Antropologia Funerária e Paleobiologia das Populações Pós-Medievais Portuguesas: Os Casos de Nossa Senhora da Anunciada e Espírito Santo

As desigualdades sociais na saúde constituem a problemática abordada nesta dissertação, tendo sido escolhidas para explorar esta questão duas séries esqueléticas – igreja de Nossa Senhora da Anunciada (Setúbal) e capela do Espírito Santo (Loures) – cronologicamente enquadradas no período pós-medieval, entre os séculos XVI e XIX, e cujos indivíduos apresentavam estatutos socioeconómicos diferenciados. Na concretização deste objectivo foi realizada uma primeira abordagem que incidiu no estudo integral – contexto funerário e Paleobiologia – das respectivas séries. Do manancial de resultados obtidos foram seleccionados e explorados na segunda abordagem indicadores de estatuto social e de estatuto biológico (ou esqueléticos de stress fisiológico) capazes de responder à problemática enunciada, procurando demonstrar-se que as desigualdades sociais podem actuar sobre factores fundamentais ao desenvolvimento normal e saúde dos indivíduos, manifestando-se, consequentemente, de forma diferencial entre indivíduos de estatutos socioeconómicos contrastantes. A caracterização geral do contexto funerário revelou que no interior da igreja de N. Sra. da Anunciada, localizada no bairro do Troino, habitado por um segmento da população socialmente mais desfavorecido, registaram-se 93 inumações primárias e 155 secundárias, as quais foram realizadas em covas abertas no subsolo e revelando a quase ausência de espólio votivo e de caixão. Por outro lado, na capela do Espírito Santo foram exumadas 46 inumações primárias e 30 secundárias que foram exclusivamente encontradas em criptas, tendo os indivíduos sido inumados em caixão e identificando-se, igualmente, a presença de espólio votivo associado. A documentação histórica refere o nome de mecenas e benfeitores do respectivo convento com direito a sepultura na sua capela. Na caracterização paleobiológica geral foram revelados os perfis biológicos básicos, tendo sido identificados indivíduos de ambos os sexos e diferentes classes etárias, constatando-se em ambas séries esqueléticas a predominância de indivíduos do sexo feminino. A análise morfológica evidenciou os caracteres discretos e métricos, bem como a estatura dos indivíduos, sendo esta última, igualmente, referida no estudo das desigualdades sociais. Por fim, o estudo paleopatológico revelou a presença de diversas alterações dentárias e ósseas, incluindo condições enquadradas nos indicadores esqueléticos de stress fisiológico. Na segunda abordagem que se centrou no objectivo específico desta investigação, os indicadores de estatuto social – local de inumação, caixão e espólio votivo – mostraram uma associação dos indivíduos com o seu estatuto socioeconómico clara e inequívoca, enquanto os indicadores esqueléticos de stress fisiológico – crescimento, estatura, cáries, perda de dentes ante mortem, hiperostose porótica, cribra orbitalia, hipoplasias lineares do esmalte dentário, formação de osso novo bilateral nas tíbias, fracturas, osteoartrose, discartrose, alterações nas áreas das enteses e DISH – revelaram que a sua interpretação é muito complexa. Concluiu-se que a interpretação das desigualdades sociais na saúde com base em indicadores de estatuto biológico deve ser prudente, já que não é evidente uma associação ii directa com o estatuto socioeconómico dos indivíduos. Esta investigação corroborou a informação histórica e arqueológica que permite aludir ao estatuto socioeconómico dos indivíduos destas séries esqueléticas, mas a associação deste estatuto a uma saúde diferenciada entre grupos revelou-se inconclusiva

Extracapsular fracture of the femur in an elderly male from Setúbal (Portugal)

Poster presented at the BABAO Conference 2017: 19th Annual Conference of the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology. 8-10 September 2017, LiverpoolHip fractures were certainly present in past communities, if not reasonably frequent. Often an outcome of osteoporosis and increased risk of falling among the elderly, these fractures affect predominantly older women but also aged men. In this case-study, an extracapsular fracture of the femur in an elderly man is described and contextualized.N/

dos séculos I e II da nossa era (época romana) à necropole moderna (sécs. XV a XIX)

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As circunstâncias da intervenção em Bucelas e o projeto de investigação de emergência posto em prática

UIDB/04038/2020 UIDP/04038/2020 UIDB/04209/2020 UIDP/04209/2020publishersversionpublishe

DISH in an individual from the Portuguese Navy (18th-19th centuries)

