Biological and Physical Anthropology Commons^™

Evaluating Entheseal Changes And Pathological Conditions In Bronze Age Arabia Using The Patella, Janeth Cabanas, Angelique Lindberg, Lesley A. Gregoricka, Jaime Ullinger

Year 3: AABA 2023 – Reno, NV

No abstract provided.

On The Grind: Entheseal Changes Of The Humerus And Activity Patterns Of Bronze Age Arabia, Sarajane Smith-Escudero, Abby Sargent, Lesley A. Gregoricka, Jaime M. Ullinger

Year 3: AABA 2023 – Reno, NV

No abstract provided.

Daily Activity Patterns Among People Interred In Umm An-Nar Communal Tombs From Southeastern Arabia, Jaime Ullinger, Lesley A. Gregoricka, Laura Allen, Janeth Cabanas, Sarah Caminito, Maddy Hull, Angelique Lindberg, Caden Rijal, Abby Sargent, Sarajane Smith-Escudero

Year 3: AABA 2023 – Reno, NV

No abstract provided.

Squat It Like It's Hot: Indicators Of Habitual Squatting In The Umm An-Nar Period, Laura Allen, Sarah Caminito, Lesley A. Gregoricka, Jaime Ullinger

Year 3: AABA 2023 – Reno, NV

No abstract provided.

Examining Temporal Bones For Evidence Of Pearl Diving In Prehistoric Arabia, Maddy Hull, Caden Rijal, Lesley A. Gregoricka, Jaime Ullinger

Year 3: AABA 2023 – Reno, NV

No abstract provided.

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 …

An Examination Of Sex Distributions In Umm An-Nar Tombs From Bronze Age Arabia Using The Distal Humerus, Charles Downey, Silvio Ernesto Mirabal Torres, Lesley A. Gregoricka, Jaime M. Ullinger

Year 1: AAPA 2021 – virtual

Background: Umm an-Nar (2700-2000 BCE) communal tombs from southeastern Arabia contain human skeletal remains characterized by extensive commingling and variable degrees of burning. Because of this, few bioarchaeological studies have been conducted examining the proportions of males to females in these monumental tombs. We hypothesized that increased social stratification in the late Umm an-Nar period would lead to a higher number of males interred in Umm an-Nar tombs over time.

Methods: To estimate sex, we measured four features of the distal humeri from tombs Unar 1 (2400-2200 BCE) and Unar 2 (2300-2100 BCE). Heat-induced changes to bone from cremation were …

Mni And Sex Estimation In Two Umm An-Nar Tombs From The Uae, Jaime M. Ullinger, Lesley A. Gregoricka, Chaylee Arellano, Quentin Burke, Victoria Calvin, Charlie Downey, Rachel Heil, Alyssa Mcgrath, Silvio Ernesto Mirabal Torres, Jeremy Simmons

Year 1: AAPA 2021 – virtual

Commingled tombs are often overlooked in bioarchaeological studies because of the difficult nature of analysis, despite their prevalence across the ancient world. Tombs Unar 1 (U1) and Unar 2 (U2), located in the United Arab Emirates, date to the Umm an-Nar period (2700-2000 BCE), when people witnessed shifts in mortuary practices likely reflective of broader changes in subsistence and social organization. A collaborative project that trains undergraduates in anthropological research has examined tomb membership for U1 and U2 by estimating MNI and sex. Despite early descriptions of U1 and U2 holding similar numbers of individuals, this project found that MNI …

Counting Chins To Count People: Determining Mni For Umm An-Nar Tombs From Mandibular Fragments, Chaylee Arellano, Quentin Burke, Lesley A. Gregoricka, Jaime M. Ullinger

Year 1: AAPA 2021 – virtual

Background: The Umm an-Nar period (2700-2000 BCE) was a time of rapid transformation within the Oman Peninsula, characterized by changes in mortuary practices, agriculture, and settlement. Located in the United Arab Emirates, Unar 1 (2400-2200 BCE) and Unar 2 (2300-2100 BCE) are two large Umm an-Nar tombs that held commingled, fragmented remains, posing a challenge in determining the minimum number of individuals (MNI). Based on the larger size of Unar 2, we hypothesized that the number of interred individuals would increase over time.

Methods: MNI was calculated using the zonation and landmark methods for the mandible. MNI and tomb size …

Sex Estimation For Early Bronze Age Arabian Tombs Using The Temporal Bone, Victoria Calvin, Jeremy Simmons, Lesley A. Gregoricka, Jaime M. Ullinger

Year 1: AAPA 2021 – virtual

Background: The Umm an-Nar period (2700-2000 BCE) in the United Arab Emirates was marked by the appearance of settlements, oasis agriculture, and fortification towers, suggesting increasing stratification. Conversely, mortuary practices indicate equality based on commingling of community members. Based on other tombs in the region, it was hypothesized that sex ratios would not differ between tombs Unar 1 (U1; 2400-2200 BCE) and Unar 2 (U2; 2300-2100 BCE).

Methods: Sex was estimated using robusticity of the mastoid process and the lateral angle of the internal auditory meatus for the temporal bone. As cremation was part of the mortuary ritual and could …

A Tali Of Two Tombs: Calculating Mni And Bone Calcination In Commingled Remains From Two Bronze Age Tombs In The Uae, Alyssa Mcgrath, Rachel Heil, Lesley A. Gregoricka, Jaime M. Ullinger

Year 1: AAPA 2021 – virtual

Background: The Umm an-Nar period (2700-2000 BCE) is known for its dichotomy between the rise in social hierarchy during life, seen in the construction of monumental towers and emergence of oasis agriculture, and equal treatment in death, seen in the commingling of all community members within monumental tombs. Umm an-Nar tombs Unar 1 (2400-2200 BCE) and Unar 2 (2300-2100 BCE) were part of the Shimal Necropolis in the United Arab Emirates. Archaeologists initially hypothesized that these tombs each contained 400+ people, but these estimates were not based on bioarchaeological methods.

Methods: Using the talus, the landmark and zonation methods were …

Cremation And Secondary Burial Practices Among Umm An-Nar Communities In Bronze Age Arabia, Antonia Carter

Anthropology Undergraduate Senior Theses

Understanding the ways in which the living processed their dead is a vital component to the field of bioarchaeology, so the purpose of this research is to provide insight into funerary practices for a Bronze Age community in southeastern Arabia and demonstrate a possible difference in mortuary treatment between one generation and the next. By using the Munsell color chart to assign color codes to five areas of testable distal humeri from two Bronze Age Umm an-Nar tombs (Unar 1 and Unar 2) located in the Shimal necropolis in the United Arab Emirates, a statistically significant difference between the articular …