Bioarchaeolog: Archaeological Study Via the Biological Perspective

Journal of Archaeological Science, 1999

This paper presents a comparison of the isotopic values of 23 pairings of hair keratin and bone collagen taken from archaeological humans excavated in the U.K. with the aim of examining whether modern human isotopic data can be directly compared with archaeological isotopic data. The mean differences between bone collagen and hair keratin isotopic values are in the range of 0-1‰ in 13 C and 0-2‰ in 15 N, but with a high degree of variability, making it impossible to quantify the isotopic relationship between collagen and keratin. However, a lack of information about the individuals analysed suggests that such a comparison may not be the ideal method of comparing the two tissues.

2022

Bioarcheology (osteoarchaeology) is a study that configures all possible reconstructions and interpretations with examples drawn from ancient and historical human remains in an archaeological context. Bioarcheology, a field of science within anthropology, derives its scientific methods and theories from archeology, biological anthropology, and cultural anthropology, practicing anthropology. In addition, fields such as medicine, forensics, anatomy, epidemiology, nutrition, geosciences, and demography also have a crucial impact on bioarchaeologists in order to deduce scientific and logical conclusions. This multidisciplinary strategy facilitates more reliable assessment and interpretation of osteological data, and osteological data intensify the research of bioarchaeologists. The purpose of this essay is to explore the bioarchaeological methods for reconstructing ancient human life. The main principle of bioarchaeological research is the expansion of the worldview of the past with the analysis of archeological records.

Background: Archaeological bones contain only small amounts of DNA due to post-mortem DNA degradation and the changes endogenous DNA is subjected to during diagenesis. An important step before undertaking such time-consuming and costly analyses as ancient DNA investigation is to predict the presence of DNA in ancient samples. To date, the leading screening method has been amino acid racemization; however, other analytical techniques can also be used to assess the degree of bone preservation. Aim: The aim of the present study was to relate the presence of DNA with bone preservation in order to select samples potentially suitable for ancient DNA analysis. Subjects and methods: Bones collected from several archaeological sites, different locations (cave, rockshelter or sub divo) and diachronic periods were selected for analytical and spectroscopic analysis in order to correlate bone tissue preservation with the presence of DNA. Different techniques were combined to assess the degree of preservation of organic and inorganic components. Results: As determined by different analytical methods, preservation of the inorganic component was best associated with the presence of DNA. Conclusion: Evaluation of the bone preservation state may be an efficient step to predict the presence of DNA in ancient samples prior to aDNA analysis.

Dental Historian, 2015

What can the study of ancient teeth tell us about the lifestyle and dietary habits of our ancestors? Dental palaeopathology is particularly important as it can provide direct evidence of the type of diet an individual consumed during life. An analysis of the angle of tooth wear evident on the crown of the tooth can help to distinguish between early hunter-gatherers and later agriculturists, whilst microwear features on the occlusal surface can help to discern subtle dietary shifts. The distributions of stable isotopes in food webs make it possible to use them to reconstruct ancient diets as well as tracing the geographic origins and migrations of peoples. Plant microfossils have been isolated from calculus which can be identified using light microscopy. Teeth are particularly useful in ancient DNA studies due to the excellent preservation of biomaterials within the enamel shell of the tooth.

Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa, 2008

ArchaeoAnalytics - Chromatography and DNA analysis in archaeology

The study on archaeological evidence has evolved over the years and it is noticeable the major advances on the identification of organic products associated to archaeological artefacts, mainly ceramic vessels. This is a poorly divulged theme, traditionally supported by classical sources that sometimes specify the contents of some objects, namely of amphorae. One of the ways found to gather more information has been the association with other scientific areas, as chemistry and biology and with the help of these sciences, the trace remains conserved in archaeological artefacts have been identified. These themes have been approached by several research teams throughout the last few years. Unfortunately, until very recently in Portugal little work has been done on these fields, making almost impossible the recollection and analysis of this type of data by archaeologists. The idea of publishing this book arose during the ArchaeoAnalytics meeting that took place in Esposende in September 2014, where both foreign and Portuguese researchers have joint to publicize and divulge these work methods ina archaeology. This book collects the contribution of different researchers that have attended the meeting and presented the major breakthroughs made by the collective projects they have been involved in. The research works here presented are grouped in three main themes. The first group gathers contributions mainly focused on General Problematics and Results, while the second and third parts are directed to Case Studies. More specifically, the second part consists of papers engaged on the use of Chromatographic Techniques in Archaeological Studies, whereas on the third part are collected research works on DNA and Archaeozoological Studies in Archaeology. Esposende, Novembro 2015 César Oliveira Rui Morais Ángel Morillo Cerdán

