Research master thesis | Archaeology (research) (MA/MSc)
under embargo until 2024-10-19
2024-10-19T00:00:00Z
During the early modern period (1500-1800 CE), Europe was plagued by syphilis, a venereal infection caused by the bacteria Treponema pallidum, resulting in chronic and debilitating symptoms....Show moreDuring the early modern period (1500-1800 CE), Europe was plagued by syphilis, a venereal infection caused by the bacteria Treponema pallidum, resulting in chronic and debilitating symptoms. Desperate to resolve the infection, patients were often subjected to prolonged and extensive treatments with toxic mercury. Unfortunately, osteoarchaeological study of syphilis is challenging due to the limited skeletal visibility of the infection. Moreover, historical evidence is sparse and often influenced by sociocultural stigma attributed to the venereal nature of the disease. This scarcity of data on syphilis in the early modern period has limited more holistic research into the disease and its treatment. Therefore, this study adopted a multidisciplinary approach to investigate syphilis and its treatment at St. Gertrude’s infirmary (1382 - ca. 1611) in Kampen, the Netherlands, where presence of the disease has been previously reported. Human skeletal remains (n=79) were re-examined with a focus on treponemal disease, following the scoring system laid out by Harper et al. (2011). The potential therapeutical use of mercury was investigated by conducting archival research and multiple trace elemental analyses. Using portable X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (pXRF) and Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS), subsamples of the skeletal assemblage were assessed on the presence of mercury in human bone. Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-Ray (SEM-EDX) was conducted to assess the potential uptake of mercury in dental calculus on the teeth. Osteoarchaeological study identified several diagnostic cases of treponemal infection at the site (n=5 or 6.33%), as well as a number of cases with lesions suggestive of treponemal disease. This finding demonstrates the influence of treponemal disease, likely attributable to venereal syphilis, at St. Gertrude’s infirmary in Kampen, especially when compared to the prevalence of the disease in human skeletal assemblages from similar Dutch sites. Research into historical archives indicated that mercury was indeed used therapeutically in Kampen during the 18th century. However, it showed no direct evidence for syphilis or mercury treatment at St. Gertrude’s infirmary in the period of interest (1382 – ca. 1611). Unfortunately, elemental analyses revealed no substantial evidence for significantly elevated mercury concentrations, although interesting trends were found. In particular, both pXRF and SEM-EDX analyses did not result in absolute and quantifiable mercury concentrations. While ICP-MS analysis showed absolute concentrations of mercury in a subsample of bone material, interpreting and contextualising these results remains challenging. These observations may be explained by a lack of available mercury treatment in Kampen or a preference for other treatment methods. Nonetheless, this study helps to understand syphilis and its treatment in the early modern Netherlands and provides an evaluation of chemical analyses to detect mercury in archaeological bone.Show less
In the post-medieval Netherlands (c. 1650 to 1850 CE), large socioeconomic differences within urban centres existed, which appear to correlate with the diet each socioeconomic group had access to....Show moreIn the post-medieval Netherlands (c. 1650 to 1850 CE), large socioeconomic differences within urban centres existed, which appear to correlate with the diet each socioeconomic group had access to. While low socioeconomic status (SES) often evokes the association of low body mass as a result of having little access to food, modern-day studies show that people living in poverty actually have a higher body mass than contemporaries of higher socioeconomic status. This thesis aims to study to what extend the relationship between body mass and socioeconomic status existed in the post-medieval Netherlands, with a focus on the role of diet and lifestyle. This was done by studying two post-medieval urban populations: one with a low SES from the Eusebiuskerk in Arnhem and one with a high SES from the Broerenkerk in Zwolle. Body mass was estimated by applying body mass estimation equations developed by Ruff et al. (2012) to measurements of the femoral head breadth. Statistical analyses were applied to compare the mean body mass between the high- and low SES samples. The males and females were compared separately. The results showed a positive relation between body mass and low SES. However, this relation was only statistically significant between the male samples. As males had more access to food because of their role in the household, the calorie-dense diet of low SES males could have allowed them to consume more calories than their high SES male counterparts who had access to a more varied diet with overall less calories. Low SES males furthermore performed more physically intense labour than the high SES males, increasing their muscle mass. Both female groups likely had less access to food in general, thus it is plausible that bottom line they consumed similar amount of calories. Also, both female groups would have mostly performed similar household tasks leading to no difference in muscle mass. Lastly, the femoral head is less responsive to changes in body mass in females which could attribute to these results. It can thus be concluded that that body mass can change as a result of status-differences in diet and labour. Based on the sites of Zwolle and Arnhem there seems to be a positive relation between low socioeconomic status and body mass in the post-medieval Netherlands.Show less
