Beyond the grave: variability in Neolithic diets in Southern Germany?

Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analyses were undertaken on human and faunal remains from two Neolithic sites in Southern Germany; the LBK settlement at Herxheim and the middle Neolithic cemetery at Trebur. Stable isotope data were used to reconstruct the diets of individuals buried at these sites and to look at dietary variation between groups classified by their sex, age, grave goods and cultural affiliation. Overall there was surprisingly little variation in the diet between the groups, as described by the stable isotope analysis, despite significant differences in the composition of grave goods. Also surprising, considering the archaeological evidence for extensive grain cultivation in this region during the Neolithic, was that the majority of individuals had δ¹⁵N values consistent with the consumption of significant amounts of animal protein.     

A strontium and oxygen isotope assessment of a possible fourth century immigrant population in a Hampshire cemetery,southern England

The aim of the project was to test the hypothesis, using oxygen and strontium isotopes, that a group of burials in the Late Roman cemetery of Lankhills, Winchester, southern England, were migrants from the Danube region of central Europe. The method assumes that the oxygen isotope composition of immigrants from this locale would be significantly more depleted that any one British origin and that the restricted range in Sr isotope compositions produced by chalk in the overlying biosphere of southern England would discriminate between the local population and settlers from elsewhere. As a control for the immigrant group a sample of Romano-British individuals were examined to provide a comparative data set. The results showed that the majority of the individuals used to define the “local” control group plotted in a restricted field of strontium and oxygen isotope composition that was consistent with the values expected for the Hampshire area of southern England. By contrast, the “exotic”, putatively immigrant population generated a much more dispersed field including four with δ¹⁸O drinking water values of −10‰ or less, which supports a non-British origin for these individuals. The study shows that the archaeological data suggesting that there is an exotic population buried at the Lankhills cemetery is generally supported by the isotope work, although the “exotic” group appears to a rather dispersed set of individuals rather than a single population from a restricted overseas location.     

Sepulchral Brasses,and Incised Slabs

A Middle Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Chesterton Lane Corner, Cambridge, has been radiocarbon dated to the seventh to ninth centuries with its floruit in the eighth century and evidence that many of the individuals buried there were executed. Intriguingly, there is also a Late Roman decapitation burial at the site. The evidence for Middle Anglo-Saxon Cambridge is reviewed and the relationship between justice and central places is considered.     

孙家南头墓群周墓地分析

通过对墓地分区和墓葬特征的分析可知,凤翔孙家南头墓群周墓地的墓主至少应由周系族群和广义的殷遗民组成,其中以后者居多。墓地结构反映出这一地区社会亲属关系结构至少分为三个层级。不同亲属集团的墓葬群同处一地,两大族群的文化相互影响。二者人群主体的等级普遍较低,但殷遗民中不乏地位相对稍高者。此外,西周晚期该墓地规模的缩小,很可能与周人对关中西部地区控制力减弱有关。     

Patterns of trauma in a unique medieval parish cemetery

The church and cemetery of St Margaret Fyebridgegate, Norwich were in use from AD 1245 to 1468. The cemetery was used to bury both the parishioners and hanged felons. On excavation, 52 group burials of various sizes were encountered, some containing prone individuals. Four hundred and thirteen inhumations have been examined, of which one-third had evidence of episodes of trauma. Comparison is made of the types of trauma present with evidence from the sites of the Blackfriars, Ipswich and the Mary Rose. Evidence is presented for some possible activity-related trauma at two of the sites.     

Black Death in the rural cemetery of Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse Aude-Languedoc,southern France, 14th century: immunological evidence

An excavation carried out in 2007 in Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse (Aude-Languedoc, southern France), revealed a medieval rural cemetery used during the 8th–14th centuries. One hundred and forty nine graves were identified. Amongst those, three burials radiocarbon dated to the 14th century contained the remains of several individuals. No paleotraumatological evidences of violence due to warfare or to a civil massacre were identified in the exhumed skeletons. Therefore, we hypothesized that the simultaneous inhumations could have occurred during the “Black Death” outbreak or during one of its resurgences. A rapid diagnostic test for the detection of Yersinia pestis F1 antigen was applied to the nine putative plague victims to authenticate the cause of their death. Seven of the nine individuals tested from the three graves were positive to Y. pestis F1 antigen. We additionally tested fourteen skeletons from single graves archaeologically dated to the 13th–14th centuries. Four of them were positive to Y. pestis F1 antigen, thus showing a higher mortality rate due to plague than originally expected. The Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse plague victims are the oldest samples from which Y. pestis F1 antigen has been, hitherto, identified. Few rural French cemetery containing plague victims have previously been identified and amongst them, only one dates to the 14th century. In the present report, we provide suggestive evidence of a second rural cemetery from southern France where victims of Y. pestis infection were buried. Our findings provide new information about the management of the plagued corpses during the “Black Death” in small rural communities.     

