In the 1980s, archaeological studies near the village of Valkenburg, South-Holland, unearthed the skeletal remains of individuals buried at the Valkenburg-Marktveld cemetery during the Roman period...Show moreIn the 1980s, archaeological studies near the village of Valkenburg, South-Holland, unearthed the skeletal remains of individuals buried at the Valkenburg-Marktveld cemetery during the Roman period. Part of multiple Roman fortifications along the Limes dating from 40 A.D. onwards, the cemetery was likely used as a burial ground for inhabitants of the Valkenburg fort or nearby vicus, a civilian settlement. The cemetery comprised at least 250 cremated individuals as well as 47 inhumations, which is a striking find that contradicts the common Roman practice of cremation. Due to these inhumated skeletal remains, the site provides an unique opportunity to employ osteoarchaeological analysis to reconstruct the lives of individuals that lived in the Roman Frontier region. This thesis utilizes cross-sectional geometry and bilateral asymmetry analysis to infer activity patterns among individuals at the Valkenburg-Marktveld cemetery, as current research on the differences in bone geometry between different demographic groups within Roman communities in the Lower Rhine area is limited. The study further investigates the factors and potential activity patterns that might influence those variations, such as biological age and sex. To do so, it builds on the initial osteoarchaeological study conducted by Lonnée and Maat (1998), who reported the estimated sex and age-at-death of each individual. Following this, each relevant bone in the upper and lower limbs was measured on various points to generate the indices for each point of measurement, as well as calculate the percentage directional asymmetry (DA%) and absolute asymmetry (AA%). The resulting values were then compared statistically between the biological sexes and age-at-death categories. While statistical significance is limited, the interpretation of data highlights the potential of these analyses in inferring activity patterns. Results from the analysis indicate that males tend to display more robust and symmetric upper and lower limbs than females, which are likely attributable to biological factors or a wider range of activities in males. Age-at-death categories exhibited inconsistencies with patterns described in other study, which is possibly due to natural variation or the limited preservation and availability of the skeletal material. Despite the limited number of individuals that could be examined, this thesis contributes valuable insights into the application of cross-sectional geometry and bilateral asymmetry analysis in osteoarchaeological studies, complementing historical data and broadening our understanding of activities in Roman frontier regions.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
A sample of 101 individuals from the osteological collection of Middenbeemster, a 19th century Dutch rural population, was analysed for scorbutic lesions denoting the prevalence of scurvy within...Show moreA sample of 101 individuals from the osteological collection of Middenbeemster, a 19th century Dutch rural population, was analysed for scorbutic lesions denoting the prevalence of scurvy within the population. The method used for this analysis was recently published by Snoddy et al. (2018), and collected features described throughout the paleopathological and clinical literature, as well as adding two new lesions to create a system with a weighted diagnosis. The sample was analysed for the presence or absence of these features and the individuals were given a diagnosis ranging from a probable, to possible, to an unlikely diagnosis of scurvy. The prevalence was found to be 74,5% in the total sample, with 80,95% within the non- adults, and 73,75% in the adults respectively. The individuals diagnosed with probable scurvy were found to also exhibit lesions associated with rickets, osteomalacia, and iron deficiency anaemia. It was also found that younger individuals under 6 years of age and adults over 50 were the most likely demographic to suffer from scurvy. Further research should further investigate Snoddy et al.’s (2018) proposed lesions, examine comorbidity with associated conditions, and investigate a genetic predisposition towards the development of the disease.Show less
Sex estimation of non-adult skeletal remains has long been regarded as a problematic or even an unattainable objective within physical anthropology and forensic science. Few extant methods have...Show moreSex estimation of non-adult skeletal remains has long been regarded as a problematic or even an unattainable objective within physical anthropology and forensic science. Few extant methods have been able to match the accuracy rates of methods designed for adult remains and those that have failed to achieve similarly acceptable rates when tested on a population other than the one on which the method was originally developed. Due to this, children are habitually excluded from archaeological investigations since a major component of their biological profiles is considered inaccessible. A definitive and reliable technique to estimate sex in non-adult osteological remains would contribute greatly to the field of osteoarchaeology, allowing for the refinement of osteological age estimation and growth studies as well as more perceptive interpretations of the social, economic, or environmental implications of osteological evidence. In this thesis, a population-specific statistical approach to non-adult sex estimation based on the crown and cervical dimensions of the permanent canines and maxillary first molars was tested on the documented post-medieval skeletal collection of Middenbeemster, the Netherlands. The odontometrics of the adult component of the population (n = 76) were used to develop 14 binomial logistic regression formulae, which were subsequently applied to the non-adult individuals of the same population (n = 15). Though