Much is still unknown about the relationship between the environment and childhood health during the Maya classical period. In this study two archaeological sites located in different environments,...Show moreMuch is still unknown about the relationship between the environment and childhood health during the Maya classical period. In this study two archaeological sites located in different environments, will be compared in terms of childhood health. The sites are Xcambo, which is located on the coast and the Petexbatun area, which is located on the Maya lowlands. Three skeletal lesions that only form during childhood are used and compared from adult skeletons. This includes dental hypoplasia, porotic hyperostosis, and cribra orbitalia. First the dental hypoplasia data is compared between the sites. The prevalence in the Xcambo sample was very high, 99%, only one individual did not have dental hypoplasia. Also the mean number of hypoplasias per individual per tooth was quite high; more than three for most teeth. The individuals of the Petexbatun area had a 59% prevalence of dental hypoplasia and a mean number of hypoplasias per individual per tooth less than one. This is a significant difference; the individuals of Xcambo possibly suffered from more and more severe stressful periods. The prevalence of porotic hyperostosis is also very different between the sites. From the Xcambo individuals about 19% had porotic hyperostosis, against 63 % prevalence in the Petexbatun area. The prevalence of cribra orbitalia was remarkably similar between both sites; around 16%, but preservations issues mean that the Petexbatun might not be representative, and could have been higher. There were a lot of differences between the sites in terms of childhood health. The difference in the amount and type of animal protein consumed, could be a good explanation for the difference in porotic hyperostosis. The high number of physical stresses the population of Xcambo endured during childhood, could be caused by infections, which were very common in the environment.Show less
Estimating the age of individuals becomes increasingly more difficult with advancing age due to the effects of life history, random individual variation and the genetic framework. This makes it...Show moreEstimating the age of individuals becomes increasingly more difficult with advancing age due to the effects of life history, random individual variation and the genetic framework. This makes it also increasingly more complicated to relate chronological and biological age, and thus to estimate age-at-death above approximately 45 years. In 2015 however, Dr. C.G. Falys and Dr. D. Prangle published a newly developed method to estimate age of older adults specifically, based on the sternal end of the clavicle. The method evaluates the degeneration of three distinct features: surface topography, porosity and osteophyte formation. These features are scored individually, after which these scores are added up to form a composite score, which is used to ascribe an age stage to an individual. This thesis has aimed to test this method on a post-medieval Dutch skeletal collection with individuals of known ages-at-death from the 18th-19th century. The collection originates from a cemetery in Middenbeemster, Noord-Holland, and is well-documented due to the availability of a cemetery ledger and military document describing names, ages, sexes, marriages, etc. of many individuals. Out of the 118 individuals listed in these archival records, 57 individuals were suitable for this analysis (98 clavicles). The overall levels of agreement between the three different observers were calculated using Cohen’s kappa (k), which revealed a relatively low agreement, varying from slight to moderate (k = 0.100 to 0.534). Fortunately, these results did not influence the accuracy of the method greatly, which varied between 87% and 94%, depending on the side chosen to estimate age. Unfortunately the age ranges that are used in the method are too large for the method to be deemed precise. Previously existing methods are however not at all capable of subdividing the 45+ category into smaller stages. Although the age stages are large, the method is thus capable of recognizing the older members within a society and place them into a more specific age class than other methods currently can. The method does need more testing and revising, but can currently be concluded to accurately estimate olders adults’ ages-at-death in Dutch post-medieval collections.Show less
Osteoporosis is a hot topic for clinical research in modern Western society, but seems rare in archaeological human remains. This study had the aim to investigate if osteoporosis can be used as a...Show moreOsteoporosis is a hot topic for clinical research in modern Western society, but seems rare in archaeological human remains. This study had the aim to investigate if osteoporosis can be used as a method to detect the changes in living conditions before and into the Industrial Revolution in London. For this research, the osteology rapports from nine Medieval and sixteen post-Medieval cemeteries are used. These cemeteries were all excavated by the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA). Osteoporosis is a skeletal disorder with various causes, for instance vitamin D deficiency, alcohol and smoking. Due to a malfunction between bone resorption and bone formation, bones get more fragile and are easier to break. Through typical fractures and the bone mineral density certain types of osteoporosis can be detected