Chronic maxillary sinusitis (CMS) is a much debated topic and the current clinical literature states that up to 40% of the maxillary sinusitis cases can be caused by dental disease. This is called...Show moreChronic maxillary sinusitis (CMS) is a much debated topic and the current clinical literature states that up to 40% of the maxillary sinusitis cases can be caused by dental disease. This is called odontogenic maxillary sinusitis (OMS). Unilateral CMS is even believed to be induced by dental disease in approximately 75% of the cases. In bioarchaeology, odontogenic sinusitis has been somehow understudied, since very few archaeological studies on sinusitis have taken dental disease into consideration. Studying the impact of dental disease can give more contextualisation to previous studies on respiratory disease, including CMS. Both CMS and dental disease can be observable in archaeological context as various skeletal changes. This thesis research aims to test if the presence of CMS is related to the presence of dental disease within two post-medieval populations from Arnhem and Middenbeemster. The dental pathological conditions that are included here are periapical abscesses, periodontal disease, ante-mortem tooth loss and oroantral fistulae. First, the relation between CMS and dental disease has been investigated for the sample in its entirety, as well as on the intrasite level. After this, differences in the prevalence rates of OMS were investigated on the intersite level (i.e., between populations and between sex groups across populations). Chi squared tests and the Fisher’s Exact Test were used to test the hypotheses. The results show that there is no statistically significant correlation between the presence of chronic maxillary sinusitis and the presence of dental disease. Moreover, the differences in the prevalence rates of CMS did not hold any statistical significance either. It can be suggested that other factors, such as climate, smoking, or hazards as the result of urbanisation, have played a bigger role in the development of chronic maxillary sinusitis in the current sample. Although not significant, there was a stronger correlation between CMS and dental disease in the rural sample than in the urban sample. A stronger relationship was also observed in females than in males. Therefore, it might be suggested that dental disease played a more important role in the development of CMS among these subgroups. Furthermore, it is observed that OMS is slightly more prevalent in the urban population and has a slight female predominance.Show less
This research focuses on looking for a connection between socio-economic status and the diet of non-adult individuals living in the post-medieval period in London. it mainly looks at the prevalence...Show moreThis research focuses on looking for a connection between socio-economic status and the diet of non-adult individuals living in the post-medieval period in London. it mainly looks at the prevalence of vitamin C within these diets. This is conducted by looking at the prevalence of scurvy, a disease that occurs when a person does not gain enough vitamin C through their food. This disease is chosen because it leaves osteological changes that are visible to archaeologists today. Non-adults are chosen for this research because the skeletal changes scurvy can make are better visible in non-adults than in adults. The aim of this research is to create a better understanding of the diet and the influence of socio economic status on this diet because there is little information about this topic available. It also aims to create a better picture of the health of non-adults in this period when looking at diet. The main research question for this research is: What is the influence of socio-economic status on the prevalence of scurvy in non-adults in post-medieval London? This is answered by looking at skeletal data gained by the Museum of London in their Wellcome osteological research database. Three different populations are compared to one another and different age groups within these populations are also compared. The three populations are Chelsea Old Church for the high-class, St. Benet Sherehog for the middle-class and St. Bride’s Lower churchyard for the low-class. The results of this research conclude that there is little to no connection between the prevalence of scurvy and the socio-economic status of non-adults in post-medieval London. This goes against the original expectations and shows that there was no difference in vitamin C intake between different classes. However future research could look at more details on these findings by for example trying to find to source of vitamin C for these different socio-economic statuses.Show less
This research delves into the complex interplay of cultural, parental, and environmental factors that significantly impact the developmental trajectories of children, with a particular focus on the...Show moreThis research delves into the complex interplay of cultural, parental, and environmental factors that significantly impact the developmental trajectories of children, with a particular focus on the onset of walking in Dutch post-medieval children. Conducted in Arnhem and Middenbeemster, this study reveals notable variations in the age at which children achieve important developmental milestones. Children in Arnhem tended to reach these stages at slightly older ages than their peers in Middenbeemster, underscoring the influence of regional factors on childhood development. Femoral angle measurements, specifically the bicondylar angle (BCA) and neck-shaft angle (NSA) were compared between the two regions, revealing distinct trends. Children in Arnhem exhibited higher average BCA and NSA values, potentially influenced by variations in lifestyle, parenting practices, and regional