Bone chemistry and bioarchaeology

Abstract Isotopic analysis of bones and teeth is now routinely used for dating skeletons and archaeological sites, and for diet, climate, and habitat reconstruction. Techniques of radiocarbon dating of bones and teeth developed by Harold Krueger and others during the 1960s laid the groundwork for subsequent research on stable carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and strontium isotope analysis. We first review salient points in the history of research in bone isotope biogeochemistry, focusing on KruegerÕs contributions. We then discuss the significance of contributions to this volume of the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology for the current state of research in dietary and environmental reconstruction in archaeology, bioarchaeology, and paleoanthropology. All papers in this volume include isotopic analysis of the carbonate phase of bone and/or tooth enamel apatite for dietary and/or environmental reconstruction. Harold Krueger was instrumental in developing methods of apatite purification for removing diagenetic phases, isotopic analysis, and interpretive models of paleodiets. Apatite isotopic analysis is now an important area of bone biogeochemistry research that provides powerful tools for reconstructing human behavior in the emerging anthropological discipline of bioarchaeology

87Sr/86Sr and 14C evidence for peccary (Tayassuidae) introduction challenges accepted historical interpretation of the 1657 Ligon map of Barbados

Contemporary West Indian biodiversity has been shaped by two millennia of non-native species introductions. Understanding the dynamics of this process and its legacy across extended temporal and spatial scales requires accurate knowledge of introduction timing and the species involved. Richard Ligon’s 17th century account and celebrated map of early colonial Barbados records the translocation of several Old World species to the island in the post-contact era, including pigs (Sus scrofa) believed to have been released by passing sailors the century prior. Here we challenge this long-accepted historical narrative, presenting evidence that Ligon’s “pigs” were in fact peccaries, a New World continental mammal often confused with wild boars. We document the first recorded instance of non-native peccary (Tayassuidae) on Barbados based on a securely identified mandibular specimen from a historic archaeological context. Results of specimen 87Sr/86Sr and AMS radiocarbon assays, along with newly reported data from Sr isotope environmental analyses, indicate a local origin dating to AD 1645–1670/1780–1800. These data support the presence of living peccary on Barbados some time during the first 175 years of English settlement, which, based on review of historical and archaeological data, most likely arises from 16th century peccary introduction from the Guianas/Trinidad by the Spanish or Portuguese. We argue dimorphic representations of “pigs” on Ligon’s map reflect the co-occurrence of peccary and European domestic swine on historic Barbados. Our findings overturn conventional history and provide greater taxonomic and chronological resolution for Caribbean bioinvasion studies, helping to refine our understanding of potential ecological impacts. In addition, the new bioavailable 87Sr/86Sr data for Barbados reported here advance current efforts toward mapping the Caribbean Sr isoscape

Biocultural Practices during the Transition to History at the Vat Komnou Cemetery, Angkor Borei, Cambodia

Mainland Southeast Asia underwent dramatic changes after the mid-first millennium B.C.E., as its populations embraced new metallurgical and agricultural technologies. Southeast Asians transformed their physical and social environments further through their participation in international maritime trade networks. Early state formation characterized much of the mainland by the mid-first millennium C.E. We examined a protohistoric (200 B.C.E.–200 C.E.) skeletal sample from the Vat Komnou cemetery at Angkor Borei in the Mekong Delta (southern Cambodia) to understand the health impacts of this changing environment. Degenerative joint disease patterns indicate a distinct sexual division of labor. Although intentional dental filing was practiced, its impact on oral-dental health could not be determined. Dental pathologies suggest a mixed diet with more fibrous foods and a lower reliance on soft, processed agricultural foods. A broad-spectrum diet and varied use of the local environment are inferred from the faunal evidence. Stable isotope ratios indicate a relatively greater reliance on fish and estuarine dietary resources than on terrestrial protein. Affinities with other groups in the region are suggested by the cultural practices of the relatively tall, healthy inhabitants from Vat Komnou

Evidence for Patterns of Selective Urban Migration in the Greater Indus Valley (2600-1900 BC): A Lead and Strontium Isotope Mortuary Analysis

