Bioarchaeology of Childhood

Nell'ambito delle indagini archeologiche condotte tra il 2013 e il 2014 all'interno della chiesa duecentesca dei SS. Filippo e Giacomo di Nosedo (MI) - svolte in accordo tra la Soprintendenza Archeologia della Lombardia e l'Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore - è stato riportato alla luce un sepolcreto in uso tra la metà del XV e gli inizi del XVII secolo, sviluppatosi attorno ad una tomba assai più antica. Tra le oltre 70 tombe indagate, è stata infatti messa in luce una sepoltura privilegiata in cassa strutturata, che accoglieva i resti di una donna di oltre 70 anni d’età, datati con analisi al 14C alla fine del IX secolo; anteriori al XIII secolo sono anche alcuni tratti murari precedenti alla chiesa di XIII secolo e che ne hanno condizionato l’orientamento non perfettamente est/ovest. Ben oltre il 40% delle inumazioni basso e post-medievali, rivenute in connessione anatomica, accoglieva subadulti, deposti in casse lignee o in semplici fosse terragne dotate, in alcuni casi, di laterizi in testata. Per alcuni degli individui più giovani, si sono riscontrati altri rituali deposizionali come una moneta bronzea tra le mani o presso il torace, e la collocazione di neonati entro o sotto un coppo. La topografia delle sepolture ha evidenziato che, nei pressi della tomba altomedievale, furono deposti corpi di bambini e subadulti: dapprima in addosso alla cassa ancora sigillata da lastre lapidee e, in seguito alla riapertura della stessa, anche all’interno, ma senza mai intaccare lo scheletro originario. Le dinamiche di deposizioni nei pressi della tomba privilegiata attestano, quindi, un rispetto quasi devozionale nei confronti della anziana donna che si mantenne fino al tardo Quattrocento, quando prende avvio l’intenso uso funerario dello spazio interno della chiesa, che però non comporta mai il disturbo dell’antica sepoltura. Sugli scheletri deposti in chiesa è stato condotto, inoltre, uno studio interdisciplinare tra archeologi e antropologi - poi approfondito mediante analisi archeometriche, paleonutrizionali, paleogenetiche e affondi di antropologia culturale – che ha consentito di tratteggiare le vicende di una piccola comunità gravitante nella campagna prossima a Milano e all’Abbazia di Chiaravalle tra bassomedioevo ed età moderna.

Archeologia e antropologia della morte: 1. La regola dell’eccezione, Atti del 3° Incontro Internazionale di
Studi di Antropologia e Archeologia a confronto [Roma, École française de Rome – Stadio di Domiziano, 20-
22 Maggio 2015] / a cura di Valentino Nizzo. Roma: E.S.S. Editorial Service System, 2018, pp. 552.
ISBN 978-88-8444-179-9

Per info sull'acquisto scrivere a info@diacultura.org

La morte è l’unica esperienza della vita che coinvolge ineluttabilmente tutti ma che tutti possono conoscere solo attraverso l’esperienza degli altri, come ha colto efficacemente Pirandello: «I vivi credono di piangere i loro morti e invece piangono una loro morte, una loro realtà che non è più nel sentimento di quelli che se ne sono andati».
L’antropologia ha codificato nella forma concettuale del rito di passaggio quanto gli antichi avevano già esemplificato attraverso la metafora del viaggio e della transizione. I momenti e gli atti che ruotano intorno alla morte, per la sua condizione di assoluta liminarità, costituiscono dunque il fulcro di un’esperienza collettiva e il tramite necessario per il superamento di quella soglia (limes) che ci permette di transitare da una condizione che non è più a una nuova dimensione, variamente concepita da cultura a cultura. In questo senso la morte è per eccellenza la metafora del confine; di un “limite” che, paradossalmente, viene raggiunto solo nel momento in cui non siamo più e, dunque, non possiamo più raccontarlo. E, in quanto tale, un confine contribuisce a codificare e rafforzare – fittiziamente – l’“identità” delle realtà che vivono ai suoi margini. Anche per questo, la morte può contribuire a definire l’idea e la percezione dell’“identità” che ciascuno di “noi” (singolarmente e/o collettivamente) si attribuisce, poiché è il culmine – naturale o meno – di un’esistenza e, al tempo stesso, l’atto estremo dell’esperienza terrena. È l’unica storia che non possiamo raccontare ma è anche quella attraverso la quale gli altri possono raccontare noi stessi o la percezione che, pirandellianamente, essi hanno avuto della nostra “realtà” o, meglio, di se stessi attraverso la nostra “realtà”. Ma la morte, ovviamente, è anche un atto biologico, nel corso del quale il cadavere subisce una metamorfosi che lo fa transitare dalla dimensione corporea a quella minerale, tornando materia, in un processo che può essere alterato casualmente e/o intenzionalmente dalla natura e dalla cultura, dando luogo a pratiche rituali e/o culturali di ricodifica simbolica della nostra essenza terrena, anch’esse variabili da società a società in relazione alla percezione che ciascuna di esse può avere della dialettica tra vita e morte e tra morte e ciò che si suppone ne segua.
La terza edizione del convegno di Antropologia e Archeologia a Confronto ha inteso affrontare queste complesse problematiche, cercando di offrire una panoramica dei più fruttuosi approcci teoretici e delle più aggiornate metodologie d’indagine messe in campo dall’antropologia culturale, dall’archeologia, dalla bioarcheologia e dall’archeotanatologia per cogliere l’essenza di questa frontiera; per decrittare il linguaggio di gesti, segni, sentimenti, riti, paure ed emozioni che contribuiscono a definirla; come sempre con l’ambizione gianiforme di guardare al passato per cogliere l’essenza del nostro presente.

