Age‐at‐Death Estimates from a Disarticulated,Fragmented and Commingled Archaeological Battlefield Assemblage

Estimation of age‐at‐death is an important and challenging part of any investigation of human remains. Extensive research has been undertaken on this subject as demographic information contributes much to bioarchaeological and forensic work. Disarticulated, fragmentary and commingled human remains occur from a wide range of spatial and temporal contexts, and estimation of age‐at‐death can be particularly challenging in these collections. This study evaluated the impact of preservation on techniques that might be applied and their relative utility, using human remains from the site of the Smith's Knoll associated with the Battle of Stoney Creek, a War of 1812 collection from Ontario Canada with some supporting documentary evidence on age‐at‐death. Features assessed were the pubic symphysis, auricular surface and epiphyseal fusion in the innominate. An age‐at‐death estimate was produced for 16 out of 19 individuals considered; the highest minimum number of individuals (MNI) was 24 (right radius) from 2701 identifiable fragments. The pubic symphysis made no contribution to construction of a demographic profile, but as has been suggested previously epiphyseal fusion was useful in this respect. Results demonstrate that previous statements regarding preservation of the auricular surface and its utility in fragmented and poorly preserved collections need to be carefully evaluated. Although 129 fragments of innominate were recorded just one had an auricular surface and post auricular area that could be fully assessed. Transition Analysis was easier to apply than techniques developed previously, and findings from this study suggest that use of the forensic prior distribution could assist in assessment of battlefield assemblages. These results raise some valuable points that need to be considered in any future attempts to improve age‐at‐death estimates using the auricular surface, and important questions regarding expectations for estimation of age‐at‐death in disarticulated, fragmented and commingled collections of human bone. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

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.     

The History and Composition of the Identified Human Skeletal Collection of the Certosa Cemetery (Bologna,Italy, 19th–20th Century)

The purpose of this paper is to present the identified skeletal collection (by age, sex, cause of death, occupation and preservation state) from the Certosa Cemetery of Bologna (Italy), which was reviewed and checked through a consultation of the cemetery archives. The collection consists of 425 skeletons of individuals (from newborn to 91 years old) who died in Bologna between 1898 and 1944. The personal details associated with the skeletons were cross‐checked with the data contained in the cemetery and municipal archives. For each skeleton, the biological profile was assessed using current anthropological methods in order to confirm its correct identification. Four hundred and eighteen skeletons (98.4%), mostly complete and well preserved, are identified at least for sex, and for 95% of these, the age is known. The distribution of sexes in the various age groups is fairly well balanced. The cause of death is known in 93% of the individuals. Approximately 30% of the individuals died from infectious diseases. The occupation is known for more than 92% of the individuals. Most of the women were housewives, while the men were employed in various jobs. The cross‐check between archival data with the anthropological analysis of the remains enabled a reliable identification of the skeletons. The sexes and various age groups are well represented, and the sample is substantially uniform as far as geographical origin and socio‐economic conditions (lower social classes) are concerned. Thanks to the reliability of the information collected, the Certosa collection is an excellent anthropological tool for the development and validation of osteobiographic methods. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Unflinching Mr. Smith and the Nuclear Age**

This article focuses on the U.S. diplomat and nuclear arms control negotiator Gerald (Gerry) Coat Smith in order to cast new light on the importance of diplomats in the context of the set of international activities currently labelled as “science diplomacy.” Smith, a lawyer by training, was a key negotiator in many international agreements on post-WW2 atomic energy projects, from those on uranium prospecting and mining, to reactors technologies to later ones on non-proliferation and disarmament. His career in science (nuclear) diplomacy also epitomized the shortcomings of efforts to align other countries’ posture on nuclear affairs to U.S. wishes. In particular, the unswerving diplomat increasingly understood that strong-arm tactics to dissuade other countries from acquiring nuclear weapons would not limit proliferation. Not only did this inform later U.S. diplomacy approaches, but it lent itself to the ascendancy of the new notion of “soft power” as critical to the re-definition of international affairs.     

About time: age,period, and cohort effects on support for Quebec sovereignty

Can age, period and cohort effects help explain support for Quebec sovereignty? Previous work on this question has focused mostly on the effects of age and cohort. We contribute to this debate by adding a period perspective. As such, our study is the first to investigate the impact of age, cohort and period effects in a single study of opinion towards sovereignty in Quebec. We take advantage of an original dataset that includes survey data collected between 1985 and 2012. We use these data to examine the impact of age, birth year and survey year on support for this constitutional option among francophone Quebeckers. Our results are in line with previous work: we show that younger Quebeckers are more likely to support sovereignty, and that some cohorts – namely, respondents born between 1945 and 1959 – are also more likely to favour this option. Perhaps more surprisingly, we find that specific events are comparatively the most important factor to explain fluctuations in Quebeckers' attitudes towards sovereignty.     

Education,parenting and concepts of childhood in England,c. 1945 to c. 1979

Both education and parenting became increasingly ‘child-centred’, or ‘progressive’, in post-war England. This article contends that the impact of this shift for concepts of childhood, and for children themselves, was equivocal. Progressive methods were physically and emotionally demanding for both teachers and parents, and popularised versions of developmental psychology and psychoanalysis shaped a limiting concept of the child. This article also suggests, in line with recent work by Thomson and Shapira, that changing concepts of childhood map democratic selfhood because the capabilities that children lacked were those that must be possessed by the adult citizen. By exploring how children were defined in relation to adults, and how adults’ needs were increasingly subordinated to those of the child, this article also begins to question how we might usefully use age as a ‘category of historical analysis’.     