Just as modern nation-states struggle to manage the cultural and economic impacts of migration, ancient civilizations dealt with similar external pressures and set policies to regulate people’s movements. In one of the earliest urban societies, the Indus Civilization, mechanisms linking city populations to hinterland groups remain enigmatic in the absence of written documents. However, isotopic data from human tooth enamel associated with Harappa Phase (2600-1900 BC) cemetery burials at Harappa (Pakistan) and Farmana (India) provide individual biogeochemical life histories of migration. Strontium and lead isotope ratios allow us to reinterpret the Indus tradition of cemetery inhumation as part of a specific and highly regulated institution of migration. Intra-individual isotopic shifts are consistent with immigration from resource-rich hinterlands during childhood. Furthermore, mortuary populations formed over hundreds of years and composed almost entirely of first-generation immigrants suggest that inhumation was the final step in a process linking certain urban Indus communities to diverse hinterland groups. Additional multi disciplinary analyses are warranted to confirm inferred patterns of Indus mobility, but the available isotopic data suggest that efforts to classify and regulate human movement in the ancient Indus region likely helped structure socioeconomic integration across an ethnically diverse landscape

The dead shall be raised : Multidisciplinary analysis of human skeletons reveals complexity in 19th century immigrant socioeconomic history and identity in New Haven, Connecticut

In July 2011, renovations to Yale-New Haven Hospital inadvertently exposed the cemetery of Christ Church, New Haven, Connecticut’s first Catholic cemetery. While this cemetery was active between 1833 and 1851, both the church and its cemetery disappeared from public records, making the discovery serendipitous. Four relatively well-preserved adult skeletons were recovered with few artifacts. All four individuals show indicators of manual labor, health and disease stressors, and dental health issues. Two show indicators of trauma, with the possibility of judicial hanging in one individual. Musculoskeletal markings are consistent with physical stress, and two individuals have arthritic indicators of repetitive movement/specialized activities. Radiographic analyses show osteopenia, healed trauma, and other pathologies in several individuals. Dental calculus analysis did not identify any tuberculosis indicators, despite osteological markers. Isotopic analyses of teeth indicate that all four were likely recent immigrants to the Northeastern United States. Nuclear and mitochondrial DNA were recovered from three individuals, and these analyses identified ancestry, hair/eye color, and relatedness. Genetic and isotopic results upended our initial ancestry assessment based on burial context alone. These individuals provide biocultural evidence of New Haven’s Industrial Revolution and the plasticity of ethnic and religious identity in the immigrant experience. Their recovery and the multifaceted analyses described here illuminate a previously undescribed part of the city’s rich history. The collective expertise of biological, geochemical, archaeological, and historical researchers interprets socioeconomic and cultural identity better than any one could alone. Our combined efforts changed our initial assumptions of a poor urban Catholic cemetery’s membership, and provide a template for future discoveries and analyses

Bronze Age population dynamics and the rise of dairy pastoralism on the eastern Eurasian steppe

Recent paleogenomic studies have shown that migrations of Western steppe herders (WSH) beginning in the Eneolithic (ca. 3300-2700 BCE) profoundly transformed the genes and cultures of Europe and central Asia. Compared with Europe, however, the eastern extent of this WSH expansion is not well defined. Here we present genomic and proteomic data from 22 directly dated Late Bronze Age burials putatively associated with early pastoralism in northern Mongolia (ca. 1380-975 BCE). Genome-wide analysis reveals that they are largely descended from a population represented by Early Bronze Age hunter-gatherers in the Baikal region, with only a limited contribution (∼7%) of WSH ancestry. At the same time, however, mass spectrometry analysis of dental calculus provides direct protein evidence of bovine, sheep, and goat milk consumption in seven of nine individuals. No individuals showed molecular evidence of lactase persistence, and only one individual exhibited evidence of >10% WSH ancestry, despite the presence of WSH populations in the nearby Altai-Sayan region for more than a millennium. Unlike the spread of Neolithic farming in Europe and the expansion of Bronze Age pastoralism on the Western steppe, our results indicate that ruminant dairy pastoralism was adopted on the Eastern steppe by local hunter-gatherers through a process of cultural transmission and minimal genetic exchange with outside groups

