Effects of maternal, gestational, and perinatal variables on neonatal line width observed in a modern UK birth cohort

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to explore potential relationships between neonatal line (NNL) width and early life history variables such as maternal health, gestation, the birth process, and perinatal health. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Histological thin sections of deciduous canines were studied from 71 children from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). The width of the NNL was measured in three locations on the tooth crown using spatial mapping techniques (ArcGIS) from digital images from an Olympus VS-120 microscope. Life history variables were collected prospectively through a combination of clinical observations and questionnaires. RESULTS: Infants born late term or post term had narrower neonatal lines than those born prematurely or at full term. Infants born in Autumn (September to November) had narrower NNLs than those born at other times of year. NNLs in infants born to mothers with hypertension were wider than those without. Infants resuscitated at birth or born to obese mothers had narrower NNLs than those that were not. There was no association between NNL width and either the type or duration of delivery. DISCUSSION: The NNL in enamel is an irregular accentuated line, but the factors underlying its formation and width remain unclear. In contrast to some previous studies, we found no association between wider NNLs and long or difficult births. Instead, we found that the width of the neonatal line NNL varied in relation to parameters that reflected the prenatal environment and length of gestation

The Past is 3D: using spatial analysis in interpreting an enigmatic mass grave

89th Annual Meeting of the American-Association-of-Physical-Anthropologists (AAPA) -- APR 15-18, 2020 -- Los Angeles, CAWOS: 000513288901187[No abstract available]Amer Assoc Phys AnthropologistsBritish Institute at Ankara; Arts and Humanities Funding Council UKThis project has received funding from the British Institute at Ankara and the Arts and Humanities Funding Council UK

Investigating Radical Deaths and the Cultures That Practiced Them: New AHRC Funded Research at the Institute of Archaeology

WOS: 000508133700029A new Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded project brings together multiple strands of investigation to probe the relationship between ritual, violence, and early state formation. David Wengrow and Brenna Hassett will coordinate an international team combining biomolecular analysis (stable isotopes, ancient DNA), bioarchaeology, and archaeology to examine a remarkable set of Early Bronze Age funerary deposits (c. 3100-2800 BC), excavated at the multi-period site of Basur Hark, in South-eastern Turkey. They include evidence of extraordinary wealth combined with radically new cultural practices, such as mass death pits and burials of retainers or other human victims. Such findings add to a growing body of archaeological data from the Middle East, which is now prompting researchers to rethink key aspects of social and political change at the start of the Bronze Age.Arts and Humanities Research Council UK Research Grant; BIAAInitial support for the physical anthropological investigation at Basur Hoyuk was provided by the BIAA Study Grant Scheme. Ongoing funding is provided by the Arts and Humanities Research Council UK Research Grant, and small grants from the BIAA