Biological and Physical Anthropology Commons^™

A Community Of Care: Patterns Of Pathology And Trauma With A Focus On The Bioarchaeology Of Care At Carrier Mills, Il (10,000 – 1000 Bp), Alecia Schrenk

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Illness and injury are universal human experiences which are endowed with cultural meaning. Bioarchaeology has only recently begun to engage with the socioeconomic impacts of illness, injury, impairment, and healthcare provisioning in the past. This study examines how the Middle Archaic (6000 – 300 BC) and Early Woodland (1000 – 200 BC) hunter-gatherer community of Carrier Mills, Illinois was affected by and managed the socioeconomic burdens of poor health. The data presented in this study used bioarchaeological analyses to reveal patterns of poor health and healthcare provisioning within the Carrier Mills community. Bioarchaeology is ideally situated for such investigations since …

Hippocampal Extracellular Potassium Levels And Formation Of Spatial Memory In Response To Retrodialysis Insulin Administration, Gabrielle Shames

Anthropology

Insulin is the most common treatment for hyperglycemia, such as that caused by type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus. Insulin causes cellular uptake and storage of glucose to maintain homeostasis and also plays important roles in other systems; an important example is regulation of potassium. In the periphery, insulin administration has been shown to increase the cellular uptake of potassium via Na+/K+ ATPase, leading to hypokalemia. Research in our lab and others has shown that insulin is a key regulator of cognitive function and local metabolism within the hippocampus. To date, however, no studies have examined whether insulin acts …

Convergence Of Human And Old World Monkey Gut Microbiomes Demonstrates The Importance Of Human Ecology Over Phylogeny, Katherine R. Amato, Elizabeth K. Mallott, Daniel Mcdonald, Nathaniel J. Dominy, Tony Goldberg, Joanna E. Lambert, Larissa Swedell, Jessica L. Metcalf, Andres Gomez, Gillian A. O. Britton, Rebecca M. Stumpf, Steven R. Leigh, Rob Knight

Publications and Research

Background

Comparative data from non-human primates provide insight into the processes that shaped the evolution of the human gut microbiome and highlight microbiome traits that differentiate humans from other primates. Here, in an effort to improve our understanding of the human microbiome, we compare gut microbiome composition and functional potential in 14 populations of humans from ten nations and 18 species of wild, non-human primates.

Results

Contrary to expectations from host phylogenetics, we find that human gut microbiome composition and functional potential are more similar to those of cercopithecines, a subfamily of Old World monkey, particularly baboons, than to those …

Death On The Horizon: Osteoethnography Of The People Of Akhetaten, Alissa Michelle Bandy

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to define and implement osteoethnography. Osteoethnography is the analysis and description of an ancient culture through the bioarchaeological and archaeological evidence, utilizing cultural anthropological theories and techniques. An osteoethnographic narrative is presented in this dissertation, which describes the embodied lives of the people of the 18th Dynasty Egyptian city of Akhetaten, now known as Amarna, founded in 1355 B.C.E. by the Pharaoh Akhenaten. Osteoethnography looks at how people are shaped by and shape their environment, how culture impacts health, and how culture informs the lives of its practioners. Osteoethnography employs life course theory, and …

Estimating Body Mass Through Bone Mineral Density Studies Using Dexa (Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry), Kaitlin Harstine

Master's Theses

Identification of a decedent is one of the primary goals of forensic anthropologists. In order to do this, one must build a biological profile based on the remains that are provided. Sex, age, ancestry, and stature are four of the most common, however a fifth addition piece of information that could be beneficial is body mass. The goal of this research is to explore the relationship between bone mineral density (BMD) and body mass, using data collected from dual x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scans of 107 collegiate football athletes. Athletes are a good fit for this study because they have achieved …

Small Group Learning Is Associated With Reduced Salivary Cortisol And Testosterone In Undergraduate Students, Kristin Snopkowski, Kathryn Demps, Ross Griffiths, Karen S. Fulk, Scott May, Kimberly Neagle, Kayla Downs, Michaela Eugster, Tessa Amend

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Small group learning activities have been shown to improve student academic performance and educational outcomes. Yet, we have an imperfect understanding of the mechanisms by which this occurs. Group learning may mediate student stress by placing learning in a context where students have both social support and greater control over their learning. We hypothesize that one of the methods by which small group activities improve learning is by mitigating student stress. To test this, we collected physiological measures of stress and self-reported perceived stress from 26 students in two undergraduate classes. Salivary cortisol and testosterone were measured within students across …

