An Investigation Into the Relationship Between Funerary Treatment and Bacterial Bioerosion in European Archaeological Human Bone

A central problem in funerary archaeology is interpreting how the corpse was manipulated in the immediate post mortem period. The extent of bacterial bioerosion to the internal bone microstructure has been proposed as a means to infer the early post mortem history of a corpse, as it has been suggested that this form of bone diagenesis is produced by an organism's putrefactive gut bacteria. Under this model, different forms of funerary treatment would be expected to leave characteristic signatures of bioerosion in archaeological bone. Here, we tested the extent to which bacterial bioerosion of ancient human bones reflected funerary treatment, through histological analysis of 301 archaeological human bone thin sections from 25 European archaeological sites. We found that bioerosion was significantly influenced by whether a bone originated from a neonatal individual or an anoxic context. When these remains were excluded, bioerosion was controlled by archaeological phase in a manner consistent with known early post mortem treatment and forensic models of bodily decomposition. These findings suggest that microscopic analyses of bone have useful applications in reconstructions of funerary processes and provide some insight into factors that may control the persistence of organic biomolecules and fossilization.     

Insights into the processes behind the contamination of degraded human teeth and bone samples with exogenous sources of DNA

A principal problem facing human DNA studies that use old and degraded remains is contamination from other sources of human DNA. In this study we have attempted to contaminate deliberately bones and teeth sampled from a medieval collection excavated in Trondheim, Norway, in order to investigate this poorly understood phenomenon. Five pairs of teeth and bone samples were bathed in water containing various concentrations (from 10⁻⁹ and 10⁻²¹ g/l) of purified ΦX174 DNA. Subsequently the samples were subjected to a routine decontamination protocol involving a bleach bath followed by exposure to λ=254 nm ultraviolet light, prior to DNA extraction and analysis for evidence of the persistence of the contaminant. The results support previous speculation that bone is more susceptible to water‐borne sources of contaminant DNA, although both bone and teeth are readily contaminated and are difficult to decontaminate using the tested protocol. We believe that this is largely due to the porous nature of bone and teeth facilitating the deep penetration of the contaminant DNA. To simulate a more realistic handling situation, 27 further teeth were directly handled and washed, then decontaminated, prior to assaying for the residual presence of the handler's DNA. Surprisingly, although our results suggest that a large proportion of the teeth were contaminated with multiple sources of human DNA prior to our investigation, we were unable to contaminate the samples with further human DNA. One potential explanation may be the deposition of sediment or other structural changes that occur within the samples as they desiccate post‐excavation, which may protect samples from subsequent contamination, but also prevent the efficacy of bleach baths in decontaminating specimens. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stone Age exploitation of birds on the island of Gotland,Baltic Sea: a taphonomic study of the avifauna on the Neolithic site of Ajvide

We have conducted a detailed taphonomic study of the avifauna of the Pitted Ware culture site of Ajvide on the Island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea, in order to investigate the fowling patterns and the taphonomic history of the bird remains. We have investigated cultural as well as natural modifications on the bird bones, fragmentation and fracture patterns, and performed a systematic surface modification study. No specific area for the deposition of bird remains or specific bird species was identified. All major anatomical parts of birds are present in the assemblage, but there is a dominance of specimens from the wing elements. Traces of cultural modification were observed on the bones, including cut marks, burning, modification (implements, beads, raw material), and gnawing marks. The bone surface modifications and fracture analysis indicate that the majority of the bird bones at Ajvide did not lie on the soil surface for an extended period of time before being deposited in the soil. Dry fractures increase while fresh fractures decrease towards the upper levels of the stratigraphy, indicating more extensive post‐depositional destruction. This may partly be connected to modern agriculture, but also to later use of the settlement area as a burial ground. The Ajvide assemblage contains a variety of birds living in different biotopes. However, bird hunting was mainly focused on sea birds. Auks and ducks are the most common families in the assemblage. We find it likely that the Ajvide hunters conducted organised hunting expeditions to two nearby islands for the hunting of auks, while it was possible to hunt other birds such as ducks closer to the site. The presence of medullary bone and bones from subadult birds indicates a main hunting season in late spring and early summer. However, comparisons with modern migration patterns indicate that hunting may have occurred throughout the year. Of special palaeozoological interest is the find of gannet (Morus bassanus), which apparently in Neolithic times visited the Baltic area more regularly than today. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Lead isotope analysis of intra‐skeletal variation in a 19th century mental asylum cemetery: diagenesis versus migration

