample. The purpose of disaggregating catch‐all categories, such as 50+ years, is to enable the exploration of the elderly (those in their 50s, 60s, 70s or 80s) in the context of mortuary archaeology, bioarchaeology and/or palaeopathology. The methodological steps include the following: (1) assessment of occlusal tooth wear in an Anglo‐Saxon cemetery sample from Worthy Park, UK; (2) seriation of the sample, from youngest to oldest, based on the degree of tooth wear; (3) selection of an ethnographically derived model (known mortality profile) by which seriated individuals in the Worthy Park sample could be reallocated to more realistic or appropriate age classes; (4) reallocation of individuals in the seriated Worthy Park sample to the model age classes. A Hadza, Tanzania, hunter‐gatherer profile was chosen to model the Worthy Park sample, although others are available. By using this model, some 66% of the entire adult sample, originally allocated to the single final age category of 45+ years, was distributed across four new age categories from the mid‐40s to mid‐70s. Relatively straightforward, this approach provides a way to identify those individuals, 50+ years old, not normally sensitive to traditional age‐at‐death estimation methodologies currently available. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Never Judge A Gold Object by Its Surface Analysis: A Study of Surface Phenomena in a Selection of Gold Objects From the Staffordshire Hoard

With the introduction of commercially available handheld XRF analysers, there is a growing problem that the results, simply taken at face value, are regarded as representative of the bulk gold alloys of the objects analysed in museums and used for treasure analysis. It is well known that surface analysis is problematic, and the aim of this study was to test whether non‐destructive surface analysis could be useful in grouping the very large numbers of fragmentary pieces in the Anglo‐Saxon Staffordshire Hoard. Surface and subsurface analyses of 16 objects from the Hoard were carried out by X‐ray fluorescence (XRF) and scanning electron microscopy with energy‐dispersive X‐ray analysis (SEM–EDX). The results indicate that there are significant but inconsistent levels of enrichment of the gold at the surface of many of these objects, due to the loss of both copper and silver. The significant loss of silver (up to 50% relative in some cases) suggests that some form of deliberately induced depletion gilding was carried out during manufacture to remove both silver and copper from the surface. In three cases, an increase in silver at the surface compared to the core metal was detected: this might tentatively be explained by redeposition from contact with silver objects during burial. These results have clear implications for the reliability and interpretation of surface analysis data of gold alloys from this period.     

Holey Goats: Multiple Cases of Supratrochlear Foramina in the Humerus of Caprines from the New Kingdom Pharaonic Town of Amara West,Northern Sudan

Supratrochlear foramina (STF) were recorded in fifteen per cent of goat and sheep/goat humeri from the New Kingdom pharaonic town of Amara West, in modern northern Sudan. To the authors’ knowledge, this trait has never before been reported in the published literature for goats or sheep, whether from archaeological or modern contexts. The aim of this work is twofold: to contribute to the growing corpus of studies addressing the incidence and aetiology of STF, and to raise awareness for their possible presence in caprines, thus encouraging their identification and recording in archaeological assemblages.     

From British mandate to post Anglo‐American invasion: Reproduction of ethno‐sectarian divides and the breakdown of social cohesion in Mosul

The invasion of Iraq in 2003 ushered in an era of great uncertainty and turbulence that left the country in an economically crippled, politically unstable, and socially desperate situation. While the built‐in ethno‐sectarian divides have been widely used as analytical categories to address the enduring violence in both Mosul and the rest of Iraq, little attention has been paid to the connection between the long‐term Anglo‐American invasion of Iraq and the ethno‐sectarian violence that currently characterizes Mosul. This study argues that while ethnic and sectarian loyalties have historically persisted in their social forms since the rule of the Ottoman Empire, the highly politicized and violent forms of ethno‐sectarian conflict are modern phenomena, produced and reproduced under the conditions of the decades‐long British and American interventions. The study retrospectively evaluates the current dynamics of ethno‐sectarian confrontations in Mosul through two stages in the long historiography of modern Iraq. The first section reveals how Britain’s mismanagement of colonial Iraq set the initial conditions for communal cleavages and instability in today’s Mosul. Later, the second section turns its attention toward the contemporary manifestation of ethno‐sectarian violence, particularly under the U.S.‐led occupation.     