VOL. 1: La regola dell’eccezione
VOL. 2: Corpi, relazioni e azioni: il paesaggio del rito
VOL. 3: Costruzione e decostruzione del sociale

Valentino Nizzo: Archeologo senza frontiere (Todi 1975). Da maggio 2017, in seguito a una selezione internazionale, dirige il Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia a Roma. Dal 2010 è stato funzionario archeologo presso la Soprintendenza Archeologia dell’Emilia Romagna e dal 2015 presso la Direzione generale Musei come responsabile della promozione, comunicazione e accessibilità culturale del sistema museale nazionale. Ha conseguito il PhD in Etruscologia presso la “Sapienza” Università di Roma e il Post-dottorato presso l’Istituto Italiano di Scienze Umane di Firenze pubblicandone i risultati nel volume Archeologia e antropologia della Morte: storia di un’idea (Edipuglia, Bari, 2015) da cui ha tratto ispirazione il presente convegno. È ideatore e direttore scientifico della Collana: Antropologia e Archeologia a Confronto edita dalla E.S.S. Editorial Service System per la Fondazione Dià Cultura.

L’utilisation d’une nouvelle méthode de répartition des enfants en groupes d’âges sociaux permet de saisir différentes étapes dans leur traitement funéraire. L’âge de sept ans, bien plus que celui d’un ou de cinq ans, semble constituer une césure, qui se traduit par le regroupement de ces enfants dans des zones spécifiques du cimetière. L’espace des morts semble ainsi se caractériser par une forte sectorisation, selon des critères biologiques et sociaux, tels que l’âge, mais aussi le sexe ou le statut social. L’identité sociale des individus semble donc participer pleinement à l’organisation des tombes dans le cimetière, entraînant une hiérarchisation de l’espace, le centre étant constitué par l’église.

Segundo a UNICEF, nos países onde se inscreve maior instabilidade político-administrativa, regista-se uma expressiva indiferença ou invisibilidade relativamente às crianças, inscrevendo-se os índices mais baixos da sua saúde e desenvolvimento biológico. Considerando a criança como um barómetro sensível, suscetível aos efeitos do
ambiente em que se desenvolve, este projeto explora as especificidades dos fluxos de instabilidade e respectivo impacto em termos sociais e biológicos na Infância, sendo esta entendida como um processo dinamizado por aspectos biológicos e socioculturais, variáveis no tempo e no espaço.
Para o efeito, selecionou-se a Península de Lisboa no período compreendido entre os séculos III e XIII, durante o qual ocorrem eventos históricos marcantes com implicações significativas no modo de vida das populações.
Recorrendo a metodologias, sobretudo, arqueológicas e
bioantropológicas pretende-se contribuir para o conhecimento das comunidades alto-medievais e, a par, para a identificação de práticas e políticas de intervenção a aplicar em sociedades actuais.

Abstract Children burials from the Middle Ages have been the subject of sustained attention from archaeologists for some thirty years. The increase of excavations of medieval cemeteries highlights two major facts : an underrepresentation of juveniles during the 5 th-8th centuries, followed by their gathering in the cemetery from the Carolingian period, along church walls. From the reinterpretation of examples from the 6 th-12 th century, this study shall discuss the archeological elements used to highlight the particularity of children's graves in medieval cemetery.
Les sépultures d'enfants datées du Moyen Âge font l'objet d'une attention soutenue de la part des archéologues depuis une trentaine d'années. La multiplication des fouilles des espaces funéraires médiévaux a mis en évidence deux phénomènes majeurs : une sous-représentation des enfants en bas-âge aux Ve-VIIIe siècles, suivi de leur regroupement dans le cimetière dès l'époque carolingienne, le long des murs des églises. À partir de la relecture d'exemples du VIe au XIIe siècle, cette étude propose de discuter des éléments utilisés en archéologie pour souligner la particularité des tombes d'enfants médiévales.

