The ethics of displaying human remains from British archaeological sites

Abstract

The 1998 exhibition London Bodies at the Museum of London provided an opportunity to review the ethical issues relating to the excavation, study and display of human remains in modern Britain. It is suggested that for most Britons the display of human skeletal material is not considered a problem, but that archaeologists would do well to ensure that their practices are in line with the views and beliefs of the society in which they work.     

DNA analysis of archaeological sheep remains from China

Recent research has thrown considerable light on the history of the domestic sheep, but has not extended to ancient sheep specimens. In the present study, ancient DNA analysis was carried out on eight archaeological sheep remains recovered from Erlitou archaeological site in Henan Province (ca. 2100–1800 B.C.) to explore the genetic structure of ancient sheep and the phylogenetic relationship between ancient and modern sheep. We analyzed the control region sequences and coding regions of mitochondrial DNA from the remains by direct sequencing and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis, respectively. Our results reveal that all ancient sheep belong to lineage A defined by modern sheep sequences. Phylogenetic analysis shows that neither argali (Ovis ammon) nor urial (Ovis vignei) mtDNA is closely related to Erlitou ancient sheep. In addition, our results suggest that ancient DNA analysis can serve as a powerful tool in tracing prehistoric population movement.     

Genetic analysis of archaeological wood remains: first results and prospects

A total of 51 ancient oak wood samples originating from various European archaeological sites, dating from the Neolithic period to the 18th century, were assayed for the presence of reproducible chloroplast (cp) DNA sequences. Five polymorphic chloroplast fragments were targeted. Only five of the samples could be fully genetically characterised, revealing four different oak cpDNA haplotypes. In all cases, the haplotypes detected on ancient woods and the haplotypes characterised from fresh samples from the same localities matched. Overall, this congruence is consistent with a genetic continuity between ancient and modern European oaks, confirming the hypothesis that the mapped genetic patterns largely reflect the original structure that established during the post-glacial. This stability of the genetic structure implies that, in the future, the technique could be used to infer or confirm the transport of wood by man, providing interesting perspectives for the genetic analysis of ancient woods.     

The diagnosis of pituitary disease from human skeletal remains

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the radiological criteria once widely used when investigating pituitary disease in the living can be applied to early man. The material examined forms part of the assemblage of skulls in the Duckworth Collection in Cambridge. It proved possible to measure the sella turcica from the radiographs of 88 of 155 predynastic adult Egyptian skulls with an intact base. These were compared with the measurements from 41 of 76 adult Burmese skulls of more recent origin and those of a randomly selected sample of living Caucasian adults. There was a wide range of sellar volumes in all three groups. The results were subjected to statistical analysis. Opportunities to apply the results of this study have been limited to the assessment of sellar erosion in a predynastic Badarian, review of the diagnosis of acromegaly in a, presumed, early Egyptian and the investigation of a hydrocephalic skull. The radiological examination of human skeletal remains thought to show evidence of pituitary disease or hydrocephalus can make palaeopathological diagnoses more secure.     

The molecular palaeoecology of geese: identification of archaeological goose remains using ancient DNA analysis

The remains of six species of geese are commonly recovered from archaeological sites in Britain dating from the Saxon and later periods. However, identification of this material to species level is hampered by a lack of morphological variation and a large overlap in size. To address this issue we obtained DNA sequence data for a section of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene from modern samples of each species, and successfully identified several DNA markers for Branta species. No markers were found within the cytochrome b gene for the genus Anser. Ancient DNA techniques were then used to recover DNA from goose bones excavated from two archaeological sites. The DNA sequences enabled identification of Barnacle goose (Branta leucopsis) from one site and confirmed the presence of Anser species at another. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The identification of charred archaeological remains of vegetative parenchymous tissue

The biased way in which some inferences may be drawn from archaeobotanical assemblages, due to problems in identification, is briefly discussed. A potentially important class of plant remains, vegetative parenchymous organs, commonly sources of food, are indicated as being such a class rarely identified from archaeological contexts. Their identification based on characters of the plants' anatomy and morphology together with an understanding of the way in which tissues degrade on preservation by charring is suggested. Characters of the charred tissues that make up vegetative parenchymous organs are described in detail. The processes of sorting and identification are then briefly discussed.     

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.     

The archaeological remains of Ratu Boko: From Sri Lankan Buddhism to Hinduism

From the 8th to the early 10th century the region around mounts Merapi and Sumbing in central Java was the centre of powerful Indianised kingdoms. One such site, Ratu Boko, was transformed into a Javanese replica of the Abhayagiri-vihāra, a well-known Buddhist monastery in Sri Lanka. Shortly afterwards, the Sinhalese influence showed elements of Hindu and Vajrayāna traditions revealing from the archaeological remains that it was not merely a copy of a Sri Lankan model but a testimony of Javanese civilisation and history.     

Inter-observer variation in coding osteoarthritis in human skeletal remains

Thirty-eight participants at the VIIIth European Meeting of the Paleopathology Association took part in a study of inter-observer variation in scoring osteoarthritis in human skeletal remains. Ten specimens representing different joints were used and five criteria of osteoarthritis were scored. Eleven of the 38 participants ranked themselves as beginners, 13 as experienced and six as very experienced; the data were subsequently examined using the results from these 30, comparing beginners with experts. Agreement as to whether or not changes were present on the specimens and on the degree of change was seldom complete but was greater when scoring eburnation and the presence of new bone on the joint surface than for the three other criteria. There was little difference between beginners and experts. Although all the specimens were chosen to meet our published criteria for osteoarthritis, the experts were unanimous is agreeing the diagnosis in only three cases and the beginners in only one. These results suggest that more work needs to be done to develop operational definitions for the classification of disease in palaeopathology and that great care must be taken when comparing disease frequencies between studies.     

