Holger Schutkowski

Sex determination of fetal and neonate skeletons by means of discriminant analysis

Facing the requirements of refined paleodemographical analyses, the access to the early ontogenetic sex ratio of skeletal populations is an important feature. Using raw data provided byFazekas & Kosa (1978) for a sample of known sex, discriminant functions are derived from hip and thigh bone dimensions that allow an almost unbiased classification of more than 70% of fetal and neonate individuals.

Post-mortem intake of lead in 11th century human bones and teeth studied by milli- and microbeam PIXE and RBS

Pb concentrations in human bone and tooth samples from a 11th century mining community were analysed to study the influence of long-term burial in polluted soils. PIXE and RBS analysis with 20–300 μm proton beams and 300 μm 4He+ beams at the University of Freiburg Van de Graaff laboratory and less than 5 μm at the University of Melbourne Microanalytical Research Centre was performed and strongly increased Pb levels at outer and inner bone and tooth surfaces were found, reaching more than 1000 ppm in some of the bone samples, and decreasing to equilibrium levels in the order of 5–10 ppm in some non-porous inner sections of the analysed bones and teeth.

What you are makes you eat different things-interrelations of diet, status, and sex in the early medieval population of Kirchheim unter Teck, FGR

Trace element data of the adult and immature individuals (n=151) from the early medieval graveyard at Kichheim unter Teck were subjected to cluster analysis. Distinct dietary groups resulted for both age categories that show differential access to animal protein. The assumption that these clusters represent social groups could generally be confirmed by comparison with archaeological data on status-indicating features. The distribution of individuals within the clusters was significantly different for the sexes, thus pointing to the detection of differential nutritional habits and behaviour categories by bone chemical analysis.

Tooth Cementum Annulation for Estimation of Age‐at‐Death in Thermally Altered Remains

Assessment of tooth cementum annulations (TCA) is acknowledged for its potential as a more accurate method for estimating age‐at‐death than conventional macroscopic methods typically employed. Thermal alteration of remains in a forensic context is not uncommon; however, the use of TCA in heat‐treated remains has hitherto received no quantitative assessment of accuracy. This study applies TCA to a sample of modern teeth of known demographics after experimental heat treatment at 600, 800 and 1000°C. Cementum annulations do survive thermal alteration; however, their visibility is dependent on exposure temperature. Physical and chemical changes resulted in TCA being applicable to only 63.3% of samples. An overall correlation to known age of r = 0.522 (p < 0.05) was found, while correlations of r = 0.868 (p < 0.01), r = 0.249, and r = −0.185, were found for 600, 800, and 1000°C subsets, respectively. These results indicate that in teeth exposed to temperatures >600°C, TCA no longer yields accurate enough results to be of use in forensic investigations.

Approaches to the Histological Age Determination of Cremated Human Remains

From the late Bronze Age to the Migration Period cremation of the dead was the prevailing burial custom in middle and northern Europe. Thus, for a time span of about 50–60 generations, cremations are the major biological source for the reconstruction of historic population patterns and development. Proper age determination is one of the prerequisites for demographic reconstruction. The general state of preservation of a cremation (Fig. 1) shows clearly that an application of criteria for a classical morphological age determination, especially for adult individuals, is limited. The bones are highly fragmented, show cracks and are sometimes even deformed or twisted as a result of the combustion.

Decomposition of skeletal remains in desert dry soil A roentgenological study

Bones from an Arabian site dating back to the 2nd millenium BC have been studied for their special decomposition patterns resulting from desert burial conditions. This bone diagenesis was caused by dissolution and recrystallization processes in the mineral matrix. Also extensive secondary mineralisation by formation of CaCO3 could be found. This secondary contamination with carbonate has to be taken in account within biochemical analyses of excavated bones. Despite the extensive diagenetic changes routine histology could be done on the samples by the use of microradiography.

Assessing the application of tooth cementum annulation relative to macroscopic aging techniques in an archeological sample.