Toward the end of the Late Bronze Age, conflicts, widespread migrations and climate change culminated in the collapse of centers of political power across the Aegean and the Near East. The period...Show moreToward the end of the Late Bronze Age, conflicts, widespread migrations and climate change culminated in the collapse of centers of political power across the Aegean and the Near East. The period that followed, the Early Iron Age, was marked by a decrease in settlement size, population, and interregional contact. These large changes are associated with a change in diet, toward a subsistence strategy of diversification rather than intensification. During the Archaic Period, climate improved, poleis start to form and a period of regeneration begins. By the Hellenistic Period, centralized power in the form of large kingdoms and highly populated urban centers exist, and long distance contact with Egypt and the Near East reaches an unprecedented scale. The question arises therefore if these large societal changes once again are mirrored by a change in diet within Greece. In order to investigate this, stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis is done on human skeletal remains from the Early Iron Age sites of Halos in Thessaly, and Makrigialos in Greek Macedonia. From those same locations, skeletal material dating to the Hellenistic Period in the case of Halos and the Classical Period in the case of Makrigialos is also investigated. Using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis, assessment and comparison of diet within and between the sites is done. Diet reconstruction based on skeletal isotopic data suggests that diet did indeed change from the Early Iron Age into later periods. All examined groups were agropastoral, with a diet based on C3 plant consumption and terrestrial animal products. At Halos, millet was consumed during the Early Iron Age, but not in the Hellenistic Period. As the climate became wetter, millet was no longer a necessary food source. Instead, there is evidence of marine food intake and increased consumption of processed secondary animal products, and possibly greater consumption of luxury goods. This could indicate import of food, as this would alleviate stress related to food production and allow for effort to go toward a more varied diet with luxury additions. At Makrigialos, millet remained a substantial dietary component from the Early Iron Age into the Classical Period, but animal protein intake increased.Show less
This thesis studies the, by the Museum of London Archaeological Services (MoLAS) analyzed and shared, open source osteological database of the Chelsea Old Church cemetery site OCUoo. Based on this...Show moreThis thesis studies the, by the Museum of London Archaeological Services (MoLAS) analyzed and shared, open source osteological database of the Chelsea Old Church cemetery site OCUoo. Based on this data set, the study aims to research whether there is a correlation between obesity associated diseases, such as: osteoarthritis, gout, and diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH), and body mass. In addition, it attempts to research whether there's a sex-based difference that may influence such a correlation. It does so by creating three subsidiary question that are meant to lead to answering the main question. Subsequently, a sample selection according to the criteria required for this study (adult, sex determined, availability of femoral head breadth metric data). This sample selection will be further tailored by implementing the revised Ruff et al. (2012) body mass estimation equation, before it will undergo statistical data analysis with the use of the SPSS statistics program. The result depicts a data set that's relatively balanced and has a normal distribution. It may be noted that the mean of the body mass (kg) of those with pathological diagnoses lies higher than for those without. As well as that the pathologies follow suit as expected in regard of their prevalence in a certain sex. Osteoarthritis is more common among female individuals while gout and DISH are more common among male individuals. These notions could indicate that there may be a correlation; however, the statistical analyses resulted in the acceptance of the null hypothesis as there's no statistical significance. Therefore, against expectations and contemporary studies, it can be assumed that there's no correlation between obesity-associated diseases and body mass.Show less
