Mirjana Roksandic

Greater sciatic notch as a sex indicator in juveniles.

Using Schutkowskis method for juvenile sex determination (Schutkowski H. 1993. Am J Phys Anthropol 90:199-205), we evaluated the morphology of the greater sciatic notch of 56 ilia (23 females and 33 males) from a documented skeletal collection housed at the Bocage Museum in Lisbon (Portugal). After applying Schutkowskis original methodology and comparing the results with previous studies, we used age-adjusted metrical variables to describe greater sciatic notch depth, breadth, and angle. Although results of both morphological and metrical analyses did not reveal a statistically significant level of sexual analyses dimorphism, we found a strong correlation between pelvic morphology and age at death. On the basis of the obtained results, we argue that Schutkowskis morphological method does not predict sex accurately in all populations and that recorded correlation of iliac features with age needs to be further explored in the context of the ontogeny of sexual dimorphism.

Using the life history model to set the stage(s) of growth and senescence in bioarchaeology and paleodemography

Paleodemography, the study of demographic parameters of past human populations, relies on assumptions including biological uniformitarianism, stationary populations, and the ability to determine point age estimates from skeletal material. These assumptions have been widely criticized in the literature and various solutions have been proposed. The majority of these solutions rely on statistical modeling, and have not seen widespread application. Most bioarchaeologists recognize that our ability to assess chronological age is inherently limited, and have instead resorted to large, qualitative, age categories. However, there has been little attempt in the literature to systematize and define the stages of development and ageing used in bioarchaeology. We propose that stages should be based in the human life history pattern, and their skeletal markers should have easily defined and clear endpoints. In addition to a standard five-stage developmental model based on the human life history pattern, current among human biologists, we suggest divisions within the adult stage that recognize the specific nature of skeletal samples. We therefore propose the following eight stages recognizable in human skeletal development and senescence: infancy, early childhood, late childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, full adulthood, mature adulthood, and senile adulthood. Striving toward a better prediction of chronological ages will remain important and could eventually help us understand to what extent past societies differed in the timing of these life stages. Furthermore, paleodemographers should try to develop methods that rely on the type of age information accessible from the skeletal material, which uses life stages, rather than point age estimates.

New radiometric ages for the bh-1 hominin from Balanica (Serbia): implications for understanding the role of the Balkans in Middle Pleistocene human evolution

Newly obtained ages, based on electron spin resonance combined with uranium series isotopic analysis, and infrared/post-infrared luminescence dating, provide a minimum age that lies between 397 and 525 ka for the hominin mandible BH-1 from Mala Balanica cave, Serbia. This confirms it as the easternmost hominin specimen in Europe dated to the Middle Pleistocene. Inferences drawn from the morphology of the mandible BH-1 place it outside currently observed variation of European Homo heidelbergensis. The lack of derived Neandertal traits in BH-1 and its contemporary specimens in Southeast Europe, such as Kocabaş, Vasogliano and Ceprano, coupled with Middle Pleistocene synapomorphies, suggests different evolutionary forces acting in the east of the continent where isolation did not play such an important role during glaciations.

Technical note: Applicability of tooth cementum annulation to an archaeological population.

The use of tooth cementum annulations for age determination has been deemed promising, exhibiting high correlations with chronological age. Despite its apparent potential, to date, the tooth cementum annulations method has been used rarely for estimating ages in archaeological populations. Here we examine the readability of cementum annulations and the consistency of age estimates using a sample of 116 adults from the Iron Gates Gorge Mesolithic/Neolithic series. Our examination of the method pointed to several sources of error that call into question the use of this method for estimating the chronological ages of archaeologically derived dental samples. The poor performance of the method in our analysis might be explained by taphonomic influences, including the effect of chemical and biological agents on dental microstructures.

The Role of the Central Balkans in the Peopling of Europe: Paleoanthropological Evidence

The paucity of fossil human remains from the Central Balkans represents a very serious lacuna in our understanding of human evolution in the Pleistocene of Europe, which is—as a result—strongly influenced by the material from the better researched parts of the continent further to the west of the Balkans. The scant fossil record from the Central Balkans suffers from a lack of archaeological/geological context, and with the exception of the Balanica hominin (BH-1) has no associated chronological data. In this chapter, I present all of the purported Pleistocene specimens currently known from the area and discuss their possible affinities.

Adolescent health in medieval Serbia: signs of infectious diseases and risk of trauma.

Although pattern of health in adults has been frequently assessed in past human populations, health status of adolescents as a distinct life stage has usually been overlooked. Inconsistency in number and meaning of recognised age categories in anthropological literature, as well as chronological age ranges used to define them, further complicate the interpretation of adolescent health. In this study, we analysed signs of pathological conditions on skeletal remains of 81 adolescents from a medieval site of Stara Torina (northern Serbia). Diagnostic palaeopathological procedures comprised gross examination, digital radiography, and histological analysis. Skeletal signs of anaemia such as cribra orbitalia and other porotic phenomena as well as signs of non-specific bone infection were observed frequently, while evidence of bone trauma was recorded in a very low percentage of individuals. In addition, we recorded two conditions relatively rarely observed in palaeopathological contexts: a case of skull and vertebral asymmetry indicative of congenital muscular torticollis, and a case of a fibrous cortical defect on distal femur. Comparison with available information from other medieval adolescent samples from Serbia demonstrated that while mortality was relatively constant throughout the sample, Stara Torina showed a much higher occurrence of bone disease. Characteristics of observed skeletal conditions, supported by available historical reports, suggest that the health of medieval adolescents in the examined population was most significantly affected by infectious processes.