The First Evidence for Leprosy in Early Mediaeval Scotland: Two Individuals from Cemeteries in St. Andrews,Fife, Scotland,with Evidence for Normal Burial Treatment

The study of skeletal material recovered from excavations at two distinct early mediaeval cemeteries in St. Andrews, Scotland, resulted in the diagnosis of one individual from each cemetery as having had facies leprosa (leprosy). Radiocarbon dating gave a likely date in the 8th century ad for the Hallow Hill skeleton, and the Kirkhill skull was probably from the same period. Both skulls displayed the full range of classic signs of facies leprosa. The bone changes were slightly different in the two, the maxillary alveolus having been more severely affected in the Hallow Hill skull, whereas the posterior palatal area showed greater damage in the skull from Kirkhill. The skeletons were not segregated but buried in the middle of cemeteries used for the general population, thus supporting previous research in both the history of medicine and human bioarchaeology that suggests that people with leprosy were not necessarily stigmatised in the past. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Bioarchaeological Investigation into the Human Remains Discovered in the Chloorkop Area,South Africa

In November 2008, human skeletal remains were discovered during construction works undertaken by Carlop Properties in the Chloorkop industrial area, Kempton Park, Gauteng. The Forensic Anthropology Unit of the University of Pretoria, Forensic Anthropology Research Centre (FARC) was notified, and rescue excavations of both the exposed and the undisturbed remains were undertaken. The skeletonised remains of at least 18 individuals were recovered and sent to the Department of Anatomy at the University of Pretoria for standard anthropological analysis. The identity and the time period of these human remains are unknown, and during social consultation, no relatives could be identified. Excavations revealed a formal burial pattern, which suggests a formal cemetery, probably associated with a historic institution. All individuals were buried in wooden coffins in an extended, supine position. The remains consist of both adult and juvenile remains. Some of the remains were found in a commingled state because of disturbance caused by construction work. The minimum number of individuals was determined by the visual pair matching of skeletal elements on the basis of similarities observed in bone morphology, age and sex, trauma and pathology and taphonomic alterations. Bioarchaeological techniques were used, and the following results were obtained. Of the 18 individuals, at least 15 were identified to be males, one possibly female and two juveniles. At least five of the adult male individuals presented with cut marks associated with standard autopsy procedures. No reference to the individuals' identity or to the context of the cemetery within the historical span of the Chloorkop area has been located. However, the burial pattern observed, as well as the demographic profile and pathology observed on the skeletal remains, suggests that these individuals could be linked to the Klipfontein Organic Products Factory (ca 1941s–1970s), which employed many migrant labourers, most to whom lived in compounds on the factory premises. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Investigating the dietary life histories and mobility of children buried in St Gertrude Church cemetery,Riga, Latvia, 15th–17th centuries ad*

Carbon and nitrogen isotope profiles were obtained from incremental dentine analysis of 19 non-adults from a cemetery in Riga, Latvia. The research compared the life histories and diet between people buried in two mass graves and the general cemetery. The δ¹³C profiles of several children from the mass graves were similar but did not resemble the patterns seen in children from the general cemetery, suggesting that they probably represented a different population group. The rise in δ¹⁵N values towards the end of the life of four individuals from one mass grave suggests they were victims of an historically documented famine.     

Reconstruction of Socioeconomic Status in the Medieval (14th–15th Century) Population of Grevenmacher (Luxembourg) Based on Growth,Development and Diet

Numerous historical sources describe many aspects of the estate‐based society in medieval times; the detection of socioeconomic status within populations through skeletal remains is a topic of growing interest in anthropological studies. In medieval times, it was common for members of high social rank to be buried within or next to a church. This was certainly the case in Grevenmacher (Luxembourg), where remains of a church building and an adjacent cemetery from the 13th until the beginning of the 15th century were subjected to archaeological and anthropological analysis. By integrating archaeological and anthropological elements, as well as stable isotope analysis, we documented osteological manifestations as indicators of diet differentials in two subsamples (first group consists out of 56 individuals, second one out of 184 individuals) from the medieval cemetery of Grevenmacher. We could distinguish two subsamples that we assumed as different in their socioeconomic status with regards to the burials' position in the cemetery and burial characteristics. Differences in osteological traits such as bone length, stature and body mass indicated differences in diet between sample groups. To substantiate these outcomes, stable isotopic analysis (δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N) were made; the results displayed a clear separation between the sample groups on the basis of their diet. Therefore, we were able to confirm certain individuals in the medieval population of Grevenmacher in relationship to their socioeconomic status. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mixed Livelihood Society in Iin Hamina – a Case Study of Medieval Diet in the Northern Ostrobothnia,Finland

A stable isotope investigation of a large Medieval population buried in Iin Hamina, northern Finland, has been used to reconstruct palaeodiet. Iin Hamina is situated approximately 30?km away from the modern city Oulu, in close proximity to the Bothnian Bay coast and the river Ii. The material used in this study is human skeletal material from an Iin Hamina cemetery dated as 15 to 17th centuries AD and animal bones excavated in Northern Ostrobothnia from pre-industrial contexts. Stable isotope analysis of well-preserved collagen indicate that both freshwater and marine fish was the dominant protein source for the people buried at the Iin Hamina cemetery.     