Living bone sequesters environmental lead (Pb) from both inhalation and ingestion, providing a record of Pb exposure over a lifetime. Questions about the effects of diagenesis and how to remove them have hampered most isotopic and elemental determinations. As a result, researchers often restrict their analyses to tooth enamel, despite its limitations. We report Pb isotopes in teeth and bones in a frontier population of 15 individuals from a late 19th century mental hospital graveyard in Pueblo, Colorado, a town active at that time in the smelting of ores. Analysis of lead isotopes sequestered in healing bone from rib fractures gives an isotopic fingerprint from the last few months of individual's lives. When bone tissues or teeth from different stages of life are analysed, life history trajectories such as migration routes can be developed which are partially self‐correcting for diagenesis. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The recognition of multiple spatial patterns: a case study from the French upper paleolithic

A pattern recognition approach to spatial analysis is applied to artifact distributions from the Magdalenian site of Pincevent, Section 36. Patterning is investigated using a κ-means cluster analysis that permits iterative mapping of artifact distributions at several scales of spatial complexity. Multiple scales of patterning are recognized in the Pincevent distributions. These patterns are assessed in terms of those discovered by the excavators through intensive visual inspection of the materials. Basic concordance is seen between these two approaches. Finally, the analysis detects more detailed patterning. A relationship between artifact abundance and location seems to hold constant throughout the site.     

A spectroscopic study of the nimrud ivories

Electron spin resonance and infrared spectroscopic techniques have been used to examine the thermal and environmental deterioration of ivory from Nimrud, Iraq. It has been possible to ascertain the extent of ancient pyrolysis of the ivory with the former technique, and infrared spectroscopy has allowed an insight into the deterioration of the protein matrix of the ivory both in relation to, and independent from, thermal breakdown. Comparative spectroscopic studies of both ancient and modern ivory are also reported. The structural information obtained is discussed in the light of previously reported studies based upon chemical analyses.     

Stable isotopes in human skeletons of Southern Ontario: reconstructing Palaeodiet

Most native plants of Ontario use the C₃ photosynthetic mechanism and therefore have relatively low ${}^{13}\text{C}{}^{12}\text{C}$ ratios; maize is a C₄ plant and is relatively enriched in ¹³C. The proportion of maize in the diet of a human can therefore be estimated from the ¹³C-content of collagen of fossil bone. We have used this method to follow the increase in consumption of maize in ancient native populations over the interval from AD 400 to 1650, and to quantify the amount of maize consumed. Maize consumption rose gradually to a maximum of 50% of the diet by AD 1400. These data agree with archaeologically derived data for this region, and with previous isotope studies in the northeastern U.S.A. In some of the latter, however, the maximum percentage of maize consumed has been overestimated because maize was assumed to have a δ¹³C value of ?12·5‰; our studies of archaeological specimens show the correct value to be closer to ?9‰. The introduction of beans into the native diet about AD 1100, should have caused a decrease in the ¹⁵N content of human bone collagen because legumes are deficient in this isotope, with respect to meat and fish. However, we observe no significant change in the ${}^{15}\text{N}{}^{14}$N ratio of human bone collagen over the period from 2300 BC to AD 1640. We conclude that meat and fish remained the main sources of protein even after the advent of agriculture into this region.     

Phosphates, plowzones, and plazas: a minimally invasive approach to settlement structure of plowed village sites

Inferences about settlement structure play an important role in explanations of social and political change in Late Prehistoric eastern North America, but ethical and logistical challenges posed by extensive horizontal excavations mean that archaeologists must develop low cost, minimally invasive methods for investigating key properties of village structure. There are two important components of most villages in the region: 1) the peripheral distribution of middens; and 2) the size and location of formal communal spaces or plazas, each of which leaves traces in soil chemistry. In shallowly buried, plowed village sites where artifacts have been physically displaced, the chemical signature of middens may be more resistant to disturbance and provide an enduring signature of ancient settlement structure. We conducted a systematic soil phosphorus survey at the Reinhardt Site (33PI880) in central Ohio, the primary occupation of which occurred during the Late Prehistoric Period (ca. AD 1200-1450), to test for the presence and approximate size of a central plaza and the shape and distribution of peripheral midden deposits. Soil samples from the modern plowzone (N = 131) were analyzed for Mehlich II extractable phosphorus using molybdate colorimetry. The interpolated phosphorus distributions indicate a clear ring midden approximately 90 m across with an internal plaza that is roughly 30 m × 40 m. Artifact distributions from a shovel test pit survey and interpolations of plowzone magnetic susceptibility measurements identify the location of the village but are ambiguous with regards to village size and do not clearly distinguish the central plaza. Our results suggest that systematic surveys of soil phosphorus are a rapid, minimally invasive, and inexpensive method for generating data on the size and shape of villages and their plazas.     

田猎卜辞新缀五则

本文介绍了作者新缀合的五版甲骨,发现了新的同文卜辞,校正了前人字体分类中的错误,为十二版甲骨形态的确定提供了详实的论据,为商代田猎历史的复原研究提供了新材料。