Skeletal evidence of the social persona. Life, death and society in early medieval Alamannic communities

Historic-archaeological research on the Alamanni, an early medieval population in the periphery of the Frankish Empire, primarily focuses on themes such as their military character or issues of ethnicity, while the actual functioning of Alamannic societies remains conjectural. Aiming at presenting an integrated approach to the concepts of social organisation and social identities in Alamannic populations, this study examines and defines Alamannic identity and society by creating a dialogue between the disciplines of archaeology, biological anthropology and socio-cultural sciences. A bioarchaeology of identity explores the Alamanni of Pleidelsheim and Neresheim via their funerary and skeletal evidence, allowing for the factor of different environments that influence the interactions of a community. A key theme is the investigation of indicators for biological and social "status" by direct association of bioanthropological with funerary archaeological data, as well as by evaluation of present interpretations made from material culture in the light of bioanthropological analysis as a paramount focus. The results are interpreted in terms of social status and the perception of certain social parameters, exploring interrelations between factors such as sex and gender, age, status and activity for the entirety of a society. This research offers new perspectives on Alamannic societies and helps to comprehend Alamannic social organisation as a multi-layered phenomenon, emphasizing the importance of a biocultural approach. Beyond common perceptions, this study forms the basis for a new understanding of the Alamanni, as the results reveal a society that was complex and diverse, displaying its own characteristics in the Merovingian world.AHRC. British Archaeological Associatio

The Durotriges Project, Phase Two: an interim statement

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In search of consensus: Terminology for entheseal changes (EC)

This article presents a consensus terminology for entheseal changes that was developed in English by an international team of scholars and then translated into French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and German. Use of a standard, neutral terminology to describe entheseal morphology will reduce misunderstandings between researchers, improve the reliability of comparisons between studies, and eliminate unwarranted etiological assumptions inherent in some of the descriptive terms presently used in the literature

Talk about success: BU women academics speak.

Established in 2013 the Women’s Academic Network (WAN) at Bournemouth University is a non-corporate, collegial nexus of women academics and female postgraduate researchers drawn from across the four Faculties. The aim of WAN is to act as a support group, while promoting the profiles of women scholars and lobbying on a range of institutional barriers that impact upon women’s academic careers. WAN has enjoyed considerable success in pursing these goals during its short lifespan. Annually WAN co-convenors have held a range of important speaker, panel and conferences events and promotional activities, as well as acting as patrons of local cultural exhibitions and performances serving to highlight the extraordinary talent of women, as well as their gendered oppression - both of which too often goes unrecognised. In this book, inspired by Jo Bostock’s (2016) The Meaning of Success: Insights from women at Cambridge, WAN co-convenors wondered how women colleagues would respond to what they think the loaded term ‘success’ means at Bournemouth University – and so we decided to ask them. Invited to participate from across ranks, disciplines, ethnicity, nationality and age, the reader will find numerous narratives from a diverse group of women academics, all of whom, regardless of differences, reflect deeply on what success means for them. Taken together the collection is illuminating, surprising, witty, moving, punchy and, ultimately, inspiring.N/

Working activities or workload ? Categorization of occupation in identified skeletal series for the analysis of activity-related osseous changes

Un des aspects qui participe à éclairer les liens causals entre les marqueurs osseux dits d’activité et l’activité est le recours à des séries de squelettes identifiés pour lesquels la profession est connue. Les résultats des différentes recherches ont été plus ou moins probants à mettre ces liens en évidence. Si les facteurs biologiques étudiés ou la méthode d’analyse peuvent en être la cause, les informations relatives aux professions et les regroupements (groupes d'activités) constitués en sont un facteur clé. Un groupe de travail, constitué à l’issue du workshop de Coimbra (Musculoskeletal Stress Markers (MSM): limitations and achievements in the reconstruction of past activity patterns, University of Coimbra, 2009), s’est ainsi attelé à décrypter et standardiser le concept de profession et ses multiples acceptions

New findings on the early medieval separate burial of Niederstotzingen, Heidenheim District.

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