The Realities Of Fieldwork: Embedding Professional Practice - A Case Study From Palaeoanthropology, Kris Kovarovic

Journal of Archaeology and Education

Programs in palaeoanthropology (the study of human evolution) do not often provide professional fieldwork training. Palaeoanthropology students are thus at risk of being unaware of the professional practices and responsibilities that come with a career in this subject area. Here I describe palaeoanthropology in the context of aligned field sciences, and make the case for requiring pre-fieldwork preparation through the implementation and evaluation of a seminar focusing on professional practice in palaeoanthropological fieldwork. The seminar was delivered to a small cohort of Masters of Science students at Durham University, UK. I qualitatively evaluate the seminar via semi-structured interviews, exploring how …

Hematogenous Osteomyelitis In Juveniles: An Examination Of Pathophysiology And Variation In Occurrence In The Archaeological Record And Contemporarily

Symposium of Student Scholars

Osteomyelitis is a general term for a group of diseases that cause inflammation of the bone. In most cases, the cause is infectious agents entering the bloodstream from other infected areas, especially traumatic or surgical wounds (hematogenous osteomyelitis). The main causative agents are Staphylococcus aureus (staph) and Streptococcus (strep). Other causes of osteomyelitis include indirect infection from soft tissue infections or sepsis (Ortner 2003, 181). Although osteomyelitis can occur at any age, hematogenous osteomyelitis is especially prevalent among juveniles. The location of occurrence is related to the timing of development of the growth plates, as well as the vascular supply …

Archery's Lasting Mark: A Biomechanical Analysis Of Archery, Tabitha Dorshorst

Masters Theses

The physical demands of archery involve strenuous movements that place repetitive mechanical loads on the upper body. Given that bone remodels in response to mechanical loading (Ruff, 2008), it is reasonable to assume that repetitive bow and arrow use impacts upper limb bone morphology in predictable ways. The introduction and increased use of archery have been suggested to impact bilateral humeral asymmetry (Rhodes and Knüsel, 2005; Thomas, 2014). However, this claim is yet to be tested in vivo. This project aims to use kinematic and electromyographic approaches to validate claims inferring that, 1. archery places mechanical loading on the non-dominant …

From The Human To The Planetary: Speculative Futures Of Care, Miriam Ticktin

Publications and Research

This is largely a theoretical, speculative essay that takes on the question of what ‘care’ looks like at a moment when climate change is increasingly taking center stage in public and political discussions. Starting with two new practices, namely, humanitarian care for nonhumans and One Health collaborations, I seek to determine what forms of political care can incorporate the well-being of future generations and future iterations of the earth. After an exploration of One Health as an approach to planetary care, I ask what its parts enable us to think, despite its limitations; I focus on the new human-nonhuman assemblages …

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

Michael Blakey

No abstract provided.

Sex, Energy, Well-Being And Low Testosterone: An Exploratory Survey Of U.S. Men’S Experiences On Prescription Testosterone, Alex A. Straftis, Peter B. Gray

Anthropology Faculty Research

Prescription testosterone sales in the United States have skyrocketed in the last two decades due to an aging population, direct-to-consumer advertising, and prescriber views of the benefits and risks to testosterone, among other factors. However, few studies have attempted to directly examine patient experiences on prescription testosterone therapy. The present exploratory study involved an online self-report survey of U.S. testosterone patients who were at least 21 years of age. The primary focus was on patient perspectives concerning motivations leading to the initiation of testosterone therapy and the perceived effects of treatment. Responses to open-ended questions drew upon a coding scheme …

Nutritional Assessment Of Oraons Of West Bengal: A Comparison Between Biochemical And Anthropometric Methods, Ankita Bhattacharya, Shankarashis Mukherjee, Subrata Kumar Roy

Journal Articles

Comprehensive nutritional assessment is the basis of nutritional diagnosis and necessary to identify the individual or the population at a risk of dietary deficiencies. However, there is no specific and confirmatory method to measure nutritional status. Present study tried to find out the efficacy of two nutritional assessment method (1) biochemical test like Total serum protein (TSP) and (2) anthropological measurements like body mass index (BMI) and mid-upper-arm-circumference (MUAC). Later, three methods were tested and compared for the strength of assessing the nutritional status. Study was conducted among 198 adult Oraon, 84 male, 114 female individuals of Madarihat and Falakata …

Oldowan Tool Behaviors Through Time On The Homa Peninsula, Kenya, Emma M. Finestone

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The adaptive significance of tool use to genus Homo is a central theme in human origins. However, what we know from the early Oldowan sites suggests that persistent technology may have begun as an opportunistic behavior with minimal investment, rather than a habitual and widespread adaptive revolution. This dissertation seeks to investigate investment in Oldowan tool production on the Homa Peninsula, Kenya, considering raw material selection, transport, and lithic production at two newly discovered Oldowan localities: Nyayanga (ca. 2.6 Ma) and Sare River (ca. 1.7 Ma).

