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.     

Comment on ‘A Bayesian approach to ageing perinatal skeletal material from archaeological sites: implications for the evidence for infanticide in Roman Britain’ by R.L. Gowland and A.T. Chamberlain

In 1993, I published a paper noting that the age distribution of perinatal infants for some Romano-British sites did not conform to a natural mortality pattern but rather showed a pronounced peak at a gestational age corresponding approximately to a full term infant. I interpreted this as suggestive of infanticide, given that the deed is generally carried out immediately after birth. Gowland and Chamberlain have recently published in this journal (J. Archaeol. Sci. 29 (2002) 677) a reconsideration of the problem of Roman infanticide in which they suggest that the peak I observed in the Romano-British perinatal age at death distribution may have been an artefact of the particular ageing technique I used, and they hence call into question the evidence for Roman infanticide. In this comment I argue that their work is seriously flawed and, using a re-analysis of my 1993 data, I demonstrate that the perinatal peak I observed in the Romano-British age distribution is a robust result that supports an interpretation of infanticide.     

Estimating age by tooth wear of prehistoric human remains in Brazilian archaeological sites

The occlusal surfaces of 298 permanent maxillary and mandibular molar teeth of prehistoric shellfish‐gatherer subjects from the Piaçaguera and Tenorio sites (4930 to 1875 BP), near the central‐northern coastline of São Paulo, Brazil, were examined for classification of macro‐wear stages. Molar tooth wear is an indication of masticatory activity and can be used in the estimation of age at death. The examination of visual and schematic aspects of occlusal macro‐wear used a visual chart proposed by Brothwell, which includes the three superior and inferior, left and right, permanent molars. Three examiners performed the macroscopic observations twice under the same conditions. The resulting age estimates were compared with previous information of age estimated by skeletal examination. A reduced intra‐ and inter‐observer variation was observed; all re‐examinations indicated discrepancies of less than two years for the upper and lower limit of the age range estimates. The procedure was also considered consistent with the skeletal method used for age estimation of human remains excavated in Brazilian archaeological shell mounds, with a discrepancy of less than 8.22 years between the upper and lower limits of estimates by both methods. Age classification by the occlusal molar wear may be a useful tool for the classification of archaeological findings, mainly when only fragmentary skeletal remains are excavated. The current results indicate that the application of the Brothwell chart for Brazilian archaeological series presented satisfactory results of consistency, and its expanded use may represent a relevant adjunct for research. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Application of non-adult Bayesian dental age assessment methods to skeletal remains: the Spitalfields collection

The aim of this study was to test with non-adult skeletons the quality of a recently published dental age assessment method based on Bayes' theorem. The test sample consisted of dental X-rays from 16 individuals (range 2.6–15.1 years) recovered from the crypt of Christ Church, Spitalfields, London, for which age-at-death and sex were known. The training sample consisted of dental X-rays from 1346 girls and 1040 boys (range 1.9–16.0 years). Bayesian dental age assessment method was alternatively used with dependent and independent assumptions; the dependent Bayesian method (DBM) and independent Bayesian method (IBM), respectively. Moreover, both DBM and IBM were used alternatively with sex-specific standards and with non-sex-specific standard. Due to the training sample age distribution, both methods are efficient between 5.0 and 14.0 years. Whatever the method or the sex standard used, when dental age was different from chronological age, the discrepancy did not exceed one age group of one year. DBM produced tighter dental age 100% confidence intervals than IBM for the majority of assessments. The observed stability between results produced according to the type of sex standard used (i.e. sex-specific or non-sex-specific), and the number of teeth studied (range 4–7), is worthy of note for both archaeological and forensic contexts.     