Ancient bacterial DNA (aDNA) in dental calculus from archaeological human remains

The purpose of this study was to identify reactive bacterial aDNA in archaeological human dental calculus. Dental calculus was collected from a middle/late Neolithic human skull from Hulbjerg passage grave, Langeland, Denmark and prepared for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) or gold-labeled antibody TEM. TEM showed calcified, as well as non-calcified bacteria. Immunogold labeling occurred over the cytoplasmic portions of the sectioned bacteria. The result demonstrated that it is possible to identify aDNA sequences from bacteria in archaeological material of considerable age by this technique.     

The value of sieving of grave soil in the recovery of human remains: an experimental study of poorly preserved archaeological inhumations

The aim of this work is to assess the effects of sieving basal grave fills, following lifting of visible skeletal remains on the recovery of human bones and loose teeth in poorly preserved inhumation burials. The experiment was carried out during excavations at the 7th–9th century AD cemetery site at Whitby, England. Burials generally consisted of degraded bone fragments and/or soil stains. In each grave (N = 70 adult burials), all visible human remains were hand-collected on site; following this, the soil remaining in the grave was recovered and sieved successively through 8 mm, 4 mm and 2 mm meshes. No bone or dental fragments in the 2–4 mm fraction were identifiable to skeletal element. Approximately one third of the total weight of bone, and one third of the total numbers of teeth were recovered in the 4–8 mm and >8 mm sieved fractions. It is concluded that sieving down to 4 mm is adequate for recovery of adult skeletal remains at the study site. It would be useful to conduct similar sieving experiments at other archaeological cemetery sites to provide data on recovery when bone survival is good, and in subadult burials.     

The cost-effectiveness of certain methods of recovering macroscopic organic remains from archaeological deposits

In a survey, carried out to investigate the cost-effectiveness of the main methods used to recover macroscopic organic remains from archaeological deposits, it was found that sampling and recovery methods employed varied widely between individual workers. Sample type, recovery method and experience of the worker influenced the time taken to produce identified material, but it was clear that this is an expensive activity which must be justified in terms of information output.     

Species identification of archaeological dung remains: A critical review of potential methods

Abstract

Dung, macroscopically recognisable as such or not, can more commonly be found in archaeological contexts than is perhaps realised. Up to now, identification of dung to the species which produced it is usually either tenuous, or is not possible. However, species identification can be very informative and is necessary before any further studies can be conducted on the dung, for example on health and hygiene in the past and palaeoecology. This study presents a review of potential methods by which species identifications of archaeological dung can be undertaken. Criteria for identification can be divided into three broad categories: morphometric features of the dung; the content of dung and contextual evidence. Overall, the chances of a precise identification are high; however, a combination of different criteria and techniques will often be necessary to establish a secure identification. Moreover, preservation issues may exclude the application of some criteria while several criteria require more research and the expansion of reference collections of recent material. The overall aim is to move towards standardised methods for species identification of archaeological dung.     

Ancient DNA typing of archaeological pig remains corroborates historical records

The recent increase in both the abundance and taxonomic range of DNA sequence data in public repositories makes it possible to determine the maternal origin of lineages of faunal archaeological material by characterizing its mitochondrial DNA. Among the most commonly represented taxa are domesticated animals, for which extensive genetic characterization has revealed high levels of genetic diversity and (in at least some cases) strong phylogeographic clustering. Such information has significant implications not only for characterizing important aspects of the occupation history of archaeological sites, but also in providing novel insights into colonisation history and the scale and scope of trade and exchange networks. This can be done through studying the origins and dispersal of proxy organisms such as commensal and domesticated animals, as well as economically important wild fauna. To illustrate this approach, we compare historical records of maritime movement of people and pigs from two sites on Lord Howe Island, Australia, to phylogeographic results of DNA extracted from pig bones.     

Detection of exposed and subsurface archaeological remains using multi-sensor remote sensing

Multi-sensor airborne remote sensing has been applied to the Itanos area of eastern Crete to assess its potential for locating exposed and known buried archaeological remains, and to delineate subsurface remains beyond the current limits of ground geophysical data in order to permit future targeted geophysical surveys and archaeological excavations. A range of processing techniques (e.g., Reed–Xiaoli anomaly detection) have been applied to the CASI, ATM and lidar data in order to detect anomalies based on the premise that buried remains are likely to alter the physical and chemical characteristics of the soil compared with those of the surroundings due to variations in soil depth and drainage. Through a combination of CASI, ATM and lidar data, surface remains have been classified and mapped effectively using an object-oriented approach. The detection of subsurface remains is more problematic; however, the thermal data is most promising in this respect. The value of capturing multi- or hyperspectral data at a high spatial resolution has been demonstrated as well as the additional benefits of combining these with airborne lidar.     

Recovery of DNA from archaeological insect remains: first results,problems and potential

We report the recovery of short fragments of PCR amplifiable ancient DNA from exoskeletal fragments of the grain weevil Sitophilus granarius (L.) extracted from Roman and medieval deposits in Northern England. If DNA preservation in archaeological insect remains is widespread then many applications in the spheres of evolutionary studies and archaeology can be conceived, some of which are outlined.