The first section of this dissertation outlines a method that enables the comparison of …

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 …

Getting Better All The Time: Re-Evaluating Macroscopic Dental Age Estimation Standards In Egypt, Casey Kirkpatrick

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation investigates the use of dental anthropological methods for estimating chronological age-at-death in ancient Egypt, and determines whether these methods can be improved. Tooth calcification, emergence and eruption standards are time honoured in their ability to accurately age subadults though they are compromised by the fact that populations and the sexes vary in their developmental timing. Determining sex in subadults, particularly in the infant and child cohorts, in all populations is not possible, though advances in ancient DNA methods hold promise. This dissertation provides a feasible and ethical model for developing a sex-and region-specific standard for age estimation of …

Childhood Stress At Rinconada Alta (Ad 1470-1532): An Examination Of Linear Hypoplastic Enamel Defects On The Central Coast Of Peru, Jessica Lacerte

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This MA thesis investigates non-specific childhood stress at Rinconada Alta through the analysis of linear enamel hypoplastic defects (LEH). Dental casts were taken from a sample of teeth from predominantly Inca-period, Yschma remains (with some admixture of the Late Intermediate period burials). The sample consists of 10 adult females, 11 adult males, and 5 adolescents of indeterminate sex with fully occluded adult teeth (with the exception of the third molars). This thesis employs Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), which increases the visibility of linear defects, to determine the frequency, age, and duration at which metabolic disruption affected enamel growth of the …

Computed Tomography Shows High Fracture Prevalence Among Physically Active Forager-Horticulturalists With High Fertility, Jonathan Stieglitz, Benjamin C. Trumble, Horus Study Team, Caleb E. Finch, Dong Li, Matthew J. Budoff, Hillard Kaplan, Michael D. Gurven

ESI Publications

Modern humans have more fragile skeletons than other hominins, which may result from physical inactivity. Here, we test whether reproductive effort also compromises bone strength, by measuring using computed tomography thoracic vertebral bone mineral density (BMD) and fracture prevalence among physically active Tsimane forager-horticulturalists. Earlier onset of reproduction and shorter interbirth intervals are associated with reduced BMD for women. Tsimane BMD is lower versus Americans, but only for women, contrary to simple predictions relying on inactivity to explain skeletal fragility. Minimal BMD differences exist between Tsimane and American men, suggesting that systemic factors other than fertility (e.g. diet) do not …

Comparison Of Play Frequency In Four Sympatric Monkey Species In Kibale National Park, Uganda, Sara G. Lucci

Theses and Dissertations

This study describes play in red colobus (Procolobus rufomitratus), grey-cheeked mangabeys (Lophocebus albigena), black-and-white colobus (Colobus guereza), and redtail monkeys (Cercopithecus ascanius) to test Instinct-Practice Theory. Solitary locomotor play was different among the species. Rough-and-tumble play was different between male and female redtail monkeys. These results partially support Instinct-Practice Theory.

The Dynamics Of Men's Cooperation And Social Status In A Small-Scale Society, Christopher Von Rueden, Daniel Redhead, Rick O'Gorman, Hillard Kaplan, Michael Gurven

ESI Publications

We propose that networks of cooperation and allocation of social status co-emerge in human groups. We substantiate this hypothesis with one of the first longitudinal studies of cooperation in a preindustrial society, spanning 8 years. Using longitudinal social network analysis of cooperation among men, we find large effects of kinship, reciprocity and transitivity in the nomination of cooperation partners over time. Independent of these effects, we show that (i) higher-status individuals gain more cooperation partners, and (ii) individuals gain status by cooperating with individuals of higher status than themselves. We posit that human hierarchies are more egalitarian relative to other …

That Other Form Of Madness: A Multidisciplinary Study Of Infectious Disease Within The Milwaukee County Poor Farm Cemetery, Helen Marie Werner

Theses and Dissertations

Between the years of 1882 and 1925, the Milwaukee County Poor Farm buried several

thousand members of Milwaukee’s indigent population in what would later be designated

Cemetery II. In 1991 and early 1992, after discovery of the cemetery during construction of parts

of the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center, 1,649 burials were excavated. The graves had long

been abandoned and the headstones bulldozed, leaving a register of burials without any obvious

way of associating each individual with their identity. A copy of the register is curated at the