Letting skeletons out of the closet: the ethics of displaying ancient Mexican human remains

In the wake of Native North American activism and moves to decolonize archaeology, some academics have begun to avoid displaying human remains. Though recent World Archaeological Congress accords detail a consent process for ethical display, some journals, museums, and individual scholars have blanket policies covering even those remains whose descendants favour display. This article examines one context affected by these policies: the central Mexican town of Xaltocan. Here, Indigenous residents advocate for archaeological study and exhibition of ancient human remains, yet they have been criticised and censored by North American audiences. We consider two factors behind their desire to display the dead as part of efforts to reclaim Indigenous identities: long-standing Mesoamerican relationships with the dead and the materiality and symbolic capital of bones. We argue that an academic reluctance to display any human remains is problematic – even if it is a well-intentioned acknowledgement of respect for their sensitive nature – because it imposes the wishes of one Indigenous group on another, and may thereby lead to the unwitting perpetuation of colonial practice. We suggest that decolonizing archaeology may sometimes necessitate allowing the exhibition of skeletal remains; ethnographic research in individual communities is needed to ensure respect for descendant perspectives.     

Unique marine taphonomy in human skeletal material recovered from the medieval warship Mary Rose

The effect of skeletal exposure in a marine environment is an area of taphonomy that has been little investigated at the microscopic level. Understanding the peri‐mortem and subsequent post mortem history of deposition and/or redeposition is extremely important for event reconstruction and to identify deliberate or accidental redeposition. The material used for this study comes primarily from the Mary Rose shipwreck (a marine mass fatality dated AD 1545), and forensic material recovered from marine, lacustrine and terrestrial contexts is retrospectively referenced. Work presented here outlines a definitive type of marine exposure seen in temperate shallow off‐shore and intertidal marine contexts, and illustrates how it may be differentially identified from terrestrial deposition and exposure. Furthermore, the effects of rapid deposition on skeletal remains have been documented, and results indicate that marine organism fouling activity can be fully inhibited by rapid deposition of sediment. The responsible organism itself remains unidentified, but produces tunnels which are peripheral in their distribution and maintain fixed dimensions and morphology and are here associated with marine exposure. This type of microstructural change is unique and is not found in terrestrial or freshwater contexts. The study demonstrates a taphonomic microstructural change to bone and teeth which may be identified microscopically and interpreted as evidence of marine exposure. Secondarily, the history of depositional exposure between the two main Tudor layers has provided a new level of detail concerning exposure and site formation processes. The earliest Tudor layer formed rapidly over a period of months and contained no evidence of microstructural tunnelling, whereas microstructural tunnelling was seen exclusively in the second Tudor layer, formed over a period of decades, a period during which the ship's hull collapsed and a more open marine environment dominated. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mars (1564): the initial archaeological investigations of a great 16th‐century Swedish warship

Before the Swedish warship Mars exploded and sank in action against a combined Danish and Lübeckian fleet in 1564, it was one of the largest ships in the world. In 2011 the wreck was relocated off the island of Öland in the Baltic Sea. Thanks to the favourable conditions in the brackish water, about two thirds of the hull is preserved on the sea bottom, including the stern with the large sterncastle. The aim of this article is to present initial archaeological observations and results of work since 2011. We briefly describe the historical context and research perspectives regarding this wreck.     

Dental root dentine translucency used in age determination of medieval Norwegians from Trondheim

A pilot study on eight skulls from the churchyard of St Olav's church in Trondheim, excavated in 1988–1989, was carried out to compare age determined by root dentine translucency with the age assessed by a physical anthropologist. The difference in mean age between the two methods was not significant (p = 0.06). Age determinations based on root dentine translucency were then performed on removable teeth from the adults among the 248 skeletons found in the same churchyard, excavated in 1984–1985. A comparison between the ages determined using root dentine translucency and the ages previously determined by the direct inspection method was performed. A significant systematic difference was seen between the two methods (p = 0.000). The root dentine translucency method gave an age range for the cohort excavated in 1984–1985 between 30 and 72 years, whereas the direct inspection method gave a range between 15 and 63 years. Because evaluation of many criteria are required to achieve reasonably accurate estimates of age in connection with the direct inspection method, expertise in skeletal biology is necessary. The method of measuring root dentine translucency as a tool in archaeological and anthropological work and fieldwork and in forensic science seems to have advantages because the method can be used without previous extensive training.     

A Method for Documenting Hidden Structures on Shipwrecks: the case of Vasa and Warwick

As part of the programme for documenting and studying Vasa, a Swedish royal ship of 1628, raised from Stockholm harbour in 1961, the author was given the opportunity to develop and implement a method of documenting the hidden structure—the frames—of this three‐decker. The method proved transferable to work under water as tested on the wreck of the Warwick, a ship lost in Castle Harbour, Bermuda in 1619. This article describes the method.     