customs. Moreover, differences in NSA values may indicate disparities in biomechanical loading, emphasizing the multifaceted nature of childhood development. Comparisons were made with research on post-medieval England by Swan et al. (2020), demonstrating both similarities and differences in developmental patterns, reinforcing the significance of population-specific variations in bone development. The study also explores the onset of walking in low-status and high-status children, highlighting the potential influence of the specific region or environment on which they grow up when they start walking. These findings underscore the importance of considering multiple factors and measurements when studying child development, acknowledging that not all anatomical features are equally relevant to the specific aspects of development being investigated. The study encourages further research to explore the underlying factors contributing to differences in child development between Arnhem and Middenbeemster and to delve deeper into the biomechanical and physiological aspects influencing femoral angles. In conclusion, this research enriches our understanding of how cultural, environmental, and regional factors shape child development, specifically in the context of femoral angle measurements in Dutch post-medieval children. The study highlights the need for a comprehensive approach to osteological non-adult research, considering the intricate web of influences that contribute to developmental patterns.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
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
Background: Developments in serial sampling of dentine have expanded the intricacies in which scientists can understand more about diet, breastfeeding and weaning, and health and disease in the...Show moreBackground: Developments in serial sampling of dentine have expanded the intricacies in which scientists can understand more about diet, breastfeeding and weaning, and health and disease in the past. Interglobular dentine (IGD) is a proven proxy for assessing episodes of Vitamin D deficiency in an individual. Certain isotopes, Nitrogen (15N/14N) and Carbon (13C/12C), have been proven to show abnormal readings during these periods, particularly in times of stress. Aim: This pilot study will attempt to compare periods of Vitamin D deficiency found in these microsamples to Nitrogen (15N/14N) and Carbon (13C/12C) isotopic results to see if there is a correlation between periods of nutritional stress or dietary change, manifested as abnormal isotopic results, and periods of Vitamin D deficiency, exhibited as IGD. Subjects and Methods: Part one of this study will involve testing three different methodologies for micro-sampling of human tooth dentine. The second part of this study will examine four teeth, from two Dutch towns, Hattem and Beemster. The teeth all belong to adults of varied ages and sex. Each tooth will be sectioned horizontally, demineralised, and the collagen will be extracted. The stable isotope measurements of the dentine collagen will then be conducted via an isotope ratio mass spectrometer for final isotopic values. The results will then be compared to the periods of IGD reported by Veselka (2019) to see if there is a correlation between Vitamin D deficiency and abnormal isotopic results. Results and Conclusions: No significant correlation can be seen between the isotopic results and period of Vitamin D Deficiency in the four individuals that were examined. Possible issues that could contribute to the observed pattern include breastfeeding/weaning signals which may be obscuring periods of stress. Also, some of the micro-samples proved too small and were unsuccessful in producing any data at all.Show less
The estimation of sex is very important in the analysis of skeletal remains in both archaeological and forensic contexts. It is generally the first step that is taken to establish the...Show moreThe estimation of sex is very important in the analysis of skeletal remains in both archaeological and forensic contexts. It is generally the first step that is taken to establish the osteoarchaeological biological profile as the other elements of the profile (e.g. stature and age-at-death) are sex specific. Morphological sex estimation methods require a visual assessment of various features of the pelvis and skull, however, in practice the pelvis and skull are not always assessable when the skeletal elements are in a fragmentary state or are completely absent from the context. Therefore, it is useful to create methods that can be applied to a wider variety of bones and can handle incomplete skeletal elements. Metric methods have shown high accuracy rates on bones like the radius, ulna, femur, calcaneus, and many more. Previous research has shown that the talus is also a sexually dimorphic bone that can be used for sex estimation, however, the discriminant function equations that are created in previous research are population specific. This study extends the line of research done on the talus by testing its sex estimation ability in a post-medieval Dutch population using the Middenbeemster collection. A total of nine measurements were obtained from 111 individuals of known sex (47 males and 64 females). These measurements are based on previous studies and are the talar length, talar width, talar height, trochlear length, trochlear breadth, head-neck length, head height, length of the posterior articular surface, and the breadth of the posterior articular surface. Descriptive statistics and discriminant function analysis was applied to the acquired data. Basic statistics showed the sex discriminating potential of the talus in this Dutch post-medieval population. Univariate analysis reached accuracies between 62.3% and 88.8% while multivariate analysis reached even higher accuracies of between 82.5% and 97.4%. To further investigate the need for population specific equations, the Dutch data has been entered into multiple functions obtained from three previously researched populations. The accuracies obtained here proofed to be less than the accuracies obtained when using their own data suggesting the need for population specific equations. In conclusion, this study has established that the talus of Dutch individuals is effective in sex estimation.Show less