Archaeological discovery, 2023

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2003

Isotopic analysis of bones and teeth is now routinely used for dating skeletons and archaeological sites, and for diet, climate, and habitat reconstruction. Techniques of radiocarbon dating of bones and teeth developed by Harold Krueger and others during the 1960s laid the groundwork for subsequent research on stable carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and strontium isotope analysis. We first review salient points in the history of research in bone isotope biogeochemistry, focusing on KruegerÕs contributions. We then discuss the significance of contributions to this volume of the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology for the current state of research in dietary and environmental reconstruction in archaeology, bioarchaeology, and paleoanthropology. All papers in this volume include isotopic analysis of the carbonate phase of bone and/or tooth enamel apatite for dietary and/or environmental reconstruction. Harold Krueger was instrumental in developing methods of apatite purification for removing diagenetic phases, isotopic analysis, and interpretive models of paleodiets. Apatite isotopic analysis is now an important area of bone biogeochemistry research that provides powerful tools for reconstructing human behavior in the emerging anthropological discipline of bioarchaeology.

The invention of the microscope revolutionized the course of human knowledge. This instrument changed the face of science and of previous beliefs, expanded the horizons of knowledge, and challenged philosophical and scientific thought, especially in the field of natural sciences and medicine. In the domain of bioarchaeology, the introduction of histological techniques was important; not only to identify body tissues and to diagnose diseases in mummified remains, but also to understand bone and teeth microstructure, and associated patterns of response to environmental constraints. In this paper a critical review of the major contributions of histology to the growing body of knowledge in paleopathology and bioarchaeology will be presented, focusing on the current multiple applications of microscopy, its limitations, and its future challenges.

A B S T R A C T The genetic study of ancient samples is quite similar to a forensic critical sample analysis with an unknown origin. In both cases, it is not possible to compare the genetic information with other family members, being almost impossible to achieve the individual identification. The prediction of externally visible characteristics (EVC) of an individual and his biogeographical ancestry could definitely be a crucial contribution in a forensic casework. Therefore, the aim of the present work was the molecular study of a very critical sample, a Chalcolithic (3480 ± 30 YBP) individual found in Asturias, Northern Iberia, intending to discover a possible geographical ancestry for these remains, and the inference of a group of feasible EVCs (hair, skin and iris pigmentation). Given that ancient DNA is often highly damaged, two different methodologies were used in order to determine the biogeographical ancestry of the individual: mitochondrial DNA (HVR-I and-II) and Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms typing. Despite the antiquity of the samples, the genetic information recovered proved of great value. We could determine that the individual had a European ancestry, blond hair, light skin color and brown eyes. Such outcome reveals that it is possible to obtain not only biogeographical but also phenotypic information from a very critical sample.

The study deals with the paleopathological analysis of human skeletal remains found in 173 Vinařice cultural-group graves at Prague-Zličín from the early stage of the Migration Period (5th century). Because the osteological collection was fragmentary, skeletal remains of only 113 individuals were analysed (26 men, 33 women, 19 children, and 6 adolescents; the sex of 29 adults remained unspecified). Paleopathological diagnoses were grounded in macroscopic and X-ray examinations. Most frequently, skeletal remains showed progressive degenerative processes such as spondylosis (49.1%, evaluated cases n=53) and arthrosis (37.7%, evaluated cases n=69). Traces of healed traumas were detected in 8.8% (n=113) of all the preserved individuals. Demonstrations of inflammatory symptoms were observed in 16.8%, (n=113) of the cases, out of which were two suspected cases of tuberculosis. Regarding neoplastic diseases, only two benign tumours (skull osteomas) were diagnosed (3.9%, evaluated cases n=51). Internal frontal hyperostosis, biparietal thinning, and calcaneonavicular coalition were detected only sporadically. Cribra orbitalia was detected in the eye sockets of 7.1% (n=28) of the evaluated cases. Trichological analyses dealt with 203 samples, most of them were of recent or animal origin; only in four cases ancient human hair was found. To date the samples from graves No. 4, 11, 100–173 have been analysed and results of this analysis are presented in this study. Destruction of historical hair shafts was manifested by ragged and cracked cuticle scales, absence of cuticle scales, longitudinal loosened shafts and especially transversal fragmentation of hair shafts. Hair also showed marked damage owing to keratinophilic organisms. No human ectoparasites were found. Paleoparasitological analyses dealt with 30 samples from grave fillings; specifically from pelvic (n=16), head (n=1) and thoracic (n=13) area. Despite the very sensitive molecular methods we employed, no signs of parasitological DNA were found.