A juvenile human frontal bone from the French Upper Palaeolithic site of Lacave: significance and problems of interpretation

In 1902, a portion of a juvenile human frontal bone was excavated by Armand Viré from the cave of Lacave in the Dordogne valley of southwestern France. The specimen is clearly from an Upper Palaeolithic context, although problems in interpreting the stratigraphy and postdepositional history in the cave render it essentially impossible to determine whether it is from a Magdalenian or Solutrean context. The morphology of the specimen is modern, as would be expected considering its relatively late Upper Palaeolithic context. Examination of aspects of brow ridge and frontal sinus development, as well as metopic suture obliteration, allows estimation of a developmental age of approximately 7–8 years for the specimen. Sex is indeterminate, and there is no pathology present. Apart from serving as an example of the problems of interpreting fragmentary skeletal remains from early 20th century excavations, the Lacave frontal represents one of the relatively few subadult cranial specimens known from the European Upper Palaeolithic. As such it is a valuable addition to the fossil record of early modern humans from Europe. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Radiographic analysis of dental development used in age determination of infant and juvenile skulls from a medieval archaeological site in Norway

Age determination based on radiographic examination of teeth and tooth development stages was performed on the infant and juvenile skeletons from St Olav's churchyard in Trondheim. All the 248 skulls with jaws and teeth were radiographed. Based on the apical closure of the second molar, 198 skulls were determined to be older than 15 years. In 38 of the remaining skulls the age could be determined radiographically based on tooth development stages. The age was below 8 years in 25 individuals (66 per cent). The correlation between the radiographic and a direct inspection age determination method was 0.969. The greatest discrepancies between the two methods were found in the age group 12–15 years.     

Trade or Trash: an examination of the archaeobotanical remains from the Byzantine harbour at Caesarea Maritima,Israel

A rich collection of waterlogged plant‐remains was recovered from the harbour at Caesarea Maritima, Israel. These remains were identified and represent several varieties of fruit, nut, cereal crop, crop by‐product and weed species. The two areas where remains were recovered provided assemblages that were different in composition. Trade or trash are the two interpretations discussed. In either case, however, the information derived from the assemblage is of archaeological importance, as the species present can aid in economic, dietary and trade reconstructions. © 2010 The Author     

A new calibration of the XRD technique for the study of archaeological burned human remains

A new calibration of human bones as a function of programmed temperature (200–1000 °C) and time (0, 18 and 60 min) is presented and discussed in order to investigate the issues related to the study of cremated bone remains by using the powder X-ray diffraction approach. The experimental results confirm the growth of hydroxylapatite crystallites as a function of the applied temperature, with a sigmoid behaviour that has been parameterized to the experimental data points. Particularly, it was observed that the thermal treatments for 60 min anticipate of about 100 °C the effects that are otherwise observed after the treatments for 0 min. The developed procedure was subsequently applied to cremated remains of various archaeological sites of Spain and supplied precise information not only about the temperature reached during the funerary rites, but also on the presumed duration for the cremation.     

Estimation of age at death of sika deer (Cervus nippon) from an archaeological site based on radiographs of mandibular molariform tooth development

The development of permanent premolar and molar teeth was examined in mandibular radiographs from wild sika deer (Cervus nippon) of known ages (74 males, 66 females, 4 unknown; age range 1–54 months) from Hyogo Prefecture. Tooth development was scored according to the method described by Brown & Chapman (1991a, b). Stage‐specific scores for all molar and premolar teeth were summed, and simple cubic regression analysis was used to analyse the relationship between the total score and age in months. Our analysis showed a strong cubic correlation between the total score and chronological age in months. The equation obtained from this analysis was used to estimate age within a 95% prediction interval in seven archaeological specimens from the Asahi archaeological site in central Japan. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

New analytical methods for comparing bone fracture angles: A controlled study of hammerstone and hyena (Crocuta crocuta) long bone breakage

Accurate interpretation of the cause and timing of bone breakage is essential for understanding the archaeological record. However, many variables potentially influencing break morphology have yet to be systematically explored. Focusing primarily on hammerstone breakage, we introduce new analytical methods for comparing fracture angles using the absolute values of the angle from 90°. We systematically control for intrinsic variables such as taxon, skeletal element, limb portion and skeletal age. We also compare experimental assemblages of femora broken by hammerstone and spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta). We show that fracture angles are influenced by breakage plane, skeletal element and limb portion. While the latter two have been suggested before, this is the first time the differences have been quantified. We suggest that researchers stratify their assemblages by these variables if they are using fracture angles in analyses. At the assemblage level, hyenas created more oblique fracture angles on oblique breaks than did hammerstones.     

