Cubic Dice: Archaeological Material for Understanding Historical Processes

The characteristics of dice found in archaeological contexts assist in the understanding of historical processes and human behavior. The dice attributes of configuration and dot pattern are regionally and/or temporally specific and can be used to help date dice themselves or the context in which they are found. As well, dice have been used to decipher Etruscan words and may identify novice and expert dice makers in the archaeological record. The shape and size of the dots and dice cubes further inform the distinctive appearance of dice in medieval versus Roman times

The Role of Canids in Ritual and Domestic Contexts: New Ancient DNA Insights from Complex Hunter-Gatherer Sites in Prehistoric Central California

This study explores the interrelationship between the genus Canis and hunter–gatherers through a case study of prehistoric Native Americans in the San Francisco Bay-Sacramento Delta area. A distinctive aspect of the region\u27s prehistoric record is the interment of canids, variously classified as coyotes, dogs, and wolves. Since these species are difficult to distinguish based solely on morphology, ancient DNA analysis was employed to distinguish species. The DNA study results, the first on canids from archaeological sites in California, are entirely represented by domesticated dogs (including both interments and disarticulated samples from midden deposits). These results, buttressed by stable isotope analyses, provide new insight into the complex interrelationship between humans and canids in both ritual and prosaic contexts, and reveal a more prominent role for dogs than previously envisioned

Sex-Ratio, Health, and Social Status: A Biographical Description of Middle and Late Period Bay Area Children

The aim of this paper is to present new information pertaining to the demographic profile of the juvenile burial assemblage (n=39) from a Late Holocene site located on the eastern shore of the San Francisco Bay. CA-ALA-329 is commonly referred to as Ryan Mound and now bears the Muwekma Ohlone name of Mánni Muwékma Kúksú Hóowok Yatiš Túnnešte-tka, which means Place Where the People of the Kúksú (Bighead) Pendants are Buried. This site has been extensively studied and has contributed significantly to our understanding of life on the Bay during the Middle and Late Periods. However, most of the previous studies have focused on adults. The goal of the present study is to identify patterns in the profiles of those who died prematurely, including their sex, their degree of stress experienced based on skeletal indicators of disease/malnutrition, and their social status based on associated grave goods. Results show high incidence of skeletal indicators consistent with nutritional deficiency, disease/infection, and/or metabolic disorder observed in the sample. This suggests that this population was experiencing stress. Individual circumstances, such as age and sex, may also have contributed to poor health because infants have the highest prevalence of cribra orbitalia and periostitis. The distribution of wealth as evidenced by burial goods associated with the sample shows some correlation with age-at-death and the types of artifacts. Distribution of wealth also differs temporally. Inequality seems to have been highest in the Middle Period, while inequality decreased, but overall wealth increased, into the Late Period

Contrasting Male and Female Dietary Life Histories: A Case Study at an Ancestral Muwekma Ohlone Heritage Site in San Jose, California

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of bones and teeth at the ancestral heritage Muwekma Ohlone site of Yakmuy ‘Ooyákma-tka (“Place of the East Ridge Site”; CA-SCL-215) reveal significant differences in the dietary life history of males and females. Overall, isotope data indicate that site inhabitants were primarily dependent on low trophic-level foods, likely plants, and minor amounts of marine food for their main source of dietary protein. From tooth dentin serial samples, we found that males were elevated by 0.6-1.0‰ in δ15N in early childhood (age 1-9 years) relative to females, while δ13C values were similar by sex, indicating boys were accessing slightly greater amounts of higher trophic-level foods, such as meat from game. The sex-biased difference in δ15N diminishes during the second decade of life, as female δ15N values increase and become equal to males. However, a difference in δ13C emerges during the second decade where female δ13C values are elevated relative to males. This could indicate that teenage females consumed higher amounts of low trophic-level, marine-derived protein, such as shellfish. During later adult years, the difference in δ13C disappears, while males again show an increase in δ15N relative to females. Although these differences are small, they reveal important sex-biased life history patterns during childhood and adulthood in this ancient community

Disease and Healing in Ancient Societies: Dental Calculus Residues and Skeletal Pathology Data Indicate Age and Sex-Biased Medicinal Practices among Native Californians

The health of humans is intricately linked to the substances - both food and non-dietary items -we ingest. Adverse health outcomes related to smoking of products like tobacco and other psychoactive substances are clearly established in modern populations but are less well understood for ancient communities. Grasping these dynamics is further complicated by the curative, religious, and medicinal context of many of these substances, which have often been commodified, refined, and altered in recent history. As part of a larger collaboration with the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe dedicated to understanding medicinal plant use among native Californians, we present a summary of new metabolomic data from three Middle and Late-period ancestral heritage Ohlone sites: Thámien Rúmmeytak (CA-SCL-128), ’Ayttakiš ’Éete Hiramwiš Trépam-tak (CA-ALA-677/H/H), and Sii Tuupentak (CA-ALA-565/H/H). Using a UPLC-MS platform, we analyze chemical residues from 95 human dental calculus samples from 50 burials. Employing multivariate statistics, we co-analyzed demographic and skeletal pathology data with chemical residue profiles. We considered skeletal markers for a series of oral and postcranial health conditions. Results indicate sex and age biases in consumption patterns. Periodontitis stands out as the most significant local factor for changes in the oral metabolome. However, while chemical markers of oral diseases may be related to pathogen activity, associations between residues and postcranial conditions such as osteoarthritis suggest traditional curative practices and the ingestion of medicinal substances. Hence, our study yields new insights into the broader context of illness and healing in the past

Production bias in cultural evolution: An examination of cubic dice variation in experimental and archaeological contexts

Similar artifact function and conformism to social norms are two models commonly proposed to explain why ancient people shared a particular form of material culture. We propose an additional model for explaining such similarity, production bias, which focuses on interactions between raw materials and the production of material culture. By way of modern replication experiments and a survey of ancient examples, we use dice to exemplify production bias and discuss how it can be recognized in the archaeological record. Although there are 15 possible configurations for cubic dice, all of equal function, only three are common in the archaeological record. Replication experiments show that one is the result of production bias, and is differentially produced by novice dice-makers. The other two are the byproduct of conformist cultural transmission processes. A similar result holds for dot patterns, or how dots are placed with respect to one another to represent a particular number