in archaeological human remains. The Industrial Revolution is an important time of change. Not only in terms of industrialization, but also for nutrition, living conditions and lifestyle. This disease can reflect the change of socio-economic and environmental conditions between Medieval and the post-Medieval period. A database had been made from all the individuals analysed by MOLA. From this database, two datasets are composed for the individuals with osteoporosis. A total of 9 individuals from the Medieval period and 76 individuals from the post-Medieval period show skeletal changes consistent with osteoporosis. Through statistical analysis it became clear that there is increase of the disease into the post-Medieval period. This increase is most likely the result of the Industrial Revolution. Also, more females were affected than males and most of the individuals were older than 46 years at death. However, there was no difference in affected individuals between low and high socio-economic statuses. This research has its limitations, especially since there is inconsistency in the recording of osteoporosis in the original data. Recommendations for a standardization of methods to investigate osteoporosis have been made among other suggestions for future research.Show less
In this thesis the possible correlation between vertebral pathologies and social status was examined in two post-medieval populations from London (1700-1850 AD). One group contained individuals of...Show moreIn this thesis the possible correlation between vertebral pathologies and social status was examined in two post-medieval populations from London (1700-1850 AD). One group contained individuals of high social status, Chelsea Old Church, and one of lower social status, Cross Bones. As it could be expected that individuals of lower social class may have undertaken more physically demanding activities, vertebral pathologies which can appear as a result of stress should be more abundant in the Cross Bones group. Conversely diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH), a disease associated with dietary excess should be more visible in high social status groups. The groups are compared using age groups and chi-squared tests.Show less
This thesis researched if biological and cultural continuity between the Romano-British and Anglo-Saxon culture in Great Chesterford (Essex) could be identified. Different studies have shown a...Show moreThis thesis researched if biological and cultural continuity between the Romano-British and Anglo-Saxon culture in Great Chesterford (Essex) could be identified. Different studies have shown a potential regional variation in England, which still has to be studied and described. This was done by relating data from the Anglo-Saxon and Roman cemetery of Great Chesterford and the Roman cemetery of Colchester (Butt Road, period 2). Biological (skeletal metrics and non-metrics) and cultural (grave rituals and goods) data were used.Show less
Identity within the Roman Empire has always been a major issue in archaeological research within the Mediterranean world, since there appears to be a large regional variability in cultural identity...Show moreIdentity within the Roman Empire has always been a major issue in archaeological research within the Mediterranean world, since there appears to be a large regional variability in cultural identity. Burial practices show information on social con-structs and can contribute to the complex issue on identity within the Roman Em-pire. A comparison of the burial practices of the rural cemetery of Vallerano, near Rome – core of the Roman Empire -, and the British Iron Age and Roman cemeteries of Tolpuddle Ball, Fordington Bottom, Watling Street and Bloxham demonstrated that a distinction between two different types of cemeteries can be distinguished. These two cemetery-types consist of cemeteries where Iron Age burial practices remain in use, but also show an influence of Roman burials and cemeteries that re-semble the burial practices of the rural suburbium of Rome. Both types reflect a dif-ferent type of cultural identity, one in which the local Iron Age practices are still strongly visible mixed with Roman characteristics and one in which Roman practices are commonly used.Show less
Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that left a large mark on the history of the Netherlands. Archaeological remains may help us to reconstruct the distribution of TB both spatially as well as...Show moreTuberculosis is an infectious disease that left a large mark on the history of the Netherlands. Archaeological remains may help us to reconstruct the distribution of TB both spatially as well as demographically, and may provide information on the (changing) social conditions of the Netherlands. Therefore I have posed the following research question: is it possible to create a database on TB cases in the Netherlands, and, what can this database then tell us about TB in the Netherlands and Europe? The TB database was based on physical anthropological records as well as excavation reports. In order to contextualize the data, a comparison with Great Britain was included. A database of all archaeological sites with skeletal remains was also provided in order to study the distribution of skeletal remains in the archaeological record as a whole. The TB database shows 12 individuals out of 11 sites. This amount is low considering that tuberculosis was one of the main causes of death for centuries, and especially compared to Great Britain. Several social factors