Archaeology in the age of the Anthropocene: A critical assessment of its scope and societal contributions

Abstract

Recent decades have witnessed heightened public and governmental awareness of the nature and scale of environmental challenges likely to face the planet over the course of the next fifty to one hundred years. Scholars from across a broad range of disciplines have been drawn into these debates and have begun to reorient their research towards finding solutions to some of the most pressing problems and to devising more sustainable and resilient livelihoods. Archaeologists, with their conventional orientation toward past events and processes have been rather slower to engage with these issues. Recently, however, there has been a steady shift within the discipline so as to incorporate more future-oriented perspectives, and ‘the use of the past to plan for a better future’ is rapidly becoming a common theme within archaeological research projects and publications. While welcoming some of these developments, this paper offers a critical assessment of the various claims that are now being made of archaeology's potential to help overcome current environmental challenges and its contributions to defining and understanding ‘the Anthropocene.’     

Twin Burials in Prehistory: A Possible Case from the Iron Age of Germany

Compared with other mammals, multiple births are rare in humans. The attitude towards multiple births varies widely among cultures. Although expected to be present, evidence for twin burials from prehistoric times is scarce. However, knowledge about the attitude of ancient societies towards twins, as expressed for instance by funeral practices, would provide interesting insights into the spiritual world of these people. In 2001, an Iron Age settlement site was excavated near Ochtendung, Germany. The skeletons of two perinatal individuals were found in situ in shallow depressions close to post‐holes of a house pit in the western part of the settlement. The individuals appear to have been deposited in the depressions without special care, as one of them was face down. No archaeological findings were associated with the skeletons. Age at death of the two individuals was estimated to be between 36 and 40 weeks' gestation. The cusp patterns of the lower left first molars exhibit a similar configuration of the disto‐buccal cusps in both individuals, probably a division of the hypoconid. The investigation of the bones and the teeth revealed a similar stage of development of the individuals and supports the hypothesis of closely related individuals, probably twins. An interpretation as ‘building sacrifices’ seems unwarranted, considering the careless deposition of the bodies and the absence of any grave goods. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Detection of blood proteins in ancient human bone using ELISA: A comparative study of the survival of IgG and albumin

ABSTRACT The immunological identification of species-specific blood proteins in skeletal remains has an important role in the reconstruction of ancient dietary, ritual and domestic behaviour. However, which protein provides the most suitable target for such work has not been considered previously, and the present investigation was carried out on human bone to assess the relative merits of IgG and albumin. Extracts of bone from 31 individuals (from the English Civil War, medieval, Early Saxon, Roman, Iron Age and Bronze Age periods) were tested by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using monoclonal antibodies. Albumin was detected in 23 of the 31 skeletons, including those from the Iron and Bronze Ages, whereas IgG was identified in only one; this difference was very highly significant (P < 0.0005, χ² 30.0). The better detection rate for albumin was thought to be due to its higher original blood level, inherent differences in survival pattern being considered unlikely. Testing the same extract for both proteins in the same assay system ensured that any effects due to soil factors, burial conditions, physical integrity of the bone, chronological age, amount of original specimen, method of analysis and type of reagent were the same for each part of the study, thus permitting a valid comparison of antigen survival to be made. Control samples, including fresh and ancient animal bone extracts and human and animal sera, confirmed that the results were consistent and specific, with no cross-reactivity between human and animal material, and that as little as 10 ng of protein was detectable. In summary, the investigation compared the suitability of IgG and albumin for osteoarchaeological studies using a highly specific, sensitive and versatile ELISA; the results showed that albumin was a far better target molecule for such work and that it can survive in ancient bone for long periods of time.