Estimation of stature is important because it can indicate health trends, diet, and evolution. Pablos et al. (2013) devised a new method using talar bones but has yet to be compared to the well...Show moreEstimation of stature is important because it can indicate health trends, diet, and evolution. Pablos et al. (2013) devised a new method using talar bones but has yet to be compared to the well-used method of Trotter and Gleser or the Fully method. This thesis compares these three methods using a Wilcoxon-signed rank test and descriptive analysis. The comparison shows that the Fully method statistically compares to the Trotter and Gleser method for the female sex, while not for the male sex. When comparing the Pablos et al. (2013) method test shows that the method does not compare statistically to the Trotter and Gleser method or the Fully method. When looking at the standard error range for both sexes the Trotter and Gleser method overlaps with both the Fully method and the Pablos et al. (2013). But the Pablos et al. (2013) method and the Fully method do not overlap.Show less
Sex estimation is one of the most important parts of osteological research and mortuary analysis. Since its origins it has remained fixed in binary ideas of our modern gender roles and female/male...Show moreSex estimation is one of the most important parts of osteological research and mortuary analysis. Since its origins it has remained fixed in binary ideas of our modern gender roles and female/male fixed binary identities. This potentially leads to bias, especially when often sex is estimated based on the associated grave goods the individual was buried with. This thesis aims to explore whether it is true there are bias in the way we approach mortuary analysis, in order to do that a comparative analysis was conducted of graves were the individual was buried with swords and other male associated grave goods, which lead to the original excavation team to estimate the sex as male. These burials where later on revisited and different estimation methods proved that the individual did not belong to the male sex. The thesis aims to analyse these case studies through the lens of gender theory and Gender archaeology in order to explore more nuanced ways of conducting sex estimation that will minimize the bias that is brought into the field.Show less
The aim of this thesis is to study the prevalence of tobacco pipe smoking habits among individuals from post-medieval North-Western European societies. This was researched by comparing the...Show moreThe aim of this thesis is to study the prevalence of tobacco pipe smoking habits among individuals from post-medieval North-Western European societies. This was researched by comparing the prevalence of pipe notches among the post-medieval populations of Great Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Belgium. The results of the osteological analysis of human remains excavated from eight cemeteries are used: for Great Britain, the cemetery used by a low-status population of London buried in the cemetery of St. Mary and St. Michael Church, and the cemetery used by the high and low socioeconomic status population in Birmingham; for Ireland, a cemetery of Kilkenny Union Workhouse used by people from middle and low socioeconomic groups and cemetery on Spike Island used for people from low socioeconomic strata; for the Netherlands, the cemetery of the Grote Kerk in Alkmaar used by citizens with high socioeconomic status and cemetery of the Grote Kerk in Den Haag used by low socioeconomic status citizens; for Belgium, the cemetery of St. Rombout Churchyard in Mechelen used by people with high and low socioeconomic backgrounds and the cemetery in Kruishoutem used by representatives of middle and low socioeconomic groups. The collection of representatives of different socioeconomic groups from various cultural communities is compared to each other for the estimation of the cultural, demographic, and socioeconomic trends in the habit of tobacco pipe smoking in post-medieval North-Western Europe. These populations were divided into two age groups and three sex groups for the statistical analysis. The results demonstrate that pipe smoking was most common among low-status male individuals from three North-Western European regions: Great Britain, Ireland, and Belgium. In the Netherlands, a high prevalence of pipe notches is recorded among adult male representatives of high socioeconomic strata. Moreover, a significantly higher prevalence of pipe notches and, thus, the expected regular practice of pipe smoking is recorded in post-medieval Ireland. The estimated rates from Great Britain and the Netherlands are lower but also substantially higher than the prevalence recorded for post-medieval Belgium. These differences can be explained by the historical and cultural specificities of the regions. Therefore, these results further support the theory that social, economic, and cultural factors had a major influence on the Cross-European spread and subsequent integration of the tobacco pipe smoking tradition into North-Western European countries.Show less