Poster apresentado nas V Jornadas Portuguesas de Paleopatologia, 25-26 Novembro 2016. Coimbra, PortugalIn 2005 the crypt of Espírito Santo Chapel (Loures, Portugal) was excavated. Forty-nine primary inhumations, comprising 37 adults (27 females; 10 males) and 12 non-adults were identified. Inhumations took place between 1561 and 1834. An adult male (> 35 years old) (Burial 1-Crypt 3) was individualized as belonging to the Portuguese Navy, based on the recovery of an uniform button associated with the burial. This individual exhibited exuberant bone lesions, affecting the vertebral region, sacroiliac joint, and extraspinal entheses. Bone changes were recorded macroscopically and complemented with radiological exam. The bone alterations are compatible with a diagnosis of diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH), according to Rogers and Waldron criteria.N/

Toxocara (Ascarididae) eggs in a Franciscan from Portugal (XVII-XVIII century): case report

Poster presented at the 43rd Annual North American Meeting of the Paleopatology Association. April 12-12, 2016, Atlanta, USAThe presence of adults of Toxocara in humans is rare, and it has been usually attributed to ingestion of adult worms and not the development of the larval stage in this host.This work represents the first report of Toxocara eggs associated with human burial.N/

Apresentação de alguns dos materiais recolhidos na intervenção arqueológica

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Sex prediction based on mesiodistalwidth data in the Portuguese population

UIDB/04038/2020 UIDP/04038/2020Accurate sex prediction is a key step in creating a postmortem forensic profile as it excludes approximately half the population. It is our goal to develop a predictive model to establish sex through teeth mesiodistal widths in a Portuguese population. The pretreatment dental casts of 168 of Portuguese orthodontics subjects (59 males and 109 females) were included. Mesiodistal widths from right first molar to left first molar were measured on each pretreatment cast to the nearest 0.01 mm using a digital caliper. Overall, the mesiodistal widths of the upper and lower canines, premolars, and molars were found to be significantly different between females and males. Conversely, no significant differences between sexes were identified for incisors. A multivariate logistic regression model for sex prediction was developed and the teeth included in the final reduced model being the upper left canine (2.3), the lower right lateral incisor (4.2) and the lower right canine (4.3). There is a prevalence of sexual dimorphism in all teeth except the incisors. The canines present the most noticeable difference between sexes. The presented sex determination predictive model exhibits an overall correct classification of 75%, outperforming all available models for this purpose and therefore is a potential tool for forensic analysis in this population.publishersversionpublishe

Validation of the Third Molar Maturation Index (I-3M) to assess the legal adult age in the Portuguese population

UIDB/04038/2020 UIDP/04038/2020Age estimation is a major step in forensic and legal procedures. Its relevance has been increasing due to growing society issues, such as identification of missing people, crimes against minors or lack of valid identification papers from locals or foreigners. Evaluation of the cut-off value of the Third Molar Maturation Index (I3M) = 0.08 for discriminating minors from adults in the Portuguese population. The left lower third molars were analysed by applying a specific cut-off value of 0.08 determined by Cameriere et al. in 2008. A sample of 778 digital panoramic radiographs of a representative Portuguese sample (442 females and 336 males), in the age range of 12–24 years (mean age 17.7 ± 2.98 years in females and 18.1 ± 3.0 years in males), was retrospectively evaluated. I3M decreased as the real age gradually increased in both sexes. The 0.08 cut-off score was valuable in discriminating adults from minors. According to the pooled results, the accuracy, by means of area under the curve, was 92.8% (95% confidence interval (CI) 91.0–94.6%). The proportion of correctly classified subjects (sensitivity) was 90.7% (95% CI 88.7–92.8%) and the specificity was 94.9% (95% CI 93.3–96.4%). The results show that I3M is a valuable method to differentiate minors from adults in the Portuguese population.publishersversionpublishe

The anatomical bases of the 3D digital facial approximation of the Zlatý kůň 1 woman (ca. 43,000 BP)

In 1950 on Mount Zlatý kůň (‘Golden Horse’) in modern-day Czech Republic a system of caves was discovered. During many years of research in this area, human and animal osteological remains have been excavated, among which the most interesting ones were nine fragments of a female skull, now dated to ca. 43,000 yrs BP which are one of the earliest known anatomically modern humans in Eurasia. The aim of this research was to use purely digital techniques to: (1) to reconstruct the skull based on the 3D data of preserved fragments, (2) to approximate the probable appearance of the female it belonged to, and (3) to analyze the calculated shape of the reconstructed mandible and volume of the neurocranium in the context of similarities and differences with other representatives of the genus Homo. Computer techniques used in this research constitute a new, original approach to the problem of 3D analyses and may be useful primarily in bioarchaeological sciences, where metric analyses of the most valuable bone artifacts are often severely limited due to the incompleteness of the material available for research. The digital techniques presented here may also contribute significantly to the field of surgery, with the possibility of being adapted for applications in cranial prosthetics and post-traumatic reconstructive surgery