This thesis aims to compare the two main methods of age-at-death estimation used on non-adults. The first method focusses on dental development, specifically the eruption of the teeth. The second...Show moreThis thesis aims to compare the two main methods of age-at-death estimation used on non-adults. The first method focusses on dental development, specifically the eruption of the teeth. The second method is focussed on bone growth, especially the length of the long bones. It has become clear that there is a difference between the outcomes of these two age-at-death estimates: dental age is higher than the estimated age based on long bones. As this research was performed on a population of low socioeconomic standing, the posibility that this is one of the factors which causes the difference in age-at-death estimations is proposed. Further research will be needed to confirm or disprove this.Show less
The purpose of my thesis is to research how individuals from the lower class with severe and visible disabilities were cared for during the Early modern period in the Dutch city of Arnhem. To be...Show moreThe purpose of my thesis is to research how individuals from the lower class with severe and visible disabilities were cared for during the Early modern period in the Dutch city of Arnhem. To be able to say something about care for these individuals I use historic literature, which functions as a historical framework, and I apply a bioarchaeological method known as the Index of Care, in which pathology found on skeletal remains form an important source of information. I will use pathology found on three skeletal individuals, from Arnhem, to say something about the living conditions of these people and what their quality of life might have looked like considering their disability. Based on the historic literature I provide the reader with an image of what care might have looked like for these individuals. And I research what this says about Arnhem’s population of the time and what their perspective was on their disabled and sick community. Arnhem would have different facilities in which people could be provided with care. Guesthouses played a major role in the caring for the city’s poor, sick and disabled community. In these guesthouses people could stay for a certain period of time up until a lifetime, depending on the guesthouses’ regulations. The church offered food, prayers and housing (also through guesthouses) to those in need as well. Additionally there were physicians and apothecaries that took care of the medical aspects of care for those who could afford it. However we must not forget that most of the disabled and sick individuals were most likely cared for by their relatives. The three individuals I analysed, must all have been cared for, for a longer period of time, most likely till their death. Based on these results and the historic framework, it is known that the lower class of Arnhem that was harshly disabled or sick would have been able to receive care if they needed to, and that this was provided by parties from different angles of society such as the church, the individual’s own social circle and the local guesthouses. This means that the early modern Arnhem cared for their disabled and sick population and that these people were seen as individuals that are entitled to housing, food a normal live and (medical)-care.Show less
The patterns of LEH thus far recognized within the skeletal collection of Alkmaar have produced significant results regarding multiple topics: the differences in distribution of LEH patterns...Show moreThe patterns of LEH thus far recognized within the skeletal collection of Alkmaar have produced significant results regarding multiple topics: the differences in distribution of LEH patterns between men and women, the timing of LEH episodes and between the age-at-death and the prevalence of LEH. Within this dataset, there is no significant difference recognized between males and females regarding the prevalence of LEH, this stress-marker occur in the same frequency for both sexes. This however does not mean that there are no differences observed between men and women in the age distribution of LEH and the timing of the LEH episodes. The female individuals found in Alkmaar tend to suffer from malnutrition from a younger age then the males and the prevalence of LEH lasts longer, for some individuals into their early teens. Males however have a higher prevalence of LEH then females after the age of one, but there are no signs of LEH in males after six years old. Lastly, the patterns recognized when analyzing the correlation between LEH and longevity of life seems to indicate a connection between the presence of and an increase in risk of dying at a younger age. This risk seems to increase in individuals that have severe LEH where multiple markers of malnutrition episodes are present, this correlation between childhood health events and its impact on health at adulthood can be used when constructing the biological profile of individuals if investigated properly. LEH has proven to be a rich source of information that can provide a useful insight into the Alkmaar dataset, but more research into the dental records will be needed in order to properly understand and explain the significant patterns presented in this thesis.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