Isotopic reconstruction of the weaning process in the archaeological population of Canímar Abajo, Cuba: A Bayesian probability mixing model approach

The general lack of well-preserved juvenile skeletal remains from Caribbean archaeological sites has, in the past, prevented evaluations of juvenile dietary changes. Canímar Abajo (Cuba), with a large number of well-preserved juvenile and adult skeletal remains, provided a unique opportunity to fully assess juvenile paleodiets from an ancient Caribbean population. Ages for the start and the end of weaning and possible food sources used for weaning were inferred by combining the results of two Bayesian probability models that help to reduce some of the uncertainties inherent to bone collagen isotope based paleodiet reconstructions. Bone collagen (31 juveniles, 18 adult females) was used for carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses. The isotope results were assessed using two Bayesian probability models: Weaning Ages Reconstruction with Nitrogen isotopes and Stable Isotope Analyses in R. Breast milk seems to have been the most important protein source until two years of age with some supplementary food such as tropical fruits and root cultigens likely introduced earlier. After two, juvenile diets were likely continuously supplemented by starch rich foods such as root cultigens and legumes. By the age of three, the model results suggest that the weaning process was completed. Additional indications suggest that animal marine/riverine protein and maize, while part of the Canímar Abajo female diets, were likely not used to supplement juvenile diets. The combined use of both models here provided a more complete assessment of the weaning process for an ancient Caribbean population, indicating not only the start and end ages of weaning but also the relative importance of different food sources for different age juveniles.

Paleoanthropology of the Balkans and Anatolia

Greece lies at the crossroads between Europe, Asia, and Africa, and represents a logical gateway through which early human populations might have repeatedly passed on the way to and from Europe. It also represents one of the three European Mediterranean peninsulas which acted as a refugium for fauna, flora and, very likely, human populations during glacial times. Evidence from this region is therefore essential in order to test hypotheses about the course of human evolution in Europe. Despite the importance of the region, paleoanthropological research has until recently been relatively neglected. In recent years, however, renewed research efforts have produced new human fossils from Greece, recovered from excavated contexts. This chapter reviews the Greek human fossil evidence in the context of broader questions in European paleoanthropology.

Radiocarbon and Stratigraphic Chronology of Canímar Abajo, Matanzas, Cuba

Twelve accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dates from the shell-matrix site of Canimar Abajo (Matanzas, Cuba) are reported. Eleven were obtained directly from human bone collagen in burials and one was obtained from charcoal recovered from a burial context. The site stratigraphy presents two episodes of burial activity separated by a shell midden layer. The AMS dates fall into two compact clusters that correlate remarkably well with the stratigraphy. The older burial dates to between 1380–800 cal BC (2σ) and the younger one to between cal AD 360–950 (2σ). The AMS dates are compared to eight conventional 14 C dates previously obtained on shell and charcoal. One of the conventional dates on charcoal (5480–5380 cal BC; 2σ) has been reported as the oldest 14 C date in the Caribbean region; its context and reliability are clarified. The suite of AMS dates provides one of the most reliable chronometric dating of a cultural context during this timeframe in Cuba. The correlation of 14 C and stratigraphy establishes a solid chronology for investigating the important economic and ritual features of Canimar Abajo. DOI: 10.2458/azu_rc.57.18313

Spina bifida in a pre-Columbian Cuban population: A paleoepidemiological study of genetic and dietary risk factors ☆

A holistic approach is necessary to investigate health in archeological populations. Molecular techniques, particularly multiplex PCR and SNaPshot minisequencing, can be combined with paleopathology and dietary analysis (stable isotope, starch, zooarchaeological analyses) to understand aspects of population health. This article demonstrates how spina bifida, a multi-factorial disease characterized by the midline failure to complete vertebral neural arch formation, can be investigated holistically. Based on skeletal evidence, this disease was prevalent in a pre-Columbian Cuban population from the archeological site of Canimar Abajo (3000-1250 BP). Molecular paleopathological techniques were employed to examine disease potential in this preliminary study, examining 18 individuals (including two individuals with evidence of mild spina bifida, and 16 without such evidence) for four single nucleotide polymorphisms and one insertion sequence associated with spina bifida. The combined effect of these polymorphisms, as well as dietary factors, determines the risk of the population for spina bifida, and these factors united to create the observed high disease prevalence. We demonstrate how molecular paleopathology, corroborated by dietary analyses, can be used within a paleoepidemiological framework to understand population health and disease.