Roman Italy was the core of the Roman Empire during the Imperial period. Many Roman Italian cities were politically and socioeconomically influenced by the Roman rule that radiated from its capitol...Show moreRoman Italy was the core of the Roman Empire during the Imperial period. Many Roman Italian cities were politically and socioeconomically influenced by the Roman rule that radiated from its capitol. The outdated concept of ‘Romanization’ caused historians to believe the Roman rule came with a pure Roman culture that was imposed on conquered territories. However, more recently it has been suggested that this ‘Roman culture’ was not as uniform, but was an ongoing interaction between the cultures of indigenous peoples and Roman influences. One important aspect of culture is diet: the foods that people ate on a day to day basis. The diets of individual Roman Italian cities have been researched in the past. It is however unclear whether the diets in these cities were uniform, or more dependent on regional factors. This thesis aims to study the diet in three Imperial Roman Italian cities and compare them to each other. The inhabitants’ diets can be studied by looking at the ratios of stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes extracted from bone from human burials. Stable carbon isotopes can give insight in the types of plants that were eaten, while stable nitrogen isotopes can show the amount of animal products and seafood that was consumed. The isotopic data from the three cities was retrieved from the IsoArch database. Statistical analyses were performed to see if any differences within and between the cities were present. These analyses showed that in the Pompeii sample, there was a significant difference in marine food consumption between the sexes, possibly caused by a difference in gender roles. Between the cities, there were differences in the types of plants that were consumed, showing that perhaps Roman suburban citizens more often dealt with food shortages. In addition to that, the Ostia sample showed a significantly higher seafood consumption than the other two cities, which can be attributed to its location at the coast and the large trading harbour nearby. These results make us believe that the diet in Roman Italian cities was not as uniform, and not necessarily ruled by influences from the Roman rule.Show less
Prior to the nineteenth century, disability studies generated a diverse body of work, usually evoking potentially naive or blanketing generalizations about the positions of disabled people...Show morePrior to the nineteenth century, disability studies generated a diverse body of work, usually evoking potentially naive or blanketing generalizations about the positions of disabled people throughout history. To counter the prevailing narrative of disability as an individual medical illness or weakness, this thesis uses an approach that recognizes the diverse and complex character of disability as ingrained in culture and power relations. The skeletal collection of Middenbeemster (The Netherlands) was examined by using Tilley's (2021) 'The Bioarchaeology of Care Methodology’. Different skeletal indicators of disablement were examined to infer evidence of care. As a result, using this approach for three individuals, this thesis has qualitatively determined what this care likely involved in detail. The Index of Care has contributed to the development of plausible and possible narratives of their experiences. It revealed valuable information about identities, caregiver-recipient dynamics, and the Middenbeemster community within their context. The three individuals coped with a visible disability, and the community would know they coped with a disability just by looking at them. Nevertheless, each of them was buried like any other individual of the Middenbeemster community, without evidence of selection or segregation. During this post-medieval period, these disabled adults were cared for in the privacy of the home by close relatives. They were assigned a social identity with (untraditional) positions and modified or decreased tasks as required to accommodate them. With reduced self-sufficiency and mobility, their survival indicates the community's tolerance and understanding of disability to a certain extent and active care provision within small family groups. Carrying such demands required considerable commitment, organization, and flexibility. The fact that the disabled survived for years is evidence of the value of strong family ties, which were perhaps motivated by their faith, with prevailing ideals of almsgiving. Not every physically challenged person in Middenbeemster required special care; some, like Sara/0945, were clearly able to have quite normal lives and potentially contribute to the family's finances. In this respect, the research contributes to a deeper knowledge of past viewpoints, attitudes, and practices within the Dutch and Middenbeemster communities about health and disease.Show less
This thesis studies the effect of age-at-death, sex, and socioeconomic status on the burial ritual in the Netherlands between 1200 and 1650 AD by analysing archaeological data from three urban...Show moreThis thesis studies the effect of age-at-death, sex, and socioeconomic status on the burial ritual in the Netherlands between 1200 and 1650 AD by analysing archaeological data from three urban cemeteries across the country. The late medieval and early modern burial ritual is often perceived as uniform and plain, restricted by the regulations set out by the church. These regulations included strict rules on grave orientations, body positions, nature of the graves, and burial locations. Although, by analysing and comparing these different aspects of the burial ritual from the urban cemeteries of the Franciscan monastery in Alkmaar, the St. Catharina church in Eindhoven, and the Eusebius church in Arnhem, this view of uniformity has been challenged. The results of this thesis revealed the occurrence of local variation in the burial location of non-adults, especially infants, in the urban context of the Netherlands. This variation is hypothesized to be related to the baptism status of the individual, varying beliefs about purgatory and the afterlife, death at childbirth, and/or the context of the burial ground. Nonetheless, men and women were found to receive uniform burial treatment, implicating that, despite their different social standing in life, in death, they were considered equal in terms of burial practices. Furthermore, it was found that socioeconomic status influenced burial treatment. The St. Catharina church displayed not only a statistically significant difference in non-adults buried inside the choir as opposed to the adjacent churchyard, considerably more men were present than women. This prevalence of men buried inside the church compared to the low to middle socioeconomic populations buried in outdoor cemeteries could be related to high secular status.Show less