The Non‐Adult Cohort from Le Morne Cemetery,Mauritius: A Snap Shot of Early Life and Death after Abolition

The cemetery of Le Morne in Mauritius dates from the 1830s and is thought to contain the remains of slaves, freed slaves or potentially free Madagascans, which in itself has economic and social implications and makes the cemetery all the more intriguing. During 2010, excavations recovered the remains of 11 individuals, of which six were children. Although a small sample, the burials of the non‐adults show several interesting features. Two neonates were buried contemporaneously and may have been twins, while a late term foetus in a grave with a young woman may represent an incident of coffin birth. This sample has the potential to cast light on the burial practices of the slave/ex‐slave community in Mauritius, about which little is currently known. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Matrilineal affinities and prehistoric Siberian mortuary practices: a case study from Neolithic Lake Baikal

The ‘Lokomotiv’ cemetery in the Lake Baikal region of Siberia is considered to be the largest Neolithic cemetery in North Asia. A large degree of mortuary variability has been documented at Lokomotiv including striking differences in grave architecture, body treatment and grave good assemblages. The purpose of this study is to understand whether observed mortuary variability at Lokomotiv was used to indicate differential biological affinity for those buried in this cemetery. To answer this, we compared the distribution of matrilineally-inherited mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) markers retrieved from Lokomotiv skeletal remains against various lines of archaeological evidence. Using a combined strategy of coding-region SNP and HVI sequence detection, we were able to produce mtDNA profiles for 31 of 37 Lokomotiv individuals. Our results to date suggest that while matrilineal affinities did not overtly shape the spatial organisation of Lokomotiv, they may have influenced the type of grave one was interred in and in certain cases, the type of mortuary treatment given to an individual. The most compelling differences in matrilineal affinity were found between group grave and single grave burials in one cluster of the cemetery and evoke a notion of intra-community power structure shaped by matrilineally-ascribed group membership. The findings from this study will be further explored with future enhancements to the archaeological and biological datasets for Lokomotiv as well as a contemporaneous Baikal region cemetery known as Shamanka II. In doing so, we hope to further illuminate the social complexities governing these prehistoric Siberian communities.     

Identification of historical human skeletal remains: a case study using skeletal and dental age,history and DNA

Excavation of an early historical (circa 1900) church cemetery in Cochrane, Alberta, Canada, revealed the graves of six individuals. All but one had been previously excavated and the individuals were re‐interred elsewhere. The remaining grave contained a coffin burial of an infant including most of the skeleton, crowns of forming deciduous teeth, scalp and hair. The remains were excavated and historical research was carried out to determine possible families who had used the cemetery. Skeletal and dental age estimates pointed to a particular individual described in historical records. This identification was confirmed through more precise ageing by dental microstructure, sex determination using DNA, and finally, maternal relatedness by comparison of mtDNA with a living female relative. In addition to describing the analytical methods used, this paper demonstrates the importance of accurately identifying historical burials, particularly when living relatives remain in the community. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

MEMORY,LANDSCAPE & MORTUARY PRACTICE

Stone Age people handled their dead in various ways. From the Late Mesolithic period onwards, the deceased were also buried in formal cemeteries, and according to radiocarbon dates, the cemeteries were used for long periods and occasionally reused after a hiatus of several hundred years. The tradition of continuous burials indicates that the cemeteries were not only static containers of the dead but also important places for Stone Age communities, which were often established in potent places and marked by landscape features that might have had a strong association with death. The paper explores the tradition of burials in cemeteries exemplified through Jönsas Stone Age cemetery in southern Finland. Here the natural topography, along with memories of practices conducted at the site in the past, played a significant role in the Stone Age mortuary practices, also resulting in the ritual reuse of the cemetery by the Neolithic Corded Ware Culture.     