the two formulae based on the maxillary first molar odontometrics performed little better than chance, all 12 of the formulae based on the permanent canines achieved accuracy rates above 75%, with eight surpassing 85% and five achieving 100% accuracy. It was demonstrated that as little as one dimension of the permanent maxillary or mandibular canine can be used to estimate sex with an acceptable level of confidence. Due to the necessity of a permanent canine, this method is only applicable to individuals aged five years and above at the time of death, including adult individuals whose state of preservation does not allow for morphometric sex estimation or whose morphological sex estimate was indeterminate. By allowing reliable sex estimation in non-adult skeletal remains, this method makes it possible to gain insights into the past lives of non-adult individuals, who all too often seem invisible in archaeological and historical narratives.Show less
This research examines fracture risks in post-Medieval the Netherlands. The challenges of daily life as well as interpersonal violence means humans are always at risk of fractures to the skeleton....Show moreThis research examines fracture risks in post-Medieval the Netherlands. The challenges of daily life as well as interpersonal violence means humans are always at risk of fractures to the skeleton. Given the occurrence of fractures across societies archaeologists have the opportunity to compare the fracture risk between populations and investigate the effects of social and economic standing. Research into long bone fractures in the Netherlands has been done for medieval sites, but not for post medieval sites. This research addresses this gap in fracture research. The main question of this research is: What can the analysis of long bone fractures tell us about life in various places in post-medieval the Netherlands. The first sub question tests the hypothesis that the position, and pattern of fractures was influenced by the socioeconomic status and lifestyle of the inhabitants of Middenbeemster. The second and third sub questions compare the frequency and distribution of long bone fractures (clavicle, humerus, radius, ulna, femur, tibia, and fibula) from four post-medieval the Netherlands sites (Eindhoven, Gouda, Middenbeemster and Roosendaal) from different socioeconomic backgrounds (e.g. low and high status) and living environments (e.g. urban and rural). The data from the Middenbeemster sample was collected by the author the other data was drawn from reports and books. There were three main findings in this research. First, it found that the assemblage from Middenbeemster has fractures that are consistent with traditional farming injuries, but differed from those described in other bioarchaeological studies, suggesting that farming in post-medieval the Netherlands might have been different or posted different dangers from those in other places. Second it found that the urban site of Eindhoven had significantly more long bone fractures compared to the rural site of Middenbeemster. There was also a difference in the distribution of fractures between the sites. This suggests that in post-medieval the Netherlands urban living had more risks of long bone fractures than rural living. Third, there was no difference in the long bone fracture rate between the high status site of Gouda and the low status site of Roosendaal. This shows that socioeconomic status did not have a significant effect on fracture risk. This thesis has broadened our understanding of fracture risk in post-medieval the Netherlands by providing some preliminary conclusions about the relationship between environmental and socioeconomic factors and fracture risk. This research, however, still requires more comparative data sets to confirm these preliminary conclusions, and test new hypotheses.Show less
After years of research the etiology of Harris lines (abbreviated as HLs) is still a matter of much discussion. Multiple scholars agree on HLs being an indicator of psychological stress (González...Show moreAfter years of research the etiology of Harris lines (abbreviated as HLs) is still a matter of much discussion. Multiple scholars agree on HLs being an indicator of psychological stress (González-Reimers et al. 2007; Macchiarelli et al. 1994; White 2005). However, recent research that could not directly associate HLs with other stress indicators, such as linear enamel hypoplasia and hypothyroidism, suggested that HLs are not good indicators of periods of nutritional stress or disease (Papageorgopoulou 2011). Thus, there is still a lot of discussion concerning the etiology of HLs (Alfonso-Durruty 2011; Ameen et al. 2005; Hughes et al. 1996; Nowak and Pointek 2002; Ribot and Roberts 1996). The focus of this thesis is the occurrence of HLs in the distal tibiae of skeletons from the Early Medieval cemetery of the Paardenmarkt (i.e. horse market) in the Dutch city of Alkmaar. HLs are compared to another stress marker namely, linear enamel hypoplasia (abbreviated as LEH). This stress marker forms in the teeth, and comparison is made in order to assess their concordance with HLs. These markers are compared, with the assumption that the late Medieval population of Alkmaar was affected by physiological stress experiences, such as malnutrition and illness during a time of marked social, political and economic change. The results show that there are some links to be found between LEHs and HLs, mainly the younger individuals show more stress events. In addition, the age-at-line formation times show an overlap, five individuals have stress events in there dentition and bones during at the same time. A possible explanation of HLs in the Alkmaar population is malaria; the high number of cribra orbitalia in the Paardenmarkt collection in combination with this high number of stress events could be caused by this parasitic disease. But, due to the small dataset(55 tibia belonging to 33 individuals) it is difficult to make strong statistical statements.Show less
