A bioarcheological contribution to the social history of Roman Macedonia:The Pontokomi‐Vrysi site in Kozani Prefecture, Greece

Roman Macedonia has been largely neglected by bioarcheological research. As a result, little is known about the imprint of living conditions of that time on the skeletons of its inhabitants, especially those of the lower classes. This paper presents the paleopathological study conducted on a Roman period (1st–4th c. CE) skeletal assemblage from Pontokomi-Vrysi, a site in the semi-mountainous region of Eordaea in Upper Macedonia (now in Kozani Prefecture, Greece). The aim is to investigate differences in the frequency of multiple paleopathological conditions in the buried population and to assess whether these are linked to sex- or age-related differences. The study examines cribra orbitalia (CO), porotic hyperostosis (PH), enamel hypoplasia (EH), osteoarthritis (OA), vertebral osteoarthritis (VOA), intervertebral disk disease (IDD), Schmorl's nodes (SNs), trauma (Tr), and lower limb periostitis/periostosis (PO). The results show higher frequencies of OA, IDD, PO, and Tr among males compared with those among females. These results suggest increased male physical hardship, pointing to a possible gender division of labor with the men of the community being mostly responsible for the physically demanding agricultural and animal husbandry activities. Additionally, comparisons of the CO, PH, and EH patterns in adults and nonadults support that, in general, the Pontokomi-Vrysi community was resilient enough to overcome stress. Overall, these findings make an important contribution to both the bioarcheology and social history of Roman Macedonia and stress the need for more studies that combine historical, archeological (cultural), and bioarcheological data

Oral health and its implications on male-female dietary differences:A study from the Roman Province of Macedonia

This paper examines the permanent dentition of sixty-one individuals from the Pontokomi-Vrysi Roman rural population of the Provincia Macedonia (1st-4th c. CE) aiming to explore differences in the oral health between males and females of the assemblage. All teeth were macroscopically examined for dental pathologies and dental wear, and observations were compared at an intra-assemblage level, between males and females, as well as against published data from two Roman-Italian and two Graeco-Roman sites. Results show a homogenous pattern in the oral health of the Pontokomi-Vrysi population, pointing to a rather undifferentiated diet between the two sexes, characterized mainly by the consumption of carbohydrates and to a lesser extent by the supplementary intake of protein-deriving food sources. Comparison of the results with those from the other Greek and Italian sites reveals complex oral health and dietary profiles for these populations. This paper suggests caution when universal oral health and dietary patterns for the inhabitants of the Roman Empire are sought

Isotopic evidence for human mobility in late antique Bulla Regia (Tunisia)

This paper represents the first isotopic study on late antique human mobility in North Africa, using the urban site of Bulla Regia in Tunisia as a case study. We also present the first values for bioavailable 87Sr/86Sr in northern Tunisia, analysing 63 plant and snail samples, as well as a simple method for the pre-processing of plants in the field to facilitate their export. Bulla Regia was a prominent Roman and late antique town situated on an important axis of transport and communication in North Africa and is therefore an ideal site to explore mobility in the region during this time period. Strontium (87Sr/86Sr) and oxygen (δ18OCarb) isotopic analysis of 22 late antique individuals from a Christian church and cemetery identified at least seven or eight non-locals, while comparative analysis of five Roman individuals from a funerary enclosure on the same site classified all but one of them as potential locals. Most non-local individuals exhibit 87Sr/86Sr values that match various areas of northern Tunisia, which supports regional mobility rather than long-distance migration, although when combined with the oxygen results, inter-regional mobility from an area with a warmer climate may be hypothesised for some individuals. Examination of the spatial distribution of non-local individuals in their cemetery setting reveals that they were privileged individuals, thus they may reflect the mobility of wealthier town-dwellers in late antiquity, particularly perhaps along the Carthage-Hippo route

Bulla Regia II : Excavations in the Christian cemetery

This paper reports the preliminary results from three seasons of excavations in the Christian cemetery by the Tunisian-British Bulla Regia Archaeological Project. In 2017-2019, excavations in, and around, the Late Antique church in the western cemetery uncovered a complex funerary landscape with a variety of different tomb types, including mosaic caisson tombs, simple masonry tombs, amphora tombs, and earthen graves and multiple funerary mensae. The mosaics, inscriptions and finds (ceramics, glass, coins) studied in 2022 support a fourth to seventh century date for the main period of use of the cemetery

Burnout among surgeons before and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: an international survey

Background: SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had many significant impacts within the surgical realm, and surgeons have been obligated to reconsider almost every aspect of daily clinical practice. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study reported in compliance with the CHERRIES guidelines and conducted through an online platform from June 14th to July 15th, 2020. The primary outcome was the burden of burnout during the pandemic indicated by the validated Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure. Results: Nine hundred fifty-four surgeons completed the survey. The median length of practice was 10 years; 78.2% included were male with a median age of 37 years old, 39.5% were consultants, 68.9% were general surgeons, and 55.7% were affiliated with an academic institution. Overall, there was a significant increase in the mean burnout score during the pandemic; longer years of practice and older age were significantly associated with less burnout. There were significant reductions in the median number of outpatient visits, operated cases, on-call hours, emergency visits, and research work, so, 48.2% of respondents felt that the training resources were insufficient. The majority (81.3%) of respondents reported that their hospitals were included in the management of COVID-19, 66.5% felt their roles had been minimized; 41% were asked to assist in non-surgical medical practices, and 37.6% of respondents were included in COVID-19 management. Conclusions: There was a significant burnout among trainees. Almost all aspects of clinical and research activities were affected with a significant reduction in the volume of research, outpatient clinic visits, surgical procedures, on-call hours, and emergency cases hindering the training. Trial registration: The study was registered on clicaltrials.gov "NCT04433286" on 16/06/2020

The Garamantes of Fazzān: bioarchaeological evaluation of desert-induced stress and Late Holocene human migrations through the Sahara

This thesis is not available on this repository until the author agrees to make it public. If you are the author of this thesis and would like to make your work openly available, please contact us: [email protected] Library can supply a digital copy for private research purposes; interested parties should submit the request form here: http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/departments/digital-content-unit/ordering-imagesPlease note that print copies of theses may be available for consultation in the Cambridge University Library's Manuscript reading room. Admission details are at http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/departments/manuscripts-university-archive

AgeEst: An open access web application for skeletal age-at-death estimation employing machine learning

The present study tests the accuracy of commonly adopted age-at-death estimation markers based on the morphology of the pubic symphysis, iliac auricular surface and cranial sutures on a contemporary documented skeletal collection from Greece (81 males and 59 females). Machine learning techniques are used to assess whether a) machine learning classification models can correctly classify skeletons into their correct age group and b) machine learning regression models can predict the correct age to a satisfactory degree. The constructed models are used in a web application (AgeEst), where users can easily employ them to make predictions for their own skeletal assemblages. The results show that the use of machine learning improves age predictions in terms of bias and inaccuracy compared to the direct application of the original methods. However, there is a strong misclassification of middle-aged individuals, stressing the inherent biases both of the skeletal markers traditionally used in age-at-death prediction and of machine learning methods that, in our case, tend to classify most individuals to one of the two extremes (young or old). We would like to invite colleagues to share with us raw data from other skeletal collections to expand the training dataset to address to some extent issues of age mimicry, while the notebook used for the analysis as well as the code used to construct the web application are openly available to promote the further development of this or similar applications by other scholars