Biological and Physical Anthropology Commons^™

Analysis Of Two Human Skeletons From Smith's Fort, Bermuda, Michael L. Blakey, Autumn Barrett

Michael Blakey

No abstract provided.

Successful Enrichment And Recovery Of Whole Mitochondrial Genomes From Ancient Human Dental Calculus, Andrew T. Ozga, Maria A. Nieves-Colon, Tanvi P. Honap, Krithivasan Sankaranarayanan, Courtney A. Hofman, George R. Milner, Cecil M. Lewis Jr., Anne C. Stone, Christina Warinner

Andrew Ozga

Objectives

Archaeological dental calculus is a rich source of host‐associated biomolecules. Importantly, however, dental calculus is more accurately described as a calcified microbial biofilm than a host tissue. As such, concerns regarding destructive analysis of human remains may not apply as strongly to dental calculus, opening the possibility of obtaining human health and ancestry information from dental calculus in cases where destructive analysis of conventional skeletal remains is not permitted. Here we investigate the preservation of human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in archaeological dental calculus and its potential for full mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) reconstruction in maternal lineage ancestry analysis.

Materials and …

Origins Of An Unmarked Georgia Cemetery Using Ancient Dna Analysis, Andrew T. Ozga, Raul Y. Tito, Brian M. Kemp, Hugh Matternes, Alexandra J. Obregon-Tito, Leslie Neal, Cecil M. Lewis Jr.

Andrew Ozga

Determining the origins of those buried within undocumented cemeteries is of incredible importance to historical archaeologists and, in many cases, the nearby communities. In the case of Avondale Burial Place, a cemetery in Bibb County, Georgia, in use from 1820 to 1950, all written documentation of those interred within it has been lost. Osteological and archaeological evidence alone could not describe, with confidence, the ancestral origins of the 101 individuals buried there. In the present study, we used ancient DNA extraction methods in well-preserved skeletal fragments from 20 individuals buried in Avondale Burial Place to investigate the origins of the …

Comparison Of Two Ancient Dna Extraction Protocols For Skeletal Remains From Tropical Environments, Maria A. Nieves-Colon, Andrew T. Ozga, William J. Pestle, Andrea Cucina, Vera Tiesler, Travis W. Stanton, Anne C. Stone

Andrew Ozga

Objectives

The tropics harbor a large part of the world's biodiversity and have a long history of human habitation. However, paleogenomics research in these climates has been constrained so far by poor ancient DNA yields. Here we compare the performance of two DNA extraction methods on ancient samples of teeth and petrous portions excavated from tropical and semi‐tropical sites in Tanzania, Mexico, and Puerto Rico (N = 12).

Materials and Methods

All samples were extracted twice, built into double‐stranded sequencing libraries, and shotgun sequenced on the Illumina HiSeq 2500. The first extraction protocol, Method D, was previously designed for …

Diet Of The Prehistoric Population Of Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile) Shows Environmental Adaptation And Resilience, Catrine L. Jarmine, Thomas Larsen, Terry L. Hunt, Carl P. Lipo, Reidar Solsvik, Natalie Wallsgrove, Cassie Ka'apu-Lyons, Hilary G. Close, Brian N. Popp

Carl Lipo

Objectives: The Rapa Nui “ecocide” narrative questions whether the prehistoric population caused an avoidable ecological disaster through rapid deforestation and over-exploitation of natural resources. The objective of this study was to characterize prehistoric human diets to shed light on human adaptability and land use in an island environment with limited resources.

Materials and methods: Materials for this study included human, faunal, and botanical remains from the archaeological sites Anakena and Ahu Tepeu on Rapa Nui, dating from c. 1400 AD to the historic period, and modern reference material. We used bulk carbon and nitrogen isotope analy- ses and amino acid …

A Comparison Of Automated Object Extraction Methods For Mound And Shell-Ring Identification In Coastal South Carolina, Dylan S. Davis, Carl P. Lipo, Matthew Sanger

Carl Lipo

One persistent archaeological challenge is the generation of systematic documentation for the extant archaeological record at the scale of landscapes. Often our information for landscapes is the result of haphazard and patchy surveys that stem from opportunistic and historic efforts. Consequently, overall knowledge of some regions is the product of ad hocsurvey area delineation, degree of accessibility, effective ground visibility, and the fraction of areas that have survived destruction from development. These factors subsequently contribute unknown biases to our understanding of chronology, settlements patterns, interaction, and exchange. Aerial remote sensing offers one potential solution for improving our knowledge of …