The analysis of human skeletal remains is frequently impeded by the lack of adequately preserved morphological markers on which to base age estimation, particularly in archeological contexts. Therefore, histological methods such as tooth cementum annulation analysis can be useful for extracting reliable age estimates from poorly preserved skeletons, if they produce results corresponding to morphologically based, multifactorial assessments. In order to test this presumption, this study compares tooth cementum annulation (TCA) with macroscopic age estimation results incorporating the Brooks-Suchey pubic symphysis and the Buckberry-Chamberlain revised auricular surface methods, as well as Brothwells guidelines for analyzing dental attrition. Undecalcified, polished, and unstained transverse thin sections viewed using standard light microscopy, with decentered phase contrast microscopy in cases of poorly delineated cementum annulations, were used for TCA counts. Age estimates were applied independently on the late medieval archeological Box Lane cemetery assemblage from Pontefract, England, to analyze their measure of correspondence and to assess whether data produced by a single histological technique are comparable to information pooled from multiple morphological age markers. Spearmans rank correlation tests resulted in a significant association between TCA and morphological age estimates. Further studies using larger samples of known age material would help to improve our understanding of TCA age estimation performance relative to macroscopic age assessment as well as continued refinement and standardization of cementum sectioning, which is suggested to impact annulation visibility.

Fatal wounds in a Late Neolithic double inhumation—A probable case of meningitis following trauma

Among a group of seven skeletons from the southern part of Lower Saxony, dating to the Single Grave Culture (ca. 2500BC), was a double inhumation, which showed an unusual burial position for one of the individuals interred. Deviating from the typical squatted position, this male was supine. Having been badly injured by an arrow shot into the back, he suffered from post-traumatic paraplegia and, most probably died from bacterial meningitis caused by the flint tip that penetrated the spinal cord. This infection was also responsible for the burial position, clearly pointing to an opisthotonus, which is indicative of the final stage of bacterial meningitis. The other individual, also male, had an arrow wound and died from the complications of a severe wound to the intestines.

Continuity and Admixture in the Last Five Millennia of Levantine History from Ancient Canaanite and Present-Day Lebanese Genome Sequences

The Canaanites inhabited the Levant region during the Bronze Age and established a culture that became influential in the Near East and beyond. However, the Canaanites, unlike most other ancient Near Easterners of this period, left few surviving textual records and thus their origin and relationship to ancient and present-day populations remain unclear. In this study, we sequenced five whole genomes from ∼3,700-year-old individuals from the city of Sidon, a major Canaanite city-state on the Eastern Mediterranean coast. We also sequenced the genomes of 99 individuals from present-day Lebanon to catalog modern Levantine genetic diversity. We find that a Bronze Age Canaanite-related ancestry was widespread in the region, shared among urban populations inhabiting the coast (Sidon) and inland populations (Jordan) who likely lived in farming societies or were pastoral nomads. This Canaanite-related ancestry derived from mixture between local Neolithic populations and eastern migrants genetically related to Chalcolithic Iranians. We estimate, using linkage-disequilibrium decay patterns, that admixture occurred 6,600–3,550 years ago, coinciding with recorded massive population movements in Mesopotamia during the mid-Holocene. We show that present-day Lebanese derive most of their ancestry from a Canaanite-related population, which therefore implies substantial genetic continuity in the Levant since at least the Bronze Age. In addition, we find Eurasian ancestry in the Lebanese not present in Bronze Age or earlier Levantines. We estimate that this Eurasian ancestry arrived in the Levant around 3,750–2,170 years ago during a period of successive conquests by distant populations.

Zur Möglichkeit der metrischen Geschlechtsdiagnose an der Pars petrosa ossis temporalis

SummaryBased on a sample of petrous bones of known sex (47 ♂ and 47 ♀) discriminant functions were worked out for sexing both uncremated and cremated petrous bones. Classification values were certain to range from 70.2% to 76.6% for uncremated petrosals and from 67.0% to 73.4% for cremated ones. The results do not support the more promising values suggested by Wahl (1981)ZusammenfassungAn einer Serie geschlechtsbekannter Felsenbeine (47 ♂ und 47 ♀) wurden Diskriminanzfunktionen zur Geschlechtsdiagnose an unverbrannten und verbrannten Knochen erstellt. Es konnten dabei Bestimmungssicherheiten von 70,2 bis 76,6% für unverbannte und 67,0 bis 73,4% für verbrannte Felsenbeine erreicht werden. Die Ergebnisse stehen im Gegensatz zu wesentlich günstigeren Werten, die Wahl (1981) mitgeteilt hat.Based on a sample of petrous bones of known sex (47 males and 47 females) discriminant functions were worked out for sexing both uncremated and cremated petrous bones. Classification values were certain to range from 70.2% to 76.6% for uncremated petrosals and from 67.0% to 73.4% for cremated ones. The results do not support the more promising values suggested by Wahl (1981).