A Second Mortuary Hiatus on Lake Baikal in Siberia and the Arrival of Small-Scale Pastoralism

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Rural Rickets: Vitamin D Deficiency in a Post-Medieval Farming Community from the Netherlands

ABSTRACT Rickets is caused by vitamin D deficiency as a result of limited exposure to sunlight and inadequate diet. In the 19 th century, rickets was endemic in most northern European cities. In post-Medieval Netherlands, rickets is documented in low frequencies in a few urban samples, but has not been studied in contemporaneous rural populations. Beemster is a rural farming community in the Netherlands that was established in the 17 th century upon drained land, with the Middenbeemster cemetery in use until 1866 AD. Ninety-five individuals from the ages of 32 weeks in utero to 15 years were examined for rickets in order to understand factors that can cause vitamin D deficiency in rural, non-industrialized populations. To identify rickets in the Beemster sample, ten features were scored, with bending deformities of the lower limb and one other feature, or at least three non-bending features, having to be present in order for diagnosis. Nine individuals (9.5%) had evidence of rickets-a high prevalence, especially for a rural community where ample sunlight was available. The two and three year old Beemster infants were most heavily affected with an age-specific prevalence of 30.4%. Two three-month-old infants also had rickets. Some of the affected may have developed rickets secondarily, as a result of a different illness, but cultural practices including prolonged swaddling, occlusive clothing, and keeping the young indoors, are suggested to have contributed to this high rickets prevalence. Dietary variables including poor weaning foods and common episodes of malnutrition may have also contributed to vitamin D deficiency. This study demonstrates the value of careful analysis of pathological conditions in subadults and highlights that rickets was not only a disease of cities, but affected populations that would appear to have been at low risk, because of maladaptive cultural practices

Intrinsic challenges in ancient microbiome reconstruction using 16S rRNA gene amplification.

To date, characterization of ancient oral (dental calculus) and gut (coprolite) microbiota has been primarily accomplished through a metataxonomic approach involving targeted amplification of one or more variable regions in the 16S rRNA gene. Specifically, the V3 region (E. coli 341-534) of this gene has been suggested as an excellent candidate for ancient DNA amplification and microbial community reconstruction. However, in practice this metataxonomic approach often produces highly skewed taxonomic frequency data. In this study, we use non-targeted (shotgun metagenomics) sequencing methods to better understand skewed microbial profiles observed in four ancient dental calculus specimens previously analyzed by amplicon sequencing. Through comparisons of microbial taxonomic counts from paired amplicon (V3 U341F/534R) and shotgun sequencing datasets, we demonstrate that extensive length polymorphisms in the V3 region are a consistent and major cause of differential amplification leading to taxonomic bias in ancient microbiome reconstructions based on amplicon sequencing. We conclude that systematic amplification bias confounds attempts to accurately reconstruct microbiome taxonomic profiles from 16S rRNA V3 amplicon data generated using universal primers. Because in silico analysis indicates that alternative 16S rRNA hypervariable regions will present similar challenges, we advocate for the use of a shotgun metagenomics approach in ancient microbiome reconstructions

Diet and food strategies in a southern al-Andalusian urban environment during Caliphal period, ecija, Sevilla

The Iberian medieval period is unique in European history due to the widespread socio-cultural changes that took place after the arrival of Arabs, Berbers and Islam in 711 AD. Recently, isotopic research has been insightful on dietary shifts, status, resource availability and the impact of environment. However, there is no published isotopic research exploring these factors in southern Iberian populations, and as the history of this area differs to the northern regions, this leaves a significant lacuna in our knowledge. This research fills this gap via isotopic analysis of human (n = 66) and faunal (n = 13) samples from the 9th to the 13th century Écija, a town renowned for high temperatures and salinity. Stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotopes were assessed from rib collagen, while carbon (δ13C) values were derived from enamel apatite. Human diet is consistent with C3 plant consumption with a very minor contribution of C4 plants, an interesting feature considering the suitability of Écija to C4 cereal production. δ15N values vary among adults, which may suggest variable animal protein consumption or isotopic variation within animal species due to differences in foddering. Consideration of δ13C collagen and apatite values together may indicate sugarcane consumption, while moderate δ15N values do not suggest a strong aridity or salinity effect. Comparison with other Iberian groups shows similarities relating to time and location rather than by religion, although more multi-isotopic studies combined with zooarchaeology and botany may reveal subtle differences unobservable in carbon and nitrogen collagen studies alone.OLC is funded by Plan Galego I2C mod.B (ED481D 2017/014). The research was partially funded by the projects “Galician Paleodiet” and by Consiliencia network (ED 431D2017/08) Xunta de GaliciaS