The Endurance Of Tell Qarqur: Settlement Resilience In Northwestern Syria During The Late Bronze And Iron Ages (Ca. 1200 – 700 Bc), Eric Robert Jensen

Eric Roberts, MD

This dissertation analyzes the material culture, paleobotanical, and faunal remains excavated at the site of Tell Qarqur, Syria, recovered from occupational levels dating from the end of the Late Bronze Age to the Iron II period (from approximately 1200 to 700 BC). Based on archaeological evidence and ancient textual sources, many ancient Near Eastern kingdoms and polities endured social and political turmoil during the late 13th and early 12th centuries BC. Most likely caused by an unknown hostile group or groups, the destruction of monumental scale architecture and the disruption to the people of Qarqur’s agricultural and animal husbandry practices …

The Endurance Of Tell Qarqur: Settlement Resilience In Northwestern Syria During The Late Bronze And Iron Ages (Ca. 1200 – 700 Bc), Eric Robert Jensen

Aurora Heart Failure / Transplant Faculty

This dissertation analyzes the material culture, paleobotanical, and faunal remains excavated at the site of Tell Qarqur, Syria, recovered from occupational levels dating from the end of the Late Bronze Age to the Iron II period (from approximately 1200 to 700 BC). Based on archaeological evidence and ancient textual sources, many ancient Near Eastern kingdoms and polities endured social and political turmoil during the late 13th and early 12th centuries BC. Most likely caused by an unknown hostile group or groups, the destruction of monumental scale architecture and the disruption to the people of Qarqur’s agricultural and animal husbandry practices …

Joganic Et Al 2018 Ajpa Baboon Heritability.Pdf, James M. Cheverud

James Cheverud

No abstract provided.

Playing With Knives: The Socialization Of Self-Initiated Learners, David F. Lancy

David Lancy

Since Margaret Mead’s field studies in the South Pacific a century ago, there has been the tacit understanding that as culture varies, so too must the socialization of children to become competent culture users and bearers. More recently, the work of anthropologists has been mined to find broader patterns that may be common to childhood across a range of societies. One improbable commonality has been the tolerance, even encouragement, of toddler behavior that is patently risky, such as playing with or attempting to use a sharp-edged tool. This laissez faire approach to socialization follows from a reliance on children as …

Becoming Rabbit: Living With And Knowing Rabbits, Margo Demello

Margo DeMello, PhD

Rabbits, like all animals (human and non-human), have rich internal lives, as people who live intimately with rabbits can attest.1 Living with house rabbits—where rabbits live indoors, without a cage or with minimal caging, as part of the human family—is, to me, the best way to gain some understanding of the rabbit psyche. In addition, living closely with rabbits opens up the possibilities of the humanrabbit relationship—a relationship which, until very recently, was one-sided and based on exploitation. Today, however, with the rise of the house rabbit movement, the subjectivity of rabbits has been exposed, leading to the possibility of …

Pantomime In Great Apes: Evidence And Implications, Ann E. Russon, Kristin Andrews

Kristin Andrews, PhD

We recently demonstrated, by mining observational data, that forest-living orangutans can communicate using gestures that qualify as Pantomime. Pantomimes, like other iconic gestures, physically resemble their referents. More elaborately, pantomimes involve enacting their referents. Holding thumb and finger together at the lips and blowing between them to mean balloon is one example. Here we sketch evidence of pantomime in other great apes, methodological concerns, and sophisticated cognitive capabilities that great ape pantomimes suggest.

The “Babe” Vegetarians: Bioethics, Animal Minds And Moral Methodology, Nathan Nobis

Nathan M. Nobis, PhD

Here I discuss the role the film “Babe” has played in helping people address these challenges and make this moral progress. It is thought that a significant number of young people (mostly girls, now young women) became vegetarians due to their seeing “Babe.” These people are often called “Babe Vegetarians,” influence by what has been called “The Babe Effect.” Many of their stories are found on the internet.