Jusqu’à une époque récente, la mortalité des jeunes
enfants pouvait être jusqu’à dix fois supérieure à ce qu’elle
est aujourd’hui dans les pays développés. Dans les
populations archéologiques, on a montré que le taux de
mortalité infantile avait pu atteindre en moyenne 300 ‰
(Guillon 1997) et que malheureusement, encore
aujourd’hui, les populations les plus défavorisées d’Afrique
pouvait avoir des taux de 89 ‰ (INED 2005) quand les
pays développés sont en dessous de 30 ‰, voire beaucoup
moins (cf. Portat, Guillon dans ce volume). Sans être aussi
élevée, la mortalité des enfants de plus de un an est aussi
beaucoup plus marquée dans les populations des périodes
qui précèdent les premières vaccinations antivarioliques et
l’amélioration des conditions sanitaires accompagnant la
révolution industrielle. Ce grand nombre de décès d’enfants
induit en archéologie funéraire la nécessité de traiter
beaucoup de petits cadavres et, dans la plupart des cas,
implique un grand nombre de sépultures. Dans le monde
chrétien, dans lequel se situent les exemples présentés en
annexe, les enfants morts trouvent place dans le cimetière
dès le baptême et parfois avant en fonction des périodes
considérées. Le nombre de tombes d’enfant qui ont été
creusées dans la terre des cimetières paroissiaux est donc
considérable, nettement plus important que le nombre de
tombes de sujets adultes.
Le centre du propos sera la sépulture d’enfant dans son
contexte archéologique. Nous débuterons avec les aspects
anatomiques et leurs implications ; nous insisterons sur
certains aspects techniques en rappelant les spécificités de la
fouille des tombes d’enfant et les conséquences des
prélèvements osseux et des enregistrements de terrain sur
l’analyse taphonomique et l’étude biologique. Nous
poursuivrons avec des exemples issus de la fouille de l’église
et du cimetière Saint Ayoul à Provins, administrativement
en Île-de-France (Seine-et-Marne) mais historiquement en
Champagne (dépend de l’archevêché de Sens), avec la mise
en évidence des modes d’inhumation. Une des particularités
du traitement des cadavres de bébés à Saint Ayoul de
Provins est l’usage quasi systématique du cercueil, que le
tout-petit ait vécu ou pas. Cette particularité nourrit une des
problématiques les plus importantes pour nous à Provins : le
sort réservé aux enfants morts avant d’avoir reçu le
baptême ; nous renvoyons le lecteur à nos articles précédents
et à Portat, Guillon dans ce volume (Guillon et al 1998 ;
Guillon et al 2002 ; Guillon 2003 ; Guillon et al 2004 ;
Portat 2009 ; Portat et al. 2011 ; Portat, Guillon 2016).

Fieldwork of the Polish–Egyptian Mission to Saqqara in the 2020 season continued on the eastern bank of the Dry Moat, resulting in the discovery of a rock-cut structure directly south of Corridor 1. Fieldwork also included exploration of a rock-cut chapel adjacent to the tomb of Merefnebef, part of the Sixth Dynasty funerary complex located south of the tomb. Both areas yielded new burials belonging to the so-called Upper Necropolis, which overlies the remains of late Old Kingdom funerary structures. Conservation work constituted an important part of the 2020 fieldwork program.

Kuraszkiewicz, K., Godziejwski, Z. and Kozieradzka-Ogunmakin, I. (2020). Saqqara: research 2020. Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 29(2): 87–116. DOI: 10.31338/uw.2083-537X.pam29.2.03

En l’absence d’informations substantielles sur l’enfant dans les documents écrits du haut Moyen Âge, la majeure partie des données que nous pouvons exploiter proviennent des fouilles archéologiques. Les archéologues et les anthropologues s’efforcent d’approcher le rituel funéraire, de repérer un traitement qui serait spécifique aux enfants morts, dès les premiers siècles du Moyen Âge, et d’expliquer l’absence des plus jeunes dans les cimetières : la sous-représentation des enfants au sein des espaces funéraires médiévaux est, en effet, un phénomène constant.


In the absence of substantial information about childhood in written documents of the early Middle Ages, the majority of the data that we use comes from archaeological excavations. Archaeologists and anthropologists are attempting to understand the funerary ritual evidence in order to identify specific treatments of dead children from the earliest centuries of the Middle Ages, and to approach the problem of their absence in cemeteries. The under-representation of children in medieval burial spaces is essentially a recurring phenomenon.

El objetivo general del presente trabajo de investigación es realizar una aproximación a la bioarqueología de la población subadulta que fue enterrada en la Catedral de Panamá Viejo entre 1540 y 1671. Este estudio se desarrolla a través del análisis de 186 piezas dentales, permanentes y deciduas, encontradas entre el conjunto de restos mezclados durante las excavaciones efectuadas en 2017 por parte del equipo del proyecto ArtEmpire. A partir de la implementación de la metodología propuesta por la antropología dental, se lograron identificar los rasgos para la estimación de la edad de la muestra analizada, además de registrar las lesiones asociadas a las patologías dentales que sufrieron en vida y algunas variaciones morfológicas que permiten hacer referencia a su filiación poblacional.
Teniendo en cuenta de los sesgos característicos de una muestra obtenida en un cementerio, se observa que los individuos de edad comprendida entre 2 meses y 6 años fueron los más representados, seguidos por los individuos entre los 7 y 12 años y, finalmente, por los jóvenes entre 13 y 18 años. En cuanto a las patologías, se observa una mayor incidencia de defectos hipoplásicos, seguidos por caries, calculo dental y opacidad de esmalte, además de varios casos de desgaste dental.
La información bioantropológica sobre los individuos subadultos obtenida a través de esta investigación aporta nuevos datos que complementan los conocimientos ya adquiridos por otros investigadores acerca de la población que vivió en Panamá Viejo durante la época colonial. En particular, este estudio quiso enfatizar la importancia de los niños en el registro arqueológico, que por muchos años han pasado desapercibidos, enfocándose en el reto que representa el uso de metodologías adecuadas para la obtención de datos precisos sobre esta categoría de individuos. En segundo lugar, el análisis de una muestra compuesta por restos mezclados, dada su naturaleza, representa un desafío para los investigadores. Por tanto, el interés de este trabajo es el de obtener la información procedente de este tipo de restos que, generalmente, es poco aprovechada a causa de la dificultad dada por la falta de integridad de los restos aislados del contexto original.