play a role in the spread of TB, including migration, animals, heating, nutrition and living conditions. When compared to Great Britain, urbanization and industrialization, both strongly linked to the rise of TB, are slow in their progress. Migration does not seem to have played a large role, nor do other social conditions. Nutrition may have been an important factor. For the Netherlands, a large problem seems to lie in the preservation, excavation and documentation of skeletal remains and pathologies. Often, not much attention is paid to pathologies. TB is often only differentially diagnosed on the occurrence of Pott’s disease, ignoring other lesions such as new bone formation on the ribs that may be consistent with TB. More thorough examination of skeletal remains, in combination with biomolecular studies, will ensure a more representative view of TB in the Netherlands.Show less
Biased opinions concerning a tradition defined sexual division of physical activities have been prevalent throughout time, what affected the way in which the history of women eventually was...Show moreBiased opinions concerning a tradition defined sexual division of physical activities have been prevalent throughout time, what affected the way in which the history of women eventually was presented, resulting in feministic illustrations or misogynistic representations. Especially in the analysis of the Islamic Medieval and Christian Medieval society this focal point was prevalent. In the field of osteoarchaeology many attempts have been made to understand the individual rather than the historical illustrations in order to see if pathologies could provide information that support or falsify commonly accepted notions of a sexual division of physical activities. It was often concluded that there was a strong traditional-religious influence recognizable, expressed through pathologies, in Islamic populations in comparison to Christian populations. This research was conducted in order to see if it was possible to draw similar conclusions by conducting an analysis of fracture patterns in the long bone datasets from Medieval Iberian Islamic cemeteries. The data was compared with the data from Medieval Iberian Christian cemeteries, to verify if a strong influence of traditional thoughts on the sexual division of physical activities was noticeable in the Islamic population. Before an actual analysis was possible, it was necessary to conduct historical analyses and to recreate the traditional ideology that may have constituted such a division, by comparing the historical sources with each other and by making a just interpretation of traditional thoughts that were maintained by Islamic and Christian societies. A reconstruction of the traditional ideology was done through analysis of religious sources as well as legislative sources that expressed notions or provided strict codes on the matter of a sexual division. Within this theoretical framework the results retrieved from the paleopathological analyses were placed in order to see if these fracture patterns indeed supported or falsified a sexual division. Eventually a sexual division was noticed, though it was not possible to account for a difference between Islamic and Christian populations. It seemed that in the rural populations a fairly similar pattern could be recognized and for the urban context it was more difficult, for the Christian urban site lacked sufficient data to be used in a comparison study, with a credible conclusion as a result.Show less
This study has the aim to investigate the differences in dental modification between males and females in the Maya of Mesoamerica. With this study it is shown that gender ideology is expressed...Show moreThis study has the aim to investigate the differences in dental modification between males and females in the Maya of Mesoamerica. With this study it is shown that gender ideology is expressed within dental modifications. The types of dental modifications are categorised by using the classifications composed by Javier Romero and modified by Vera Tiesler. A database is set up with the osteological information on 143 individuals from 21 random selected archaeological sites in Mesoamerica. In order to get a clear view from the entire Maya population, this study used samples from different contexts and different time periods. After gathering and bundling this data, statistical analysis is used to see if there is a significant difference in modification types between males and females. Within this analysis, it is shown that from the 76 types of modifications categorised by Romero and Tiesler, only 32 were represented in the sample. Nine of the 32 types of modifications consisted of enough teeth to be used within the actual analysis. From the nine analysed modifications, only two types showed a significant difference between males and females. Due to the fact that this is such a small portion of the total amount of modifications, one cannot say that these results are a good representation of the whole Maya population. The amount of teeth with modifications used within this study, is also not large enough to be representative for the entire Maya population. One could say that within the studied individuals, two of these modification occurs more among females, than among males. For the other types of modification, there is no statistical evidence to say which sex used them more. With this research not being representative enough for the entire Maya population, various proposals for research in the future are done.Show less
