Biological and Physical Anthropology Commons^™

Morbidity, Mortality, And Marginalization: An Intersectional Investigation Of Respiratory Stress And Differential Frailty In Industrial-Era England, Derek A. Boyd

Doctoral Dissertations

Respiratory disease affects more than one billion people today, particularly in urbanizing areas of low- and middle-income countries due to overcrowding, air pollution, poor sanitation, and differential access to life-sustaining resources. We can look to the past to understand the social, economic, and environmental factors that influence respiratory disease burden among urban dwellers because conditions in the urbanizing areas of antiquity mimic those observed in lower- and middle-income countries today. This study explored the impact of classism, sexism, and regional inequalities on respiratory disease burden among urban dwellers with differing levels of social and economic marginalization in England during the …

Osteoarthritis In Early To Middle Epipalaeolithic, Aasiyah Sheri Ms

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

The study of human remains allows insight into the past. Studying an individual's bones and any diseases or abnormalities that may present themselves allows archaeologists to construct an image of what life might have been like for the individual. How old they were when they died, the type of work they did, and their overall health are all factors that can tell us a great deal about a person.

A Bioarchaeological Investigation Of The Courtney-Anderson Cemetery, Lauren Scott

Master's Theses

Located in Perry County, Mississippi, the Anderson Family Cemetery represents an abandoned turn-of-the-century Piney Woods cemetery. The cemetery is located on land once owned by the Courtney and Anderson families, who farmed the area until it was taken under eminent domain by the United States government in 1942. The purpose of this thesis is to present three osteobiographies created from human remains and material culture recovered from three graves excavated from within the cemetery in 2022 to explore the lifeways of rural Piney Woods families of Mississippi at the turn-of-the-century.

Among the graves explored, one did not contain evidence of …

Transforming The Dead: The Taphonomy And Ritual Economy Of Funerary Bundles On The Pre-Hispanic Central Coast Of Peru (1000-1532 Ce), Joanna Motley

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Death is not only the cessation of life; it is a social transformation. This dissertation investigates funerary practices that facilitated that transformation on the pre-Hispanic central coast of Peru from ca. 1000 - 1532 CE, a time of local consolidation of power after the dissolution of the Wari Empire (600-1100 CE), through to the expansion of the Inca Empire (1450 – 1532 CE). This work focuses on the practices of two archaeological cultures on the central coast of Peru: the Ychsma and the Chancay. Ritual economy, with its integration of agency and political economy, is used as a theoretical framework …

Dental Health In The Aqllakuna From Farfán (Peru): A New Perspective On An Inca Female Institution (Ca. 1470-1532 A.D.) Using Micro-Ct And Histological Analysis, Émy Roberge

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This research aims to explore the lifeways of an underrepresented subgroup of females while reducing the use of destructive methods in bioarchaeology. The excavation of Farfán on the North Coast of Peru revealed a rare aqlla cemetery from the Late Horizon (1470-1532 A.D.). The aqlla was an Inca religious institution where young females were sequestered to brew chicha and weave in their aqllawasi. According to ethnohistorical sources, these “Chosen Women” were expected to represent a homogenous and advantaged subset of the population. This hypothesis is assessed by comparing their dental lesions to the general population using macroscopy, micro-CT, and …

Evaluating Cremation In Umm An-Nar Period Mortuary Practices Using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (Libs), Malena Butler

Anthropology Undergraduate Senior Theses

Chemical changes in bone composition that occur during the process of cremation have begun to be explored alongside corresponding macroscopic changes to bone color using a variety of analytical instrumentation. This research employed a lesser-utilized method, Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), alongside Munsell Color Charts to assess elemental changes that may occur in archaeological bone at varying cremation temperatures. It was hypothesized that differences in color would be indicative of different chemical compositions present in bone, despite previous evidence for at least some diagenetic change. Distal humeri from Umm an-Nar (2700-2000 BCE) period tombs Unar 1 (n=31) and Unar 2 (n=28) …

Assessing Stress Biomarkers As Embodied Identity In Kentucky’S Green River Archaic, Anna-Marie Casserly

Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology

The primary goal of this bioarchaeology dissertation research is to investigate the relationship between evidence of social identity and indicators of biological stress in the Green River region of Kentucky during the Late Archaic period (5,000-3,000 BP). Utilizing a biocultural perspective, I examine the ways that aspects of identity and social organization are embodied through the experience of biological stress. This research explores how social differences influence the patterning of osteological stress markers in an Archaic population while problematizing categories of difference that are often naturalized in bioarchaeology, such as gender or age cohorts. In so doing, it contributes to …

Age And Inclusivity In Umm An-Nar Communal Tombs From Southeastern Arabia, Lesley A. Gregoricka, Jaime M. Ullinger, Christian Berends, Alyssa Bolster, Brittany Clark, Hannah Jeanlouis, Urvi Kaul, Rachael Orkin

Year 2: AABA 2022 – Denver, CO

Umm an-Nar (2700-2000 BCE) tombs in the United Arab Emirates contained the commingled remains of hundreds of individuals interred across multiple generations. Archaeologists commonly reference tomb demographics as being inclusive of all ages, but this assumption is based on a handful of studies that rarely distinguish age categories beyond “subadult” or “adult.” An undergraduate research training program sought to examine age distributions – and thus inclusivity in tomb membership – in greater detail, with a particular focus on fetal and older adult age categories.

A combination of traditional and novel aging techniques were applied to bones from tombs Unar 1 …

A Transition From Tradition: Employing Ta3 And Traditional Age & Sex Estimation Methods To Study Paleodemography In Umm An-Nar Arabia, Alyssa Bolster, Hannah Jeanlouis, Lesley A. Gregoricka, Jaime M. Ullinger

Year 2: AABA 2022 – Denver, CO

Background: Transition Analysis 3 (TA3) has enormous potential for the study of commingled skeletal material. Previous demographic analyses on commingled remains from Umm an-Nar (2700-2000 BCE) tombs Unar 1 and Unar 2 at the site of Shimal (Ras al-Khaimah, UAE) placed the majority of individuals in a generalized “adult” category using dental eruption. We hypothesized that we would identify more older adults (50+) in both tombs using TA3, and that more would be found in Unar 2, prior to the intensification of agriculture and regional aridification.

Methods: Commingled and fragmentary skeletal fragments (pubic symphyses (n=51), humeri (n=85), femora (n=194)) were …

Estimating Age From Fetal And Young Nonadults From Basilar Portions At Umm An-Nar Tombs From The Uae, Rachael Orkin, Christian Berends, Lesley A. Gregoricka, Jaime M. Ullinger

Year 2: AABA 2022 – Denver, CO

Background: The Umm an-Nar period (2700-2000 BCE) was a time of significant change in southeastern Arabia, prompted by agricultural shifts and seen in shifting social and mortuary practices. Communal tombs Unar 1 and Unar 2 from the Emirate of Ras al-Khaimah (United Arab Emirates), which date to the end of the third millennium BCE, contained commingled, cremated, and fragmented skeletons, a common mortuary pattern in this period.

Methods: Unfused basilar portions of nonadult occipital bones were examined to assess tomb membership and inclusion of young individuals. Three methods were used to analyze age, and measurements taken included sagittal length and …

Analyzing The Prevalence And Severity Of Cribra Orbitalia In Bronze Age Arabia, Urvi Kaul, Brittany Clark, Lesley A. Gregoricka, Jaime M. Ullinger

Year 2: AABA 2022 – Denver, CO

Background: The Umm an-Nar period (ca. 2700-2000 BCE) in southeastern Arabia was marked by the intensification of oasis agriculture and a corresponding shift to sedentism. Cribra orbitalia lesions from tombs Unar 1 and Unar 2 (Emirate of Ras al-Khaimah, UAE) were observed for rates of nonspecific stress during this period of transition. We hypothesized that due to increased reliance on agriculture beginning around 2200 BCE, Unar 1 individuals would have a higher prevalence of active cribra orbitalia.

Methods: Given the commingled and fragmentary nature of these collections, we first scored percentage of orbit present in 25% increments. Scorable orbits (defined …