Entre le VIe et le XIIe siècle en Gaule, le traitement funéraire des enfants connut certaines évolutions, corrélées à une transformation plus large de l'espace des morts. Les tout-petits, enfants âgés de moins d'un an sont particulièrement concernés par ce phénomène, car on observe des variations dans les pratiques funéraires, notamment dans la localisation de leur tombe ou dans les variations mêmes de leur effectif.

The ambiguity of life is visible in the complex sets of beliefs that cultures develop around abortion, stillbirth, and neonatal death. This research grew out of ambiguities
surrounding bioarchaeological methods of age estimation among fetal and infant remains and the need for additional lines of evidence to define what a prenatal or postnatal age contextually means, how these definitions were upheld or challenged, and what impact these definitions had on the mortuary treatment of these bodies. Discernment between fetal and infant skeletal remains is important to forensic investigations and bioarchaeological questions of personhood, infant mortality, and maternal health. However, skeletal and dental methods of age estimation often lack the precision to determine whether decedents survived birth. Over 450 subadult burials recovered from the Milwaukee County Poor Farm Cemetery with estimated ages-at-death under one year were considered in this study. Dental and osteometric estimations of age were compared with
material culture recovered with individuals. The Milwaukee County Poor Farm Cemetery,
located in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin served as a burial ground between the late 19th and early 20th
centuries for patients of Milwaukee County institutions, unidentified or unclaimed individuals from the Milwaukee County Coroner’s Office, and individuals whose surviving relatives and friends could not secure burial elsewhere.
A feminist approach was taken in order to recognize the systems of power that contribute to and enforce oppression. The rise of professional medicine in the United States throughout the 19th century transformed pregnancy and childbirth into pathological conditions,
allowing physicians access and control over women’s bodies. Medical discourse around the value of prenatal life validated the criminalization of women who failed to carry a pregnancy to term. To compare how my categorizations reflect the language used in historic texts, I drew from primary sources that identify the names and ages-at-death of those who were buried at
the MCPFC. Across the multiple components of this research, patterns indicate that the construction
of personhood progresses with age. The anonymity and ambiguity of fetal entries suggest that these remains were more likely to be subject to abandonment or informal disposal. Higher association with burial inclusions also suggests interaction with a county institution, medical
school, or the coroner’s office. It also suggests that older decedents, particularly those who survived beyond two weeks after birth, had stronger connections with family and continued to be cared for after death. Perinates encompass the gray area between viability and late-term
birth. The category recognizes the potentiality of life, without drawing conclusions about the outcome of pregnancy. The burial treatment and discourse surrounding the MCPFC suggest that in this context, the attribution of personhood began after viability and was a process, not an isolated event. Personhood was not given fully at birth because the sustainability of life itself
was uncertain. Yet as individuals moved beyond two postnatal weeks in age, the precarious personhood became more firmly established through clothing, names, and documented relationships with parents.

The skeletal remains of non-adults provide endless insights into numerous aspects of their personal, family and social lives. Although they were considered to be marginal members of society, children can potentially shed light on factors influencing the overall health and survival of their communities, sensitively conveying the ability of a population to adapt to its environment and cope with moments of crisis. In the last decade, worldwide interest in the archaeology of children has grown, and has driven the bioarchaeological investigation of their skeletal remains. However, the bioarchaeological study of non-adults has received surprisingly little interest in the Baltic states. This review presents the past and current state of the art with specific focus on the Baltic area from prehistory to historic times, outlining new research fields and the benefits of studying non-adult skeletal remains, and proposing specific possible directions for future work on this topic. The paper is aimed at giving a louder voice to the youngest actors of ancient communities, and perhaps offers a starting point for developing a definitive bioarchaeology of children in the Baltics.

Dental disease in childhood has the potential to inform about food availability, social status, and feeding practices, in addition to contributing to a child’s overall health status. This paper presents the first comprehensive overview of carious lesion frequencies in 433 nonadults
(1-17 years), and 6283 erupted permanent and deciduous teeth from 15 urban and rural Romano-British settlements. Pooled deciduous and permanent caries rates were significantly higher in major urban sites (1.8%) compared to rural settlements (0.4%), with children from
urban sites having significantly higher lesion rates in the deciduous dentition (3.0%), and in younger age groups with mixed dentitions. The differences in dental caries between urban and rural populations suggest disparities in maternal oral health, early childhood feeding
practices, food preparation and access to refined carbohydrates. A richer, perhaps more ‘Roman’, cuisine was eaten in the urban settlements, as opposed to a more modest diet in the countryside. The effect of early childhood stress on caries frequency was explored using
evidence for enamel hypoplasia. Co-occurrence of caries and enamel hypoplasia was highest in the major urban cohort (5.8%) and lowest in the rural sample (1.3%), suggesting that environmental stress was a contributing factor to carious lesion development in Romano-British urban children.

The analysis of life expectancy and longevity is one approach to analysing diversity in the population of ancient Egypt. It is, however, important to understand the difficulties in such
calculations and in the data from which such calculations are derived. Adult age is difficult to determine either from documentary or biological sources, so average age-at-death is particularly hard to determine. This discussion explores the issues surrounding demography, the potential
sources for such data, and suggests ways that life expectancy in Egypt might be assessed and integrated with broader archaeological and Egyptological information.

Investigations of Midnight Terror Cave, Belize between 2008-2010 recovered a human osteological assemblage of over 10,000 bones, the largest reported for a cave in the southern Maya lowlands. Analysis indicates that approximately a quarter of the bones belong to subadults, which make up 43% of the minimum number of individuals (MNI). Determination of age at death produced a mortality curve that differs significantly from a normal curve with the numbers peaking between 5-10 years of age, when mortality is generally low. These figures are similar to those produced from the Cenote of Sacrifice at Chichen Itza. The large percentage of subadults suggests that children were much more important in Maya human sacrificial practices than generally recognized.

Given that sampling strategies and protocols in bioarchaeology are rarely discussed in the literature, this paper is an attempt at reflecting upon the skeletal sampling process (e.g. preparation period, development of strategies and protocols, decision-making process, collaboration with those involved) as well as providing some considerations that may be useful to other junior researchers carrying out their sampling within the realm of bioarchaeology (and also may be applicable to other research fields that engage in sampling specimens from museum collections). I provide the considerations about human bone and teeth as it pertains to stable isotope analysis from the literature and then move to discuss my sampling process experience: the preparation period, the sampling process, and the sampling map I developed as an initial guide in the field. Finally, I discuss the main considerations I found helpful in the field which overall involve: 1) Familiarity with the skeletal collections; 2) Constant communication and participant collaboration with those involved in the process; 3) Establishing a feasible sampling protocol well-founded on research questions and biochemical analysis planned as a guide in the field but flexible and open to changes; 4) Handling administrative and logistical aspects of the process well in advance of the sampling visit, and 5) Continual awareness that while as researchers we value skeletal collections in a scientific manner, these also may have other kind of value to others so we must treat these collections with outmost respect at all times (i.e., when discussing, sampling, analyzing, interpreting, and disseminating our research).

The incorporation of a wider range of bioarchaeological data with mortuary practices can provide a clearer method for archaeologists to perceive social structure. In isolation, each can  provide an  interpretation  of  an  individual’s  position  within  their  community,  but  results from each study may be contradictory. For example, evidence of egalitarianism in mortuary ritual may not be a complete reflection of the complexity inherent within a group. Likewise, poor health may not always indicate lower social position or lack of prestige. Only by merging the two lines of evidence can a more complete understanding of social structure and how an individual’s social position can affect their health and life expectancy be revealed. This paper presents a concrete example of the need to combine mortuary and bioarchaeological data to garner a more complete interpretation of health, risk, and social structure by using data from Pot Creek Pueblo (AD 1260-1320) in the Taos Valley. Inclusion of osteological datasets, beyond simple sex and age divisions, with the mortuary datasets and architecture revealed a structured division of labor among the females, resulting in one labor group potentially having ritual prestige. However, the prestige and status of these females did not buffer them from poorer health.

In the cities of the Middle Ages children was the most sensitive group of people who responded to starvation, infection and social stress with high mortality rate and increased morbidity. 7 children’s burials (one belongs to twins of 6—9 month), located relatively compact on the outskirts of the lower city, were investigated in this project. Most children died at the age between 1 month and 3 years old. They have vestiges of metabolic disorders (scurvy, rickets and anemia) and infectious diseases (tuberculosis, nonspecific meningitis) on the bones. In one case, differential diagnosis was performed between congenital syphilis and rickets. Both diseases rarely happened in ancient Kiev. The pathological profile virtually repeats the pattern of morbidity in adolescents and young women buried in the marginal cemeteries of Podil. Regarding, studied complex can be considered a children’s quarter on the territory of some burial ground of the period. On the other hand, the similarity of the ...

Non-adult sex estimation is an active field of forensic inquiry as morphological variations between males and females are subtle,
but observable, even from intrauterine development. The objectives of this study are threefold: to test the validity of the auricular
surface method for sex estimation (Int J Osteoarchaeol 27:898–911, 2017) in fetuses and children under the age of 5 years old; to
evaluate if health conditions, reported as the cause of death, influence its accuracy; and to detect possible secular trends in sexual
dimorphism. One-hundred and ninety-seven skeletal individuals from the Lisbon and Granada Identified Collections were
studied. Individuals were divided according to the hormonal peaks (< 0, 0–2, < 2, and 2.1–5 years old), cause, and year of death
(before and after 1960). As in previous studies, two ratios (FI/CF and DE/AD) and two qualitative variables (OM and MRS)
showed the highest frequencies of correct estimation (0.81–0.86). The correct sex allocations increased when the discriminant
function (0.85) and logistic regression (0.86) were applied.Males of the age groups < 0 and 2.1–5 years were all correctly sexed
by both formulae, and the same was observed for the female probabilities of adequate allocation. The cause and year of death
were identified as variables without statistical significance. It is proposed that this method can be incorporated with confidence
into the multifactorial laboratory protocols for non-adult sex estimation from skeletal remains.

Ancestral Puebloan people in the North American Southwest suffered high rates of disease, poor health, and early age-at-death. Four individuals with skeletal expressions of cancer were found in a pre-Columbian population in the Taos Valley-Reports of malignant neoplasms in the archaeological record are uncommon and their presence in four of 82 individuals is a high occurrence. This study continues Whitley and Boyer's (2012) research testing whether concentrations of ionizing radiation were sufficiently high to induce cancer and related health issues. Access to a preserved and partly reconstructed subterranean pit structure inhabited between AD 1120 and 1170, allows us to test radon concentrations in a residential dwelling. This study found radon occurring in high levels, 19.4-20.3 pCi/L (717.8-751.1 Bq/m 3) within the structure. Epidemiological reports are inconsistent when linking specific cancers and radon exposure. However, this study can control for many of the confounding factors plaguing other studies, provide unique data that have the potential to initiate dialogue on the etiology of neoplastic disease in the American Southwest, and add new dimensions to the study of the living conditions and health of the Ancestral Puebloans and their descendants.