Osteochondritis Dissecans of skeletal elements of the foot in a 19th century rural farming community from The Netherlands

Osteochondritis Dissecans (OD) is a pathological condition of the subchondral bone and surrounding cartilage of synovial joints, associated with strenuous activity and/or trauma. Reports of OD in archaeological skeletal remains are few and the majority demonstrate low OD prevalence (lesions in non-pedal elements, yet 12.9% of individuals suffered from pedal OD. Few archaeological and clinical reports specify the prevalence of pedal OD. According to the few that do, the Middenbeemster pedal OD prevalence is distinctly high. Several factors could have contributed to this. First, the rural Beemster community was centered around cattle farming, requiring extensive outside work and animal maintenance; thus, increasing the chances of acute/repetitive trauma in the foot. Second, the footwear worn during that period in the Netherlands was the wooden clog. It is suggested that the hard and inflexible clog, which is poor at absorbing shock and limits the movement of the foot, could have resulted in repetitive microtrauma. These two factors combined may have caused a high frequency of OD.Bioarchaeolog

Art for Archaeology's Sake: Material Culture and Style Across the Disciplines

Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Chacmool Archaeology Conferenc

Trabecular bone microarchitecture analysis, a way for an early detection of genetic dwarfism? Case study of a dwarf mother’s offspring

International audienceA 66 year-old woman with a disproportionate dwarfism and who bore seven children was discovered at theMiddenbeemster archaeological site (The Netherlands). Three are perinates and show no macroscopic or radiologicalevidence for a FGFR3 mutation causing hypo-or achondroplasia. This mutation induces dysfunction ofthe growth cartilage, leading to abnormalities in the development of trabecular bone. Because the mutation isautosomal dominant, these perinates have a 50% risk of having been affected. This study determines whethertrabecular bone microarchitecture (TBMA) analysis is useful for detecting genetic dwarfism. Proximal metaphysesof humeri were μCT-scanned with a resolution of 7–12 μm. Three volumes of interest were segmentedfrom each bone with TIVMI© software. The TBMA was quantified in BoneJ© using six parameters on which amultivariate analysis was then performed. Two of the Middenbeemster perinates show a quantitatively differentTBMA organization. These results and the family’s medical history suggest a diagnosis of genetic dwarfism forthis two perinates. This study provides evidence to support the efficacy of μCT for diagnosing early-stage bonedisease

Coming of age in the Netherlands: An osteological assessment of puberty in a rural Dutch post-medieval community.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to apply pubertal stage estimation methods to a sample from a rural community: the post-medieval Dutch skeletal collection from Middenbeemster. Puberty is a key developmental period involving transition to physical adulthood with broad societal relevance through its impact on fertility, morbidity, and mortality. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Individuals (n = 55), including 27 of known sex and age-at-death, between the ages of 8 and 25 years were assessed for six skeletal markers indicative of pubertal growth spurt. Recent novel osteoarchaeological methods from Shapland and Lewis are used to reconstruct the timing and duration of pubertal stages. RESULTS: Pubertal acceleration occurred earlier in females (10.38 years, n = 8) than males (13.30 years, n = 6), whereas maturation occurred later in males (21.36 years, n = 11) than females (19.30 years, n = 5). Onset appears earlier and completion later compared to other archaeological skeletal samples with osteoarchaeological evidence of puberty. Age shortly after menarche was reconstructed at 20.45 years, substantially later than historic records and bioarchaeological research reports suggest. CONCLUSION: This early onset and late completion caused a "stretch" of the overall duration of puberty compared to other collections, especially of the last three stages. This prolonged development is reflected in historically known social expectations for the Netherlands, for example, that marriage and children should not occur before about 22-23 years of age. Increasing the range of past peoples with puberty stage reconstruction will permit more insightful interpretations of the biological and cultural patterns of this important life stage.No sponsorship or other sources of funding are associated with this researc