Bioarchaeology
[3] Bioarchaeology was largely born from the practices of New Archaeology, which developed in the United States in the 1970s as a reaction to a mainly cultural-historical approach to understanding the past.
For instance, in children age is typically estimated by assessing dental development, ossification and fusion of specific skeletal elements, or long bone length.
[8] In adults, degenerative changes to the pubic symphysis, the auricular surface of the ilium, the sternal end of the 4th rib, and dental attrition are commonly used to estimate skeletal age.
Direct testing of bioarchaeological methods for sexing skeletons by comparing gendered names on coffin plates from the crypt at Christ Church, Spitalfields, London to the associated remains achieved a 98 percent success rate.
One study found extremely arthritic big toes, a collapse of the last dorsal vertebrae, and muscular arms and legs among female skeletons at Abu Hureyra, interpreting this as indicative of gendered work patterns.
[19] It was long assumed that iron deficiency anemia has marked effects on the flat bones of the cranium of infants and young children.
The development of cribra orbitalia and porotic hyperostosis could also be attributed to other causes besides a dietary iron deficiency, such as nutrients lost to intestinal parasites.
This study hypothesized that adults may have lower rates of cribra orbitalia than juveniles because lesions either heal with age or lead to death.
[22] Harris lines form before adulthood, when bone growth is temporarily halted or slowed down due to some sort of stress (typically disease or malnutrition).
The pattern of osteoarthritis combined with the early age of onset provides evidence of labor that resulted in mechanical strain to the neck.
[13] Archaeologists have attempted to use the microscopic parallel scratch marks on cut bones in order to estimate the trajectory of the blade that caused the injury.
[54] Dental caries are caused by localized destruction of tooth enamel, as a result of acids produced by bacteria feeding upon and fermenting carbohydrates in the mouth.
Essential elements for life such as carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur are the primary stable isotope systems used to interrogate archeological discoveries.
These systems are most commonly used to trace the geographic origin of archaeological remains and investigate the diets, mobility, and cultural practices of ancient humans.
[58][59] Stable isotope analysis of carbon in human bone collagen allows bioarchaeologists to carry out dietary reconstruction and to make nutritional inferences.
For example, the rapid and dramatic increase in 13C in human collagen after the adoption of maize agriculture in North America documents the transition from a C3 to a C4 (native plants to corn) diet by 1300 CE.
Based on this evidence, it was argued that these individuals represent enslaved persons from areas of Africa where C4 plants were consumed and who were brought to the Cape as laborers.
Their isotopic signatures indicate that they grew up in a temperate environment consuming mostly C3 plants, but some C4 The study argued that these individuals were from the Indian Ocean area.
It argued that stable isotopic analysis of burials, combined with historical and archaeological data were an effective way of investigating the migrations forced by the African Slave Trade, as well as the emergence of the underclass and working class in the Old World.
[76][61][80] While other plants have δ15N values that range from 2 to 6‰,[76] legumes have lower 14N/15N ratios (close to 0‰, i.e. atmospheric N2) because they can fix molecular nitrogen, rather than having to rely on soil nitrates and nitrites.
[81] δ18O values of freshwater drinking sources vary due to mass fractionations related to mechanisms of the global water cycle.
[85] While carbon and nitrogen are used primarily to investigate the diets of ancient humans, oxygen isotopes offer insight into body water at different life stages.
[89] Historical context combined with isotopic data from burials were used to argue that migrant individuals were a part of lower and higher social classes within Tikal.
[90][92] The extreme range of δ34S values for freshwater ecosystems often interferes with terrestrial signals, making it difficult to use the sulfur system as the sole tool in paleodiet studies.
[92] One study incorporated sulfur isotope ratios into their paleodietary investigation of four mummified child victims of Incan sacrificial practices.
DNA evidence allowed the archaeologists to confirm that the remains belonged to Richard III, the former king of England who died in the Battle of Bosworth.
[101] In 2021, Canadian researchers analyzed skeletal remains found on King William Island, identifying them as belonging to Warrant Officer John Gregory, an engineer serving aboard HMS Erebus in the ill-fated 1845 Franklin Expedition.
[104][105] Biocultural bioarchaeology combines standard forensic techniques with investigations of demography and epidemiology in order to assess socioeconomic conditions experienced by human communities.
[115] Researchers analyzing traumatic injuries on human remains have shown that social status and gender can have a significant impact on exposure to violence.
[4] However, because much of European archaeology has been focused on classical roots, artifacts and art have been emphasized and Roman and post-Roman skeletal remains were nearly completely neglected until the 1980s.