Reconstructing Human Subsistence in the West Mouth (Niah Cave, Sarawak) Burial Series Using Stable Isotopes of Carbon

The human burial series from the West Mouth of Niah Cave (Sarawak) offers a unique opportunity to explore prehistoric subsistence patterns in lowland tropical rainforest. Over 200 primary and secondary burials, classified as pre-Neolithic and Neolithic, have been recovered since prelimina;{, excavations beAan there a half-century ago. Stable isotope ratios of carbon (13C/ 2C, reported as I) 3C values) derived from human tooth enamel provide a quantitative measure of individual food consumption during the time of enamel formation. Such data provide a robust and independent assessment of total diet that complements other subsistence information recovered from the archaeological record. West Mouth human tooth enamel examined shows a broad range of I)13C values (-15.7%0 to -11.3%0), consistent with a C3-based subsistence regime as would be expected in rainforest habitats dominated by C3 vegetation. Pre-Neolithic individuals have more negative I)13C values on average (N = 15, X = -14.3%0) than Neolithic individuals sampled (N = 28, X = -13.1%0). This isotopic shift is statistically significant and suggests a fundamental change in human subsistence between the late Pleistocene/early Holocene and later Holocene inhabitants at Niah. Pre-Neolithic o13C values suggest broad spectrum rainforest foraging, whereas less negative Neolithic I)13C values, on average, suggest a more coordinated regime of food production and/or collection. Studies of 1)13C variation in rainforest habitats contribute to this interpretation, particularly with respect to the "canopy effect," whereby closed-canopy foraging predicts more negative I)13C values, while food resources consumed by exploiting more open settings (such as fields, gaps, and swamps) predict less negative I)13C values. These data have important implications for interpreting the nature of human subsistence in a rainforest setting prior to and after the potential adoption of agriculture by the inhabitants represented in the West Mouth burial series. KEYWORDS: Niah Cave, Southeast Asia, Borneo, prehistory, late Pleistocene, Holocene, Neolithic, bioarchaeology, palaeodiet, subsistence, carbon isotopes

Analysis Of Human Cremains

This chapter provides a detailed overview of the contemporary cremation process that begins with a human body and ends with a small volume of inorganic matter that can fit in a small box or an urn. The various methods that cremation analysts have traditionally used to analyse cremated remains are discussed first. Next, the potential of using chemical methods that help to answer some basic questions about the elemental make-up and basic properties of cremated bones and teeth are explored. The use of chemical methods for elemental analysis is now considered to be a regular step when analysing cremains. In particular, chemical techniques can answer some basic questions about the composition of cremains that cannot be determined from gross and microscopic methods alone. For example, this method can be used to determine whether the disputed cremains comprise bones or a foreign material that was substituted for the cremains. Additionally, chemical methods may provide the only supporting evidence for the identification of cremains by detecting elevated levels of normal minor elements found in bone tissue or the presence of rare trace elements that were acquired during the decedent\u27s life

Analysis Of Human Cremains: Gross And Chemical Methods

This chapter provides a detailed overview of the contemporary cremation process that begins with a human body and ends with a volume of inorganic matter that can fit in a small box or an urn. It discusses various methods that cremation analysts have traditionally used to analyze cremated remains. The chapter also explores the potential of using chemical methods that help to answer some basic questions about the elemental make-up and basic properties of cremated bones and teeth. The use of chemical methods for elemental analysis is now considered to be a regular step when analyzing cremains. In particular, chemical techniques can answer some basic questions about the composition of cremains that cannot be answered from gross and microscopic methods alone. Chemical methods can be used to determine whether the disputed cremains are comprised of bones or a foreign material that was substituted for the cremains. Chemical methods may provide the only supporting evidence for the identification of cremains by detecting elevated levels of normal minor elements found in bone tissue or the presence of rare trace elements that were acquired during the decedent\u27s life. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved