Les empreintes de main dans l’art pariétal : possibilités et limites d’interprétations mises en relief par l’anthropologie médico-légale

CD p. 1197-1206International audienc

Spatial distribution of trace element Ca-normalized ratios in primary and permanent human tooth enamel

The trace elements distribution embedded in tooth enamel offers a means to study exposure of toxicmetals and allows the reconstruction of dietary behaviors. The quantification of most of the elements with a spatial high resolution (similar to 50 mu m) is routinely achieved using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LAICPMS). However, the lack of a comprehensive framework of trace elements distribution in enamel jeopardizes any endorsed sampling strategy using LA-ICPMS. The present work is an effort to improve our knowledge on this issue. We studied a suite of 22 sectioned teeth with known dietary history, including 12 3rd molars from 12 living individuals and 10 primary teeth from 3 living individuals. Using LA-ICPMS, we measured Ca, Cu, Zn, Ni, Sr, Ba and Pb variations along 2 or 3 rasters from cervical to occlusal enamel. Calcium concentrations are lower in primary than in permanent teeth and do not vary spatially within a tooth suggesting that enamel matures homogeneously before eruption. The Pb/Ca ratio does not vary within tooth enamel and between primary and permanent tooth enamel. The Cu/Ca and Ni/Ca ratios do not vary within tooth enamel but discriminate primary from permanent tooth enamel. The Zn/Ca ratios are higher in permanent than in primary tooth enamel, and increase up to an order of magnitude in the last hundred of microns at the enamel surface. The Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca ratios are higher in permanent than in primary tooth enamel, and decrease from the enamel-dentine junction towards outer enamel in permanent but not in primary tooth enamel. Considering the Ca-normalized intra-tooth variations of Zn, Sr and Ba, we recommend to perform laser ablation rasters along the enamel-dentine junction because this area is likely to retain most of the original and complete chemical information related to individual's life. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Les empreintes de main dans l’art pariétal : possibilités et limites d’interprétations mises en relief par l’anthropologie médico-légale

CD p. 1197-1206International audienc

Advanced procedures for skull sex estimation using sexually dimorphic morphometric features

This paper introduces an automated method for estimating sex from cranial sex diagnostic traits by extracting and evaluating specialized morphometric features from the glabella, the supraorbital ridge, the occipital protuberance, and the mastoid process. The proposed method was developed and evaluated using two European population samples, a Czech sample comprising 170 crania reconstructed from anonymized CT scans and a Greek sample of 156 crania from the Athens Collection. It is based on a fully automatic algorithm applied on 3D models for extracting sex diagnostic morphometric features which are further processed by computer vision and machine learning algorithms. Classification accuracy was evaluated in a population specific and a population generic 2-way cross-validation scheme. Population-specific accuracy for individual morphometric features ranged from 78.5 to 96.7%, whereas population generic correct classification ranged from 71.7 to 90.8%. Combining all sex diagnostic traits in multi-feature sex estimation yielded correct classification performance in excess of 91% for the entire sample, whereas the sex of about three fourths of the sample could be determined with 100% accuracy according to posterior probability estimates. The proposed method provides an efficient and reliable way to estimate sex from cranial remains, and it offers significant advantages over existing methods. The proposed method can be readily implemented with the skullanalyzer computer program and the estimate_sex.m GNU Octave function, which are freely available under a suitable license. © 2020, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature

Size factor as one of the problems in the sex estimation of skulls: upper Palaeolithic sample from Predmosti (Czech Republic) as an example

In this study we estimate sex and population affinity of Gravettian Předmostí (P) skulls using linear and geometric discriminant analysis (DA), and compare them with results of 2D geometric morphometrics (GM). We used the measurements of P3 and P9 males, P4 and P10 females, as originally estimated by Matiegka (1934), as well as two databases - the recent skull database of Howells and the fossil data of Henke. DA classifies the P skulls as robust and belonging to the “male” region, loosing the sensitivity of inter-population differences influenced by size factor. That is why this approach could not be applied. The geographic inter-population differences according to DA do not define P skull shapes as extreme. The influence of geographic variability could be stronger than the inter-sexual differences. Despite the chronological differences between databases and Gravettian skulls, these differences are a component of regional inter-population variability. According to our results, GM is more successful methodological approach than DA. Our previous sex estimation of P skulls with help of GM is completely in accordance with the classical morphoscopic estimation. However, an appropriate reference database is necessary in both the GM and DA approaches. For the sexing of skull with unknown population affinity, and with absence of appropriate reference database, we suggest to use the application of more subjective visual scoring methods

Sample characterization of Danubian cemeteries : the examples of Vedrovice (Moravia) and Nitra-Horne Krskany (Slovakia)

International audienc

Rich table but short life: Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis in Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546-1601) and its possible consequences

The exhumation of Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546–1601) was performed in 2010 to verify speculative views on the cause of his death. Previous analyses of skeletal and hair remains recovered from his grave refuted the presumption that he died from poisoning. These studies also outlined the possibility that he actually died from an acute illness, echoing the rather vague and inaccurate testimony of some historical records. We performed a detailed paleopathological analysis of Tycho Brahe’s skeletal remains, along with a reconstruction of his diet based on carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes analysis and an estimate of his physical status (relative body fat) based on medullar and cortical dimensions of the femoral shaft. The astronomer’s remains exhibit bone changes indicative of diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH). The study further allows us to classify him as obese (100% reliability according to our decision tree designed from Danish males), and points out his rich diet (high input of animal protein and/or marine resources) and high social status. Comorbidities of DISH and obesity are reviewed, and their influence on health status is discussed. We further consider some conditions associated with metabolic syndrome as possible causes of Tycho Brahe’s final symptoms (urinary retention, renal failure and coma), including diabetes, alcoholic ketoacidosis and benign prostatic hypertrophy. Although a definite and specific diagnosis cannot be established, our study points to today’s civilization diseases often associated with DISH and metabolic syndrome as the possible cause of death of Tycho Brahe