Weaning Across Primates, Margaret Rebecca Sinclair

Margaret R.Sinclair

Taurodontism In Review: Methods Of Determination And Anthropological Utility., Scott Legge, Anna Hardin

Scott Legge

Taurodontism, the expansion of the pulp chamber of a tooth, has been a well-known feature of both fossil and modern humans since the early 20th century. In modern populations taurodontism is clinically important, as any increase in pulp chamber size affects the endodontic treatment options, but its archaeological importance among anatomically modern human groups remains unclear. It is often seen as a defining characteristic of the post-canine dentition in Neanderthals and is sometimes used as an indicator of phylogenetic affinity for European fossils. Since the 1960s a number of studies have examined the frequency of taurodontism in modern human populations; …

Cranial Trauma And Interpersonal Violence In Alaskan Natives, Scott Legge

Scott Legge

Cranial trauma is investigated in a skeletal collection from Nunivak Island, Alaska. Trauma was observed in ten individuals from a sample of 121 crania (8.3%). Of the ten, five were males and five were females representing frequencies of 9.8% and 7.1%, respectively. Types of trauma included both blunt force and sharp-edged weapon inflicted injuries. Six of the ten show signs of healing or are completely healed; the other four individuals sustained the trauma at or near the time of death. The occurrence of trauma in the Nunivak Island collection supports previous researchers’ findings of higher frequencies for island dwelling Native …

Early Life Environment, Fertility And Age Of Menarche: A Test Of Life History Predictions Using A Longitudinal Assessment Of Adversity Perception And Economic Status, Dorsa Amir, Matthew R. Jordan, Richard G. Bribiescas

Richard G. Bribiescas

Perceptions of early life environmental adversity can affect the timing of life history transitions and investment in reproductive effort. These effects are well documented in non-human organisms, but have been challenging to test in humans. Here we present evidence of the effects of variables associated with extrinsic mortality and morbidity on reproductive effort in a contemporary American population. Using a longitudinal database that sampled participants (N ≥ 1,579) at four points during adolescence and early adulthood, variables reflective of perceptions of adversity and risk were significantly associated with age of menarche and early adult fertility. While other factors related to …

A Test Of The Intergenerational Conflict Model In Indonesia Shows No Evidence Of Earlier Menopause In Female-Dispersing Groups, Kristin Snopkowski, Cristina Moya, Rebecca Sear

Kristin Snopkowski

Menopause remains an evolutionary puzzle, as humans are unique among primates in having a long post-fertile lifespan. One model proposes that intergenerational conflict in patrilocal populations favours female reproductive cessation. This model predicts that women should experience menopause earlier in groups with an evolutionary history of patrilocality compared with matrilocal groups. Using data from the Indonesia Family Life Survey, we test this model at multiple timescales: deep historical time, comparing age at menopause in ancestrally patrilocal Chinese Indonesians with ancestrally matrilocal Austronesian Indonesians; more recent historical time, comparing age at menopause in ethnic groups with differing postmarital residence within Indonesia …

A Synthetic Biosocial Model Of Fertility Transition: Testing The Relative Contribution Of Embodied Capital Theory, Changing Cultural Norms, And Women's Labor Force Participation, Kristin Snopkowski, Hillard Kaplan

Kristin Snopkowski

This article presents a biosocial model of fertility decline, which integrates ecological-economic and informational-cultural hypotheses of fertility transition in a unified theoretical framework. The model is then applied to empirical data collected among 500 women from San Borja, Bolivia, a population undergoing fertility transition. Using a combination of event history analysis, multiple regression, and structural equation modeling, we examine the pathways by which education responds to birth cohort, parental education and network ties, and how age at first birth and total fertility, in turn, respond to birth cohort, social network ties, education, expectations about parental investment, work, and contraceptive use. …

Father Absence And Reproduction-Related Outcomes In Malaysia, A Transitional Fertility Population, Paula Sheppard, Kristin Snopkowski, Rebecca Sear

Kristin Snopkowski

Father absence is consistently associated with children’s reproductive outcomes in industrialized countries. It has been suggested that father absence acts as a cue to particular environmental conditions that influence life history strategies. Much less is known, however, about the effects of father absence on such outcomes in lower-income countries. Using data from the 1988 Malaysian Family Life Survey (n=567), we tested the effect of father absence on daughters’ age at menarche, first marriage, and first birth; parity progression rates; and desired completed family size in Malaysia, a country undergoing an economic and fertility transition. Father absence during later …

Lines Of Evidence Used To Reconstruct Patterns Of Diet, Nutrition And Disease In Ancient Populations, Margaret Rebecca Sinclair

Margaret R.Sinclair

Researching, analyzing, and reconstructing the diet, nutrition, and diseases of ancient humans is an interdisciplinary field referred to as bioarchaeology. Bioarchaeologists use several methods to reconstruct the lives of ancient humans. Some of these methods are quantitative, such as skeletal and environmental analysis, while other methods are qualitative such as, interpreting archaeological evidence, using texts as historical reference, and comparing contemporary indigenous populations to ancient hunter-gatherers and pastoralist. Each method provides key insights into the lives of ancient people. I will discuss three of these methods, their techniques, and respective limitations. The three methods are: 1) Analyzing skeletal remains; 2) …

Healing To Reverse The Apocalypse, Julianne E. Henderson Ms.

julianne e. henderson ms.