Notices of Certain Bronze Relics,of a Peculiar Type Assigned to the Late Celtic Period

The excavation of four hundred complete and partial in situ burials from the Hospital of St. John the Evangelist, Cambridge, represented one of the largest medieval hospital osteoarchaeological assemblages from the British Isles. The significance of the group is enhanced by the detailed investigation of a carefully maintained network of pathways associated with the cemetery, the archaeological sequence that pre- and post-dated its use and a number of contemporary properties that were situated immediately outside its bounds. This evidence allows the cemetery to be placed within its urban context in a way that is rarely possible. The overwhelming majority of the burials were extended west-east aligned supine inhumations without grave-goods. Atypical burials included examples aligned east-west and south-north, a double burial, a prone burial and individuals buried with a jet crucifix and a brooch. Other significant finds included a nearby pit with four bodies in it, an anthropomorphic bone handle and a reused cruciform horse harness pendant. The proportion of males and females in the burial population is similar, whilst individuals who died under the age of sixteen are relatively uncommon and individuals aged under five are completely absent.     

mtDNA and osteological analyses of an unknown historical cemetery from upstate New York

Thirteen burials located on Jackson Street in Youngstown, NY, USA were recovered from a construction site and excavated in 1997. Based on the artifact assemblage, it was suggested that the cemetery was used sometime between the late 1700s and 1840. No historical records existed, and initial assessment of the skeletal remains was not able to determine any cultural affiliation. We carried out osteological and genetic investigations in order to gain insight into ancestral affiliation and kinship of the unknown individuals from the burials. Due to poor preservation of the remains, dental traits and limited osteological observations were available for only a few individuals. We performed DNA extraction and sequenced the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region following standard ancient DNA procedures. Our results suggest that ten individuals have evidence of biological affiliation with Native Americans, and in particular, four individuals have maternal Native American ancestry. One male individual was determined to be of European ancestry, from both the mtDNA and osteological results. This burial may reflect admixture as a result of frequent contact between Native Americans and Europeans during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and attempts by missionaries to convert Native Americans to Christianity. Our study demonstrates the usefulness of a multifaceted approach through archaeological, osteological, and genetic analysis that provides valuable perspectives in understanding the individuals buried at the Jackson Street Burials.     

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.     

A case of multiple metastasis in Late Holocene hunter‐gatherers from the Argentine Pampean region

Chenque I site is a prehistoric cemetery located in Lihué Calel National Park (La Pampa province) in the Western Pampean region of Argentina. Hunter‐gatherer societies made use of this site during the Final Late Holocene for at least 700 years (1030–370 BP). Currently 41 burial structures have been excavated, and more than 150 individuals have been recovered. There is great variability in mortuary patterns at the site (simple, multiple, primary, secondary burials, and also a variant not previously observed in the region). The life‐ways of this population have been investigated through the evaluation of several biological and cultural factors. Several pathological conditions have also been identified in this cemetery. Burial no. 12 contains a skeleton of an adult male that shows multiple pathological lesions, compatible with a neoplastic disease. These lesions have been analysed using several methodological strategies: macroscopic, radiological and microscopic. This is the first time that this kind of disease has been identified from a prehistoric burial in Argentina. In this paper the location and characteristics of the lesions are evaluated, and the different neoplastic diseases that could have produced them are discussed. Since the people buried in this cemetery belonged to highly mobile societies, a key issue is to infer the consequences that this disease would have had on the dynamics of the group in which this person lived, because of the gradual deterioration of his health and physical strength. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stable isotope analysis of a medieval skeletal sample indicative of systemic disease from Sigtuna Sweden

In Sigtuna, Sweden, several medieval cemeteries have been excavated, from which approximately 800 skeletons have been excavated and analysed. Archaeological finds and anthropological analyses have exposed social differences between the cemeteries. Stable isotope analyses have shown that the inhabitants of the town consumed a mixed diet. Significant differences in dietary patterns between the cemeteries may be related to social stratification.In the outskirts of a churchyard excavated in 2006, bone changes showing systemic inflammatory disease indicative of leprosy were observed in six individuals. The burial location suggests that the affected belonged to a lower social stratum. Bone samples were taken from these six individuals, 19 other human skeletons and five animals from the same cemetery for analysis of the stable isotope composition of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and sulphur (S).The results showed no significant differences in δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values between the groups, i.e. the seemingly healthy humans and the humans affected by severe inflammatory disease appear to have had similar diets. Nor was a significant difference observed in δ³⁴S data between the six affected individuals and the rest of the sample, implying that no difference in origins could be observed between the two groups studied. However, a comparison between the present study and the previous analysis resulted in significant differences in carbon values.Based on the results obtained in this investigation it is suggested that if a dietary difference existed between people in the outskirts of a cemetery (for example those suffering from leprosy) and people buried in higher ranked regions, it was not a difference in food source but rather in other parameters. Instead dietary differences and possibly social variations are demonstrated between cemeteries. The results from the present study highlight the hierarchical arrangements of social classes in the early medieval society.