Between 2005 and 2009, archaeologists excavated more than 100 skeletons from the medieval (1240s AD) Hungarian site of Solt-Tételhegy. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses were conducted on dental enamel and dentin from 24 individuals to examine their childhood diet. Although previous stable isotopic research has described the diet of medieval European peoples, this is the first such study on a medieval Hungarian population. The enamel δ13C values range from -14.4‰ to -8.6‰, with a mean of -11.1‰, while the dentin δ13C values range from -19.4‰ to -14.9‰, with an average of -17.4‰. These data indicate that C3 plants were the main plant type consumed by the majority of this population, with the exception of a few individuals, who appear to have included C4 plants in their diet. These results are to be expected, given the dominance of C3 over C4 plants in medieval Central Europe. Thus, based on historical and isotopic evidence, the outliers may have spent their childhoods elsewhere and later migrated into the Solt-Tételhegy area. The δ15N values range from 9.5‰ to 11.6‰, with a mean of 10.6‰, indicating that animal protein was prevalent in the diets of the sample population. Despite clear signs of status differences indicated by burial location, stable nitrogen values also point to relatively egalitarian access to animal protein amongst the individuals. The enamel δ18Op values range from 23.6‰ to 27.2‰, with an average of 25.1‰, suggesting that multiple migrations occurred into the study site. The results of this study show that the dietary and mobility information gleaned from stable isotope analysis can be used to interpret the lifeways of archaeological peoples.

Fieldwork of the Polish–Egyptian Mission to Saqqara in the 2020 season continued on the eastern bank of the Dry Moat, resulting in the discovery of a rock-cut structure directly south of Corridor 1. Fieldwork also included exploration of a rock-cut chapel adjacent to the tomb of Merefnebef, part of the Sixth Dynasty funerary complex located south of the tomb. Both areas yielded new burials belonging to the so-called Upper Necropolis, which overlies the remains of late Old Kingdom funerary structures. Conservation work constituted an important part of the 2020 fieldwork program. Kuraszkiewicz, K., Godziejwski, Z. and Kozieradzka-Ogunmakin, I. (2020). Saqqara: research 2020. Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 29(2): 87–116. DOI: 10.31338/uw.2083-537X.pam29.2.03

THIS PAPER PRESENTS THE FIRST RESULTS OBTAINED ON BIOARCHAEOLOGICAL AND CULTURAL EVIDENCE RECOVERED AT MÉDANO LA ENRIQUETA I SITE (MLE-I). THIS SITE IS AN IMPORTANT CASE OF HUMAN PREHISPANIC OCCUPATION OF THE SOUTHERN AREA OF CALEU-CALEU DEPARTMENT. THE DATA OBTAINED FROM THE IMPLEMENTATION OF DIFFERENT LINES OF ANALYSIS ARE DISCUSSED AND INTEGRATED WITH PREVIOUS RESEARCH DEVELOPED IN NORTHERN PATAGONIA AND SOUTHERN LA PAMPA PROVINCE.
MLE-I IS LOCATED ON AN ACTIVE DUNE, IN WHICH THREE HOLLOWS, PROBABLY RELATED WITH THE DIFFERENTIAL USE OF SPACE BY PREHISPANIC HUNTER-GATHERERS SOCIETIES, WERE FOUND. HUMAN REMAINS WERE RECOVERED FROM ONE OF THESE HOLLOWS, WHILE IN THE OTHER THE CULTURAL RECORD IS A CONSEQUENCE OF OTHER HUMAN ACTIVITIES. FROM THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS IT WAS POSSIBLE TO ESTIMATE A MNI OF NINE. TWO SKULLS WITH INTENTIONAL DEFORMATION (TABULAR ERECT TYPE, PLANOLAMBDIC VARIANT) WERE EXCAVATED, WHOSE RADIOCARBON CHRONOLOGY, ASSIGNED TO THE FINAL LATE HOLOCENE (1005 ± 25 YEARS BP; UGAMS 4418), AGREES WITH OTHER CASES KNOWN IN THE AREA. FINALLY, A REMARKABLE VARIABILITY OF CULTURAL REMAINS MAINLY REPRESENTED BY LITHIC ARTIFACTS, POTTERY FRAGMENTS AND MALACOLOGICAL BEADS (CHAQUIRAS), WERE RECOVERED.

Desde la perspectiva bioarqueologica y arqueologica, la ninez no se muy considerada en investigaciones en Mesoamerica y Oaxaca. Para comprender mejor este problema, examinamos las diferencias en el tratamiento funerario para ninos y adultos y evaluamos los ejes de variacion entre estas diferentes muestras definidas por edad. De los mas de 100 esqueletos humanos en la coleccion osteologica de El Palmillo que data del periodo Clasico (250-850 d.C.), se pudo realizar un estudio a partir de la evaluacion de la edad biologica. Se utilizo un analisis estadistico de conglomerados para conocer la distribucion de los entierros en el sitio por edad, posicion, ubicacion, cronologia, entre otras variables. Finalmente, comparamos nuestros resultados con las practicas mortuorias, hasta el momento publicadas en Monte Alban, para evaluar si existe un patron constante en el tratamiento funerario zapoteco o si hay diferencias entre los sitios.

