2 research outputs found
Burned Fleshed or Dry? The Potential of Bioerosion to Determine the Pre-Burning Condition of Human Remains
The
practice of cremation is often interpreted as an alternative to inhumation,
taking place shortly after an individual’s death. However, cremation could be a
final stage in complex mortuary practices, with previous steps that are
obscured due to the heating process. This project reports on experimental
scoping research on a set of experimentally heated femoral fragments from
modern and archaeological collections of the University of Coimbra. Sixteen
recent femur samples from eight individuals, as well as five femur samples from
an archaeological skeleton from the medieval-modern cemetery found at the
Hospital de Santo António (Porto), were included in this research. Samples
presented five different conditions: unburnt, and burnt at maximum temperatures
of 300 °C, 500 °C, 700 °C and 900 °C. Each sample was prepared to allow
observation using binocular transmitted light microscopes with ×10, ×25 and ×40
magnifications. Results indicated that, if burial led to bioerosion, this will
remain visible despite burning, as could be in cases where cremation was used
as a funerary practice following inhumation. From this, we conclude that the
observation of bioerosion lesions in histological thin sections of cremated
bone can be used to interpret potential pre-cremation treatment of the body,
with application possibilities for both archaeological and forensic contexts.
However, the effect on bioerosion of substances such as bacterial- or
enzymatic-based products often used to accelerate decomposition should be
investigated
Ecomorphological patterns in the Blackcap <i>Sylvia atricapilla</i>: insular versus mainland populations
<div><p><b>Capsule</b> Blackcap <i>Sylvia atricapilla</i> populations from the Azores archipelago show morphological differences to continental birds which are consistent with the ‘Island Rule’.</p><p><b>Aims</b> The morphology of insular vertebrates is usually the result of the evolution in their particular environment and leads to predictable morphological patterns, according to the Island Rule. We test the predictions of the Island Rule, using the Blackcap of the Azores archipelago as our model.</p><p><b>Methods</b> We compared morphological variation (body size and wing shape) of populations from the nine islands of the Azores to continental birds, using multivariate indexes. Also, we looked at the relationship between these patterns and possible insular ecological drivers of morphological divergence.</p><p><b>Results</b> Our findings are concordant with Island Rule predictions, as in general birds from the Azores are larger than continental populations, especially birds from the most distant islands. Wing shape also differs significantly, as Azorean Blackcaps tend to have rounder wings than continental birds with a migratory-like phenotype.</p><p><b>Conclusion</b> Overall, we conclude that the observed morphological patterns in Blackcap in the Azores conform in general to the Island Rule predictions.</p></div