Milky Quartz Bipolar Reduction and Lithic Miniaturization: Experimental Results and Archaeological Implications

We present experimental data examining the energetics and identification of axial bipolar reduction in contexts of lithic miniaturization on milky quartz. These experiments answer two specific questions. First, does bipolar reduction provide any benefits over freehand reduction? Second, can axial bipolar reduction be distinguished from freehand reduction? Our data show that bipolar reduction requires significantly less time to reduce a percentage unit of core mass and to produce a millimeter of cutting edge on milky quartz than freehand reduction. Milky quartz bipolar reduction surpasses even the cutting edge production efficiency of obsidian pressure blades. We outline a series of quantitative criteria for identifying bipolar cores and flakes. Our results show that bipolar cores and flakes can be distinguished from those produced using freehand reduction by quantifying platform crushing, distal flake rebound scars, bulb shearing, as well as axial, bipolar, and splintered flake terminations. Our results challenge the widely held perceptions about the wastefulness of bipolar reduction and provide clear guidelines for identifying this reduction strategy in archaeological milky quartz assemblages.     

Middle Bronze Age II Battleaxes from Rishon LeZion,Israel: Archaeology and Metallurgy

Thirteen bronze battleaxes from Middle Bronze Age II graves at Rishon LeZion, Israel were analysed by ED XRF at multiple surface locations in order to determine their metallurgical composition. Six of these were further subjected to neutron diffraction using an ENGIN‐X diffractometer in order to determine bulk phase composition. The results indicate that the previously established geographical and chronological variability in Sn–Cu (with occasional Pb) and As–Cu alloys found using the former method may be an artefact of preservation and conservation. In addition, the varying homogeneity determined by the latter reflects special treatment for improving on the metal cast.     

Human Technical Behavior in the African Middle Stone Age: The Lithic Assemblage of Porc-Epic Cave (Dire Dawa,Ethiopia)

The African origin of modern humans is the center of a large debate. Discoveries of anatomically modern human fossils in Sub-Saharan Africa correlated to lithic and faunal artifacts show that a “modern Behavior” is associated with the emergence of Homo sapiens. Even though the traits to define this modernity are sometimes difficult to apprehend, the study of the Middle Stone Age cultural phase is important for understanding the origin and evolution of the cognitive capacity of modern humans. Porc-Epic Cave in Ethiopia has a long sequence of Upper Pleistocene occupation. Several thousand bone and lithic artifacts were excavated during three major field excavations (1933, 1974, 1975–76). The lithic assemblage reveals that the relationship between humans and their environment is well organized and that the African terminology is sometimes difficult to apply. This paper proposes a synthesis of all the data, studies and conclusions I have made from the analysis of lithic materials from the 1933 and 1975–76 excavations in order to integrate Porc-Epic into the current debate of MSA and modern human Behavior.L'origine de l'Homme moderne en Afrique fait l'objet actuellement d'un large débat. Les décourvertes de fossiles d'Homo sapiens en Afrique sub-saharienne associés à des industries lithiques montrent que, en parallèle à l'émergence de cette nouvelle espèce humaine, un comportement dit moderne s'est développé. Le Middle Stone Age est donc une période culturelle charnière dans l'évolution comportementale de l'homme. La grotte du Porc-épic, en éthiopie, est un témoignage de cette ère avec un remplissage pléistocène supérieur contenant des dizaines de milliers de restes fauniques et lithiques. L'étude de son important assemblage lithique révèle que le rapport de l'homme à la matière et à son environnement est très organisé et que le terminologie culturelle africaine est parfois difficile à utiliser.     

What do muscle marker ruggedness scores actually tell us?

Musculoskeletal stress markers (MSM) have been used to reconstruct activity patterns and labour intensity of past populations. Age and size have been found to correlate with MSM, and these aspects should be considered in activity reconstructions. The aim of this study was to find out the nature and the effects of labour intensity, age and size on MSM. Study material were skeletons (N = 108) of individuals of known age, sex and occupation housed at the Natural History Museum, Finland. MSM were scored for Pectoralis major, Deltoid, Teres major and Biceps brachii. These scores were combined to reflect total activity of an individual. Geometric mean of humeral measurements was used as a size indicator and radial tuberosity size was used as a muscle size indicator. Factors explaining MSM were studied using ANCOVA. This included age, size, muscle size, sex, labour intensity, and their interactions. Age and muscle size were the most significant factors explaining MSM, where muscle attachment areas and MSM grow with advancing age. Muscle attachment areas and skeletal frame size were also found to correlate. Least squares regression parameter estimates were used to study the effects of labour intensity, sex and side on MSM. It was found that in early life scores are higher in heavy labour group, but there is less age‐related increase in these scores. This could mean that bone is unable to respond to heavy and continuous loading with surface structure. Therefore labour intensity cannot be reliably recorded in old individuals. Also age and size (as reflected in muscle attachment area) affect MSM and these aspects should be considered before making assumptions on labour intensity. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.