The Tiwanaku (AD 500-1100) colonized ecologically diverse, lower elevation areas to produce goods not easily grown in the high altitude heartland (3800 m a.s.l.). One colony near presentday Moquegua, Peru (900-1500 m a.s.l.) was comprised of multiple Tiwanaku settlements. Colonists farmed products like maize and coca, and transported goods via llama caravan between the colony and heartland. Two subsistence groups emerged in terms of settlement, those of “Chen Chen-style” affiliation associated with an agrarian lifestyle, and those of “Omo-style” representing more of a pastoralist lifeway. Considering Tiwanaku people likely began light chores around 5 years of age (e.g., babysitting siblings), with heavier labor beginning at
approximately 8 years, we questioned if these social and occupational differences translated into skeletal changes associated with osteoarthritis (i.e., porosity, lipping, osteophyte formation, and/or eburnation). Individuals from five sites, two which represent the Omo-style (M16 and M70) and three which are in the Chen Chen-style (M1, M10, and M43) were evaluated for osteoarthritis while controlling for age-at-death and sex using 25 total joint surfaces in the shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee, ankle and sacroiliac. Overall, our comparisons show no combined significant differences between the Omo-style and Chen Chen-style groups. Instead, distinctions in osteoarthritis evidence by age-at-death and sex emerged, reflecting the likelihood of specific age or sex-related tasks. Arthropathy evidence among children in elbow and ankle joints also supported the cultural legacy in the Andes that work begins at a relatively young age and would show up in patterns of adult osteoarthritis.

Analysis of Taos Valley mortuary practices (A.D. 1200-1320) revealed distinct methods for burying the deceased. This paper explores variation between Northern Rio Grande Classic Period mortuary practices and Taos Valley Coalition Period practices, addressing issues of mortuary ritual continuity and change during this period of social upheaval. Since mortuary ritual is conservative, alterations are rare and migrating groups would probably have continued these important traditions in their new communities. Additionally, this study discusses the efficacy of mortuary practices and ritual in the Northern Rio Grande as a means to identify immigrants.

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the relevance of dental metrics for obtaining sexual information in individuals who inhabited the lower basin of the Colorado River during the Late Holocene (ca. 3000-250 years BP), to discuss the degree of sexual dimorphism and to identify those quantitative variables adequate for sexual determination of new individuals to be included in future studies. The buccolingual and mesiodistal maximum neck diameters of 26 individual adults were studied. The most dimorphic variables correspond to the buccolingual diameter of the upper canine and both second molars; in these cases, sex differences are statistically significant. The results obtained about sexual dimorphism are located at the upper end of the range for different human populations. Several individuals who had no previous sexual information could be classified using these measurements, which accounts for the significant potential of dental metrics in palaeodemographic characterizations, especially in disturbed bioarchaeological samples.

A área da Praça da Figueira, em Lisboa, tem uma localização periférica face ao perímetro da cidade romana em sentido estrito. Na proximidade, a ocidente, foram detectados os restos de um circus, que de acordo com os dados publicados (SEPÚLVEDA et al., 2002) não poderá ser anterior aos principados de Domiciano ou Trajano. Para NE, na Encosta de Sant´Ana, trabalhos recentes deram a conhecer um caminho secundário com respectivas áreas funerárias, já conhecidas desde meados do séc. XIX. Para sul, nas zonas mais próximas ao Tejo, onde tinham lugar as actividades portuárias, pontuavam officinae de transformação de productos piscícolas. No final do séc.III/início do séc. IV o espaço escavado na praça assumiu um ar de paisagem arruinada, fruto de uma acção “desmonumentalizadora” da necrópole de Olisipo. Ainda assim, a área envolvente à grande via romana que conduzia a Scallabis, e daqui a Emerita e Bracara persistiu temporariamente como área de sepultamento (fase IV): predominando as inumações, praticadas no interior de ataúde em madeira ou em fossa simples aberta no solo, sobrevivem ainda cistas em tijolo destinadas a cremações, pelo menos num caso de tipo bustum. A fase V inicia-se numa etapa indefinida da segunda metade do séc. IV, prolongando-se ao longo do séc. V e seguinte(s ?). Caracteriza-se por uma baixa densidade ocupacional, tendo sido interpretada como equivalente a uma retracção da área suburbana NO da cidade, assumindo a área da Praça da Figueira um perfil periurbano, senão mesmo rural. Numa primeira etapa da investigação, e por questões de conveniência do discurso, a fase V englobou distintas realidades que hoje se podem distinguir. Assim, uma extensa unidade estratigráfica foi identificada na maior parte do espaço intervencionado, provável resultado de uma deposição longa no tempo. A disposição “universal” daquela U.E. e a sua sobreposição a duas importantes entidades integradas na fase V (via romana e um pequeno conjunto edificado) autoriza a distinção entre dois momentos diferenciados, objecto do presente trabalho e que denominámos A e B: no primeiro a via foi alvo de uma última reparação/ repavimentação, bem datada por dois numismas de Arcádio, como se instalou junto a ela uma provável unidade de exploração agrária, de carácer familiar, tendo sido colectados nos contextos de abandono de um dos dos compartimentos exemplares em terra sigillata clara africana D das formas Hayes 67 e 91B e praticado um sepultamento infantil; em B o espaço viário foi desprovido de qualquer estrutura detectada arqueologicamente e praticados três enterramentos de não adultos - dois com idade em torno do nascimento, dispersos e sem qualquer espólio associado - colocados durante o processo de formação da U.E. citada acima, revelando a inexistência de quaisquer evidências de uma preocupação na prática fúnebre, parecendo assumir significado o facto de não terem sido sepultados num espaço de cariz funerário
https://doi.org/10.13140/2.1.5116.8961