A foot deformity from a Romano‐British cemetery at Gloucester,England, and the current evidence for talipes in palaeopathology

A male skeleton from the Romano‐British site at Kingsholm, Gloucester, is described with abnormalities in the humerus, femur, tibia, fibula and foot. Computed tomography of the femora to enable cross‐sectional analysis suggested altered normal gait to compensate for the deformity. Differential diagnoses are considered and a diagnosis of clubfoot deformity is suggested. Palaeopathological evidence for clubfoot is rare in the literature but the cases reported to date are reviewed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Food Rituals and Their Social Significance in the Mid‐Second Millennium BC in the Southern Levant: A View From Megiddo

Ceremonies involving intentional burial of animals with humans are acknowledged to bear religious, social and political connotations, and we explored both the ritual activity and the social trajectory of these activities. To date, these ceremonies have rarely been examined within the context of nearby daily activities. We studied faunal remains associated with intramural burials in comparison with contemporaneous daily life in the midsecond millennium bc at Tel Megiddo, as well as comparison with concomitant extramural burials and locations of public feasts. Our study highlights the human interaction with animals that are not often treated as bearing social meaning or having interrelationships with human, the livestock animals. We demonstrate that livestock animals in the second millennium bc had a significant social role as well as economic value. The choice of animals consumed and sacrificed in these rituals is strongly related to the animal's symbolic potency and is based on the desired social message that the population aims to convey. Finally, the form of luxury food that is found in the Megiddo funerary rituals supports the hypothesis regarding the intramural burials' role in creating and enhancing social family bonds. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Threefold Logic of Papua‐Melanesia: Constitution‐writing in the Margins of the Indonesian Nation‐State

Clashes over the status of West Papua and the political future of the territory proliferated markedly following the end of Indonesia's New Order regime in 1998. Amid a wide variety of demands for justice and independence, and a series of demonstrations, mass gatherings and prayers, only a few Papuans mused on how Papua could become a state and what would constitute its nature as being distinctly Papuan and/or Melanesian. One exception is the work put into the Constitution for West Papua entitled Basic Guidelines, State of West Papua, a document edited by Don A.L. Flassy, a bureaucrat, writer and thinker, with a preface by late Theys H. Eluay, then chairman of the Papuan Council. In this article I analyse this Constitution to show how a combination of Christianity and local customs, and a mimicry of elements of Indonesian nation building and symbols of the Indonesian nation‐state are reshaped to oppose Indonesian nation‐building agendas. The Constitution shows that when Papuans imagine an independent state, forms of vernacular legality play a central role. ‘The state’ has journeyed to Papua and encouraged faith in ‘the law,’ and Basic Guidelines is partly the effect of this growing vernacular legality. My analysis shows that it is essential to see how legal mobilisations and imaginations of the state articulate with other normative systems and practices – in particular Christianity and custom (adat) – and how they mutually allow for and invite strategies.     

Reviving Agrarian Studies in South‐East Asia: Geography on the Ascendancy

This paper examines the recent revival of agrarian studies in the social science scholarship of South‐East Asia following a period of decline from the 1980s onward. The hiatus provides an opportunity to examine the changed empirical contexts and theoretical framings of agrarian change in the intervening period. Renewed interest in rural agricultural and social change is also marked by a disciplinary shift, with the centre of gravity moving away from anthropology and political science and towards a geographical focus. This is explained both by institutional factors, as a large international research programme based in (but not limited to) geography has taken the lead on the revival, and also by the substantive shift in agrarian studies away from narrowly local village ethnographies or broad‐based scholarship inspired by Cold War concerns, towards a multi‐scale and contextualised approach in which environment, globalisation, migration, territorial expansion, spatial inequality, and other key geographical themes have framed explorations of agrarian change.