Bioarchaeology Notes

Bioarchaeology

The Variety of Human Remains

• Intact bodies, skeletons, and bones provide the majority of remains.
• Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI) is determined by counting specific bones (e.g., left femurs).
• Small fragments may have diagnostic features (e.g., hair).
• Paleoproteomics: study of ancient proteins.
• Ancient art can offer indirect physical evidence of appearance.
• Evidence may survive even if the body has not, e.g., Pompeii.

Identifying Physical Attributes

• Biological sex is determined, not gender (which is a social construct).
• Intact bodies can be sexed from genitalia.
• Shape of the pelvis is the most common skeletal indicator, along with bone size.
• Skeletal markers are ranked from 1-5 (more male or more female) to acknowledge variability, biological anthropologists may refer to sex as indeterminate.
• The sex of children can be very difficult to determine.
• Teeth may provide some evidence.
• DNA analysis is becoming increasingly used.

How Long Did They Live?

• Biological age at death is usually determined as young, adult, or old.
• Dental information is the best indicator.
• Our ancestors aged faster than modern populations.
• Bones as indicators of age:
  • Bone fusion: bone ends fuse at various ages.
  • Skull thickness.
  • Bone microstructure.
• Teeth:
  • Dental eruption.
  • Closure of the roots.
  • Layers of cementum on the roots.
  • Growth lines on enamel
• Average age at death can only be calculated for bodies and skeletons that have survived.
• Cemeteries cannot provide a realistic guide to life expectancy and mortality pattern of a culture.

What Did They Look Like?

• Bog bodies and mummified remains are the best sources of evidence.
• Portraits in art, e.g. mummy cases, Greek and Roman busts, terra-cotta army, tomb figures.
• Attempts to reconstruct facial features since the nineteenth century.

How Were They Related?

• Comparison of skull shape, hair analysis, or studying dental morphology.
• Blood groups.
• DNA analysis can reveal information about family relationships.
• Mitochondrial DNA (maternal line).

Where Did They Come From?

• Genetic material is the best source of information for early populations.
• Mitochondrial DNA (maternal line).
• Nuclear DNA (both parents).
• Y-chromosome DNA (paternal line).
• The study of ancient DNA enables investigation into populations that no longer exist.

Disease, Deformity, and Death

• Skeletal material is more abundant than soft tissue and reveals much paleopathological information.
• Trauma caused by violence or accident.
• Diseases are evidenced by erosion, growths, or change in bone structure.
• Clear signs of affliction can be caused by certain infections, lack of nutrition, and some cancers.
• Nutritional stress during childhood can cause Harris lines.
• Long-term disease can leave marks on bone.
• Dental disease can be an indication of diet.
• Most infectious diseases do not leave traces in bones.

Diet and Nutrition

• Skeletal signs of diet deficiencies are found in bones and teeth.
  • Harris lines.
  • Poorly mineralized enamel in teeth.
  • Size and condition of bones.
• Microbial archaeology:
  • Source of information for nutrition.
  • Teeth and dental calculus; source of DNA.
  • Can indicate oral disease.
• Evidence in art and literature.
• Carbon isotopes.

Cannibalism

• Assumptions that cannibalism existed in prehistory shown to be untrustworthy
• Two main categories of evidence for cannibalism are cutmarks and the presence of human bones with animal bones
• Funerary practices and activities such as warfare can offer alternative explanations to cannibalism

Ethics

• Absolutely essential that permissions be granted for research on human tissue
• Research should not use samples that were obtained for one purpose for a different purpose without new permissions