When I presented the medicinal oil to people and explained what we are studying and aiming to do collectively in our class is to address how we would respond in the event of a crisis or if we were to find ourselves in an apocalyptic landscape. It is a given that maintaining a positive, optimistic outlook is likely to aid us in our long-term survival regardless of what level of adversity we face. This project attempts to combine an important skill, which is knowing how to heal oneself naturally with what Nature provides, with the power of our consciousness to …

News And Views: Response To ‘Non-Metric Dental Traits And Hominin Phylogeny’ By Carter Et Al., With Additional Information On The Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System And Phylogenetic ‘Place’ Of Australopithecus Sediba, Joel Irish, Debbie Guatelli-Steinberg, Scott Legge, Darryl De Ruiter, Lee Berger

Scott Legge

No abstract provided.

Incest Taboos And Kinship: A Biological Or A Cultural Story?, Dwight W. Read

Dwight W Read

Evaluation Of The Utility Of Deciduous Molar Morphological Variation In Great Ape Phylogenetic Analysis, Anna M. Hardin, Scott S. Legge

Scott Legge

Non-metric dental traits are well- established tools for anthropologists investigating population affiliation and movement in humans. Nonetheless, similar traits in the great apes have received considerably less attention. The present study provides data on non-metric trait variability in the deciduous molars of great apes from museum context. Twenty-eight traits are observed in the upper and lower deciduous molars in specimens of Pan troglodytes, Pan paniscus, Gorilla gorilla, and Gorilla beringei. These groups are compared based on trait frequencies and mean measures of divergence. This study demonstrates the variability of non-metric traits in the deciduous molars of chimpanzees and gorillas. These …

Getting Your Bell Rung: Analyzing The Concussion Lawsuits Against The National Football League From Former Players, Joshua P. Monroe

Joshua P Monroe

There has been a great and divisive conflict between the National Football League and its former players about head injuries. Former players are claiming negligence by the league in the addressing the issues of head injuries. This paper investigates the argument by both sides in past, present, and possible future litigation, and further explores head injuries. This article explains that the current litigation, while useful, will not succeed because of its obscurity and the presumptions that it makes regarding concussions. This article proposes a new lawsuit that would combine aspects of the Major Tobacco Settlement Agreement of 1998 and the …

Looting Matters. Early Bronze Age Cemeteries Of Jordan’S Southeast Dead Sea Plain In The Past And Present, Morag M. Kersel, Meredith S. Chesson

Morag M. Kersel

No abstract provided.

Delineating Regions With Permeable Boundaries In New Guinea., Terence Hays

Terence Hays

Hays sets out the linkages among communities and societies as they form networks and regions in New Guinea. Hays reminds us of the long standing concern within the recent literature from New Guinea that supports the "primitive isolates" notion that is still with us. The "my people" syndrome still plagues the legions of researchers who seek to study a small distinct population that is largely uncontaminated by outside influences and remains primitive. He paints the picture of this primitive society by describing New Guinea topographically as a land of inaccessible mountain valleys, impenetrable swamps, and remote rain forests which make …

They Are Beginning To Learn The Use Of Tobacco, Terence Hays

Terence Hays

European colonization attracts laborers whose performance was enhanced by their employers through the use of drugs. Tobacco provided Europeans a way to manipulate populations engaged in new work activities in the non-Western world. Hays argues that control of native labor was the result of control of an addictive American commercial product.

Dental Enamel As A Dietary Indicator In Mammals, Peter Lucas, Paul Constantino, Bernard Wood, Brian Lawn

Paul J. Constantino

The considerable variation in shape, size, structure and properties of the enamel cap covering mammalian teeth is a topic of great evolutionary interest. No existing theories explain how such variations might be fit for the purpose of breaking food particles down. Borrowing from engineering materials science, we use principles of fracture and deformation of solids to provide a quantitative account ofhowmammalian enamelmay be adapted to diet. Particular attention is paid to mammals that feed on ‘hard objects’ such as seeds and dry fruits, the outer casings of which appear to have evolved structures with properties similar to those of enamel. …