The focus of this study is to assess sexual dimorphism of non-metric and metric characteristics of the mandible of a Dutch post Medieval rural population from the Middenbeemster polder in the...Show moreThe focus of this study is to assess sexual dimorphism of non-metric and metric characteristics of the mandible of a Dutch post Medieval rural population from the Middenbeemster polder in the province of Noord Holland in the Netherlands. The mandible is not seen as a reliable feature for sex estimation in research on Dutch Medieval populations based on non-metric traits. Studies on populations around the world show that the mandible is a reliable tool for estimating sex, provided that metric measurements of the mandible are used. This study focuses on the re-evaluation of the mandible as a reliable tool for sex estimation by studying both non-metric and metric sexual dimorphism of the mandible in a Dutch population. The development of a technique that reliably estimates mandibular sex in Dutch medieval populations would be a great contribution to the field of bioarchaeology. Sex estimation is paramount for the reconstruction of demographic structures of past societies. In this thesis sexual dimorphism based on both non-metric and metric is assessed. 90 samples from the Middenbeemster with known sex are used for measurement and observations. This sample consists of 40 females and 50 males. The non-metric scores are compared to known sex to assess reliability. The metric measurements are analysed using binary logistic regression and tree modelling to assess if the specific measurements are reliable in estimating sex of an unknown individual. The overall accuracy of the non-metric sex estimation is very low and therefore not reliable for further use. The metric measurements have a higher reliability rate, especially the bigonial breadth and the mean of the maximum ramus height. With the use of these two measurements a cross validated classification accuracy of 80.2 percent can be achieved. In conclusion, after re-evaluating the mandible it appears that the mandible can be used with high accuracy in sex estimation in the Dutch population of Middenbeemster and maybe in other North Western European populations from the post Medieval time period, which has to be assessed by future research.Show less
Osteoarchaeology is important for understanding past populations. In the Netherlands, osteoarchaeology is very decentralized and therefore problems can occur. For instance, there is no record in...Show moreOsteoarchaeology is important for understanding past populations. In the Netherlands, osteoarchaeology is very decentralized and therefore problems can occur. For instance, there is no record in the Netherlands which archaeological sites contain human skeletal material, which of those sites are osteoarchaeological researched and if the material is preserved for future research. With a central overview those problems could be solved. The overview is based on Archis, BoneInfo and the municipal- and provincial depots inventories. The main research question of this thesis is “In what way can a detailed overview of the Dutch skeleton material help (future) osteoarchaeological research?”. Therefore three sub questions will be answered. 1. What is the ratio between human inhumations and cremations in the Dutch archaeology and how is this compared to the archaeological periods and locations? 2. To what extinct research has been done on the human remains and to what extinct is that still possible? 3. To what extinct has the collection period and the collecting method influences on the osteoarchaeological research? In the Skeleton-overview 51% of the archaeological sites contain only cremations and 46% only inhumations. The sites containing only cremations do occur mainly in the time periods from Stone Age till Roman Age. In the Roman Age there is a transition to inhumations. Cremation-sites are mostly located in the east and south on the Netherlands in the higher areas of the Netherlands. In the Skeleton-overview only 13% is osteoarchaeological researched. The main reason for this is that for most sites it is unknown if they are researched. Also for 78% of the sites the place of storing is unknown. Further research is needed. Archaeological sites that were archaeological excavated have the highest amount of osteoarchaeological researched sites. This also occur with sites that are acquired more recently (in the period after 1991). A detailed overview helps to understand the osteoarchaeological record better. It also will help osteoarchaeologists with their research and recommendations in the archaeological field.Show less