Dental Anthropology has produced a huge amount of information in the last decades, covering many different aspects of human biological and cultural life. For the last twenty years, a process of diversification and specialization occurred,that sometimes precluded the development of macroscale comparative studies,except for a few exceptional cases. Some reflections and critical debate have to be done to overcomethese limits and to arrive to more consensual methodological procedures. The generation, analysis and conservation of new and previously known documented human osteological collections,and the use of compatible methodologies continue to be fundamental to obtain proxy data and generate adequate protocols to carry out comparative studies involving research projects from different parts of the world. Dental Anthropology is a scientific discipline of great development in the last decades, which deals with studies of sexual dimorphism, paleodemography, oral health, lifestyle, evolutionary trends, paleodiet, biodistance and paleopathology through the analysis of the dentition of extinct and modernhuman populations[1-22,among many others]. It is an important way of investigationthat allows access to knowledge sometimes avoided by other kind of research. The microscopic structure of osseous remains is more fragile than that of teeth, and therefore tend to be more easily deteriorated, so that the latter usually form an important part of the evidence available because of the much tougher constitution of the tissues, both in archaeological cases and in the unfortunately increasing number of mass disasters, like aircraft accidents, natural catastrophes or terrorist attacks[e.g. 23-27]. Considering that tooth structure is not remodeled during life, they offer a large amount of information for understanding the biological and social dynamics of past populations [3, 14, 28, 29] and assist in the identification of missing persons through forensic anthropology procedures[30-32]. Modern Dental Anthropology is the result of systematic efforts carried out by research teams for decadesin order to strengthen the scientific nature of the discipline and tried to explain the enormous biological diversity of human populations.The vast amount of information generated byscholars such as Cameriere and their investigation teams are good examples of comprehensive and sustainedprograms that included specific and holistic investigation designs. These detailed and numerous studies were initiated during the first half of the twentieth century, and significantly diversified since the 1970s. The prolific development generated a huge amount of data about dentition, which contributed to improving knowledge about the issues mentioned above; its impact is seen in the growing interest on the subject andthe increasing incorporation of specialists in archeological and bio anthropological research groups all around the world. At present, dental anthropology is immersed in a complex scenario that requires that the multiple current analysesin force, most of which offer significant heuristic potential for improving the anthropological science, be reflexively evaluated so as to arrive tomethodological consensus that allow performing macroscale comparative studies.The definitions of the variablesstudied,their categorizations and the recording proceduresare issues that should be clearly stated and necessarily discussed within the academic community in order to reach general consensus among scholars, so as to produce comparable data and allow developing studies in large spatial and temporal scales[33]. In this way, several survey protocols and systems of nomenclature have been generated to unify criteria of analysis in other disciplines, such as bio archeology, paleodemography and paleopathology [34-38].Dental Anthropology still needs this kind of general agreement.

Biomechanical analyses of past populations have primarily focused on adults and interpreted variation in limb bone robusticity as indicative of differences in behavior. However, prior to skeletal maturity large changes occur in limb bone robusticity and shape. During ontogeny, the accrual of bone is regulated by differences in genetics and nutrition as well as mechanical loading. We consider how long bone robusticity changes from birth to young adulthood in order to understand when population differences appear during development and why this occurs. We analyzed the femoral and humeral midshafts of four prehistoric hunter-gatherer skeletal samples from four regions: Cis-Baikal, Siberia, Point Hope, Alaska, the central Japanese coast, and the South African Cape. Some statistically significant differences between populations manifest at birth or soon after. Some of this systemic patterning likely reflects adaptation of body shape to climate. Later Stone Age South Africans also appear to demonstrate low limb rigidity residuals as a result of growth towards a unique body type. Differentiation between populations also increases with age, pointing to functional adaptation as a result of behavioral differences. This proves largely concordant with other lines of evidence for differing levels of terrestrial and aquatic mobility in these populations.

The presence of non-adult individuals in the bioarchaeological record is characterized by gaps in information, study, and publication. Even though it is a period studied interdisciplinary, its integration is uncommon.
Thus, systematized information is very parcelled: methodologies are not overarching, criteria and concepts are not standardized, and direct extrapolations are often done from an adult bioarchaeological research perspective. The excessive and compartmentalized evaluation of adults makes the understanding of a society incomplete.
To discuss the theme of development, growth, and maturation of the first life cycle, the following topics are proposed: 1) Invisible existences: from the field to scientific disclosure; 2) Paleopathological challenges in childhood; 3) Thinking on biological, chronological, and social age; 4) Absences and inconsistencies of palaeobiological parameters in non-adult; 5) Holistic approaches in immature individuals.
This panel is intended to enhance the multidisciplinary and integrated study of the fetal, infant, and juvenile periods and encourage a theoretical discussion on this field. As Gowland and Halcrow (2020: 2) referred: “only with the information taken from various sources – osteographic, ethnographic, historiographic, etc. – it is possible to better access the history of childhood experiences and acknowledge how the concept of ‘childhood’ was understood in the past”.