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Archaeological Research Laboratory. The Milwaukee

County Poor Farm was a …

How Extrinsic Mortality Affects Age At Menarche And Fertility In A 1970 British Cohort, Kimberly Marie Neagle

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Extrinsic mortality is the likelihood of mortality that is not conditional on reproductive effort. It does not depend on a person’s behavior and cannot be changed by altering behavior. Theoretically, extrinsic mortality plays a major role in the evolution of life history and the variation in reproductive strategies. Using life history theory as a framework, with higher extrinsic mortality cues women should speed up reproduction to maximize fitness in uncertain or risky environments, and in environments with little risk, women can allocate their energy to somatic development and in this time, accrue resources such as education and career opportunities. Thus, …

The Archaeology Of Mississippian Vulnerability And Resilience In The New Madrid Seismic Zone, Michelle Megan Rathgaber

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This work examines the vulnerability and resilience of Mississippian people in the Central Mississippi Valley to the large-scale New Madrid seismic zone earthquakes of the late15th to early 16th century. This is done using the theory of eventful archaeology/anthropology to look at cultural materials both before and after an event (such as an earthquake and sand blows) to look for evidence of changes to the schema and resources on which a society relies. If changes are present, the event can be labeled as such, if there are no changes, it means that the society affected did not see the event …

An Early Modern Human Outside Africa, Eric Delson

Publications and Research

Analysis of two fossils from a Greek cave has shed light on early hominins in Eurasia. One fossil is the earliest known specimen of Homo sapiens found outside Africa; the other is a Neanderthal who lived 40,000 years later.

Anatomage Table 6, Melanie A. Allen, Niki Kirkpatrick, Elizabeth R. Agosto

UT Libraries Faculty: Peer-Reviewed Publications

Anatomage Table 6, which launched in the fall of 2018, is the latest software for users of the Anatomage Virtual Dissection Table. Anatomage Table 6 comprises numerous virtual anatomy dissection and study tools for use by anatomy students and instructors. This review provides an overview and assessment of Anatomage Table 6’s primary tools and advanced navigation features.

Kinship Ties Across The Lifespan In Human Communities, Jeremy Koster, Dieter Lukas, David Nolin, Eleanor Power, Alexandra Alvergne, Ruth Mace, Cody T. Ross, Karen Kramer, Russell Graves, Mark Caudell, Shane Macfarlan, Eric Schniter, Robert Quinlan, Siobhan Mattison, Adam Reynolds, Chun Yi-Sim, Eric Massengill

ESI Publications

A hypothesis for the evolution of long post-reproductive lifespans in the human lineage involves asymmetries in relatedness between young immigrant females and the older females in their new groups. In these circumstances, inter-generational reproductive conflicts between younger and older females are predicted to resolve in favor of the younger females, who realize fewer inclusive fitness benefits from ceding reproduction to others. This conceptual model anticipates that immigrants to a community initially have few kin ties to others in the group, gradually showing greater relatedness to group members as they have descendants who remain with them in the group. We examine …

Probability, Populations, Phylogenetics And Hominin Speciation, Niccolo Caldararo

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

A number of recent articles have appeared on the hominin Denisova fossil remains. Many of them focus on attempts to produce DNA sequences from the extracted samples. Often these project mtDNA sequences from the fossil remains of a number of Neandertal fossils and the Denisovans in an attempt to understand the evolution of Mid Pleistocene human ancestors. These papers, introduce a number of problems in the interpretation of speciation in hominins. One concerns the degradation of the ancient DNA and its interpretation as authentic genetic information. Another concerns the idea of “species” versus that of “population” and the use of …

A Geospatial Recipe For Identifying Social Values And Fragmentation Issues Of The Friends Of The Dunes Land Trust, Buddhika Madurapperuma, Jess Barger, Melissa Collin, Christine Emerson, Sean Fleming, Brian Murphy

Humboldt Journal of Social Relations

The beach and coastal sand dunes comprise a dynamic and fragile ecosystem that provides a bounty of ecological services. These lands provide protection from coastal erosion and sea level rise, and are home to a rich biodiversity of plant and animal species in addition to their recreational value. The Humboldt Coastal Nature Center and the surrounding coastal dunes (HCNC) are man-aged as a land trust by Friends of the Dunes (FOD). FOD prioritize the restoration of dune habitats and encourages public involvement through community supported education and stewardship programs, guided nature tours, and naturalist training programs. The faculty, students, and …