Joanna Sofaer

Human ontogeny and material change at the bronze age tell of Százhalombatta, Hungary

This article explores the relationship between human ontogeny — how people become who they are — and material change at the Bronze Age tell of Szazhalombatta, Hungary. Shifts in domestic material culture and in the use of domestic space in houses imply altered developmental experiences for people living on the tell from the Early to Middle Bronze Age. These changes produced qualitatively different kinds of people at different points in time.

Touching the Body: The Living and the Dead in Osteoarchaeology and the Performance Art of Marina Abramović

Osteoarchaeology and arts practice are two disciplines that work with the human skeleton. In both cases, this interest arises from curiosity regarding the materiality of the body. In the process of coming to understand that materiality, both disciplines create relationships between living and dead bodies through touch. This paper examines the interaction between different kinds of bodies – the living and the dead, the fleshed and the skeletal – in osteoarchaeology and in the performance art of pioneering artist Marina Abramović. The ways that osteoarchaeologists and performance artist engage and enrol the physicality of skeletal bodies present different kinds of possibilities and potentials for inter-corporeal relationships than those arising between living bodies. Although osteoarchaeology is frequently understood as a branch of science, the inter-corporeality created by touching the body in osteoarchaeological practice does not sit easily within conventional descriptions of scientific method. The performance art of Marina Abramović offers a provocative challenge to conventional ways of thinking about the nature of osteoarchaeological practice by explicitly valuing the importance of touch as a way of understanding the human body.

Creativity in the Bronze Age: understanding innovation in pottery, textile and metalwork production

Creativity has been an integral part of human history, yet most studies focus on the modern era, leaving unresolved questions about the formative role that creativity as played in the past. This book explores the fundamental nature of creativity in a critical period of human history, the European Bronze Age. Considering developments in crafts that we take for granted today, such as pottery, textiles, and metalwork, the volume compares and contrasts developments in various media, from the construction of the materials themselves, through the production process, to the design and effects deployed in finished objects. It explores how creativity is closely related to changes in material culture, how it directs responses to the new and unfamiliar, and how it has resulted in changes to familiar things and practices. Written by an international team of scholars, the case studies in this volume consider wider issues and provide detailed insights into creative solutions found in specific objects.

Creativity in middle and late bronze age bird-shaped and bird-ornamented ceramic objects in the carpathian basin and the lower Danube region

Bird imagery is one of the most striking themes explored by Bronze Age potters in many parts of Europe, not least along the middle and the lower reaches of the Danube in the Carpathian Basin and Central Balkans. While the ideas and the symbolism at the root of this widespread manifestation were broadly shared and had their origin in the Bronze Age belief system, the way in which bird imagery was expressed in clay was highly variable. These variations offer an opportunity to explore the creative processes behind bird-shaped and bird-ornamented objects.

Anglo-Saxon concepts of dis/ability: placing disease at Great Chesterford in its wider context

Within Anglo-Saxon society , individuals obtained their status on the basis of their ability to undertake required and prescribed social roles . People experiencing impairment, be that as a result of disease or some other process including trauma or pregnancy, might thus have reduced ability to undertake socially required activities. These people would have been highly visible within contemporary society by their very inability to undertake all required roles. These ideas are explored using a cluster of inhumations from the early Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Great Chesterford. Cemetery topography, visibility of difference, liminality , and etiology are explored in order to suggest the importance of the development of a sample-based approach to osteobiography. These might then be used to establish local understandings of disability, whereby individuals are viewed as people with focus placed on ability.

Skeletons in dusty boxes: the use of dry skeletal samples in medical and osteoarcheological research and teaching

Skeletal material is commonly used for teaching anatomy. However, these collections are rarely used for primary research, despite their potential for student projects or more detailed anatomical investigations. Although the undocumented nature of the specimens can arguably limit study, archeologists characteristically deal with unknown skeletal material. Many methods exist to estimate age, sex, and ethnicity that could enable research. Accordingly, 94 skeletal individuals from Southampton University’s Anatomy department were assessed to determine the usability of methods routinely used in archeology. Age was estimated from degenerative joint changes and dental wear. Sexually dimorphic regions of the skull and pelvis were examined. Ethnicity was identified through craniometrics and CRANID software. As skeletons were complete, aging and sexing methods were easily applied: 95% of individuals were sexed confidently. Although all individuals were aged, often only wide estimates were produced (e.g., 21–45 years). Ethnicity however was problematic and produced less usable results. Ancestry was not determined for 19 skulls. CRANID therefore requires extremely accurate cranial measurements by a practiced researcher. This study demonstrates that archeological methods benefit anatomical research but should be selected with limitations considered. Additionally, anatomical collections are valuable teaching and research resources to osteoarcheologists who are normally limited to fragmented remains.

Assessing the risk of middle meningeal artery damage in pterional craniotomy: An anatomical appraisal using an adult dry skull population

Skeletal material is commonly used for teaching anatomy. However, these collections are rarely used for primary research, despite their potential for student projects or more detailed anatomical investigations. Although the undocumented nature of the specimens can arguably limit study, archeologists characteristically deal with unknown skeletal material. Many methods exist to estimate age, sex, and ethnicity that could enable research. Accordingly, 94 skeletal individuals from Southampton University’s Anatomy department were assessed to determine the usability of methods routinely used in archeology. Age was estimated from degenerative joint changes and dental wear. Sexually dimorphic regions of the skull and pelvis were examined. Ethnicity was identified through craniometrics and CRANID software. As skeletons were complete, aging and sexing methods were easily applied: 95% of individuals were sexed confidently. Although all individuals were aged, often only wide estimates were produced (e.g., 21–45 years). Ethnicity however was problematic and produced less usable results. Ancestry was not determined for 19 skulls. CRANID therefore requires extremely accurate cranial measurements by a practiced researcher. This study demonstrates that archeological methods benefit anatomical research but should be selected with limitations considered. Additionally, anatomical collections are valuable teaching and research resources to osteoarcheologists who are normally limited to fragmented remains.