Our understanding of past societies is completely or partly based on how they buried their dead. However, more attention is paid to the burial objects rather than the body. Therefore, understanding...Show moreOur understanding of past societies is completely or partly based on how they buried their dead. However, more attention is paid to the burial objects rather than the body. Therefore, understanding positions and what they could mean within a society and religion could help us better understand how these societies operated and what they valued. However, there is a lack of standardization and consistent, approach of intentional body positions during burial. This lack of standardization makes it difficult to compare data, especially concerning data across continents and scholarly methods. In this thesis, I will compare data from several seated burials from the La Tène period ranging from 450 to 100 BC in France and Britain. In order to understand their cultural significance and create a better understanding of seated burials on an intra-regional level.Show less
Osteoarthritis is the most common degenerative joint disease in both modern and past populations. It is a disease caused by several factors such as age, sex, and genetics. Activity is a factor...Show moreOsteoarthritis is the most common degenerative joint disease in both modern and past populations. It is a disease caused by several factors such as age, sex, and genetics. Activity is a factor which possibly causes osteoarthritis. By using clinical literature, it is examined if activity is truly a cause of osteoarthritis in modern populations. Archaeological literature is then examined, to determine the relationship between activity and osteoarthritis in past populations. The clinical literature is assessed for knee, hip, and spinal column osteoarthritis. In the archaeological literature spinal and hand osteoarthritis were particularly common. In this research, a number of movements were found to be associated with osteoarthritis, such as the link between kneeling and knee osteoarthritis. Many movements were found to be in need of more research. In the archaeological literature no distinct conclusion was found. While there are some promising studies which show that activity is related to osteoarthritis, there are also studies which contradict this. Finally, a number of problems are discussed on comparing clinical and archaeological literature, among others the osteological paradox. Concluding, some sorts of osteoarthritis in the clinical setting are caused by activity but finding this in the archaeological record is difficult. There is more research needed on standards for research on the link between activity and OA.Show less
