Chapter 11 Flashcards
if what is present will archaeologists not excavate
human remains
there are _____ that protect human remains
laws
NAGPRA
native american graves protection and repatriation act
Canada has ______ that protect archaeological remains as a whole
heritage acts
what does not always go hand in hand with the laws
ethics
what must be done with human remains when found
identified if they are indeed human and not animal
what must be done after human remains have been identified
call the police
four types of burial contexts
- primary burial
- secondary burial
- cremation
- accidental death
accidental death
the death was not intentional, like falling down a cliff
archaeologists would find the remains by accident
accidental death
primary burial
individual was buried in the ground at or shortly after death with all the bones in the correct position
the dead was placed into a dug grave or in a coffin
primary burial
secondary burial
the bones are collected from the original burial and reburied in a new spot
will not have the human remains in their correct anatomical poistion
secondary burial
cremation
human beings placed in high heat and ashes are collected
burials can have ______ buried together that represent a _____ or _____ burial
individuals and family/group
burials can be placed as a single burial but still be
a part of the collective context
burials can be multiple but still be
primary context
barrow burial mounds
first remains are in primary context before shifting to secondary context as more remains are added
ossuary
a box that is not large enough to hold the person in anatomical position
association artifacts
any jewelry, grave goods or offerings found with or near the body
Canada’s heritage acts include
both the body and ALL artifacts found together
element refers to
the bone itself
what would the elements look like in a primary burial
they would mostly be all present
what would the elements look like a secondary burial
human remains would be mixed up and needed to be identified
why do burial contexts have good preservation of bones
they are protected from natural processes
with age you can recognize if the bone belongs to a
juvenile, adolescent or adult
animals have more data to date with on the body than humans
FALSE
bones in ______ give an age bracket of when the person died
context
what steps can be used to give a more specific age to adults
- look at the ware on teeth
- bone density loss
___ is more challenging to determine
sex
examples of bones that are good for sexing
- skull
- pelvis
what is important for secondary context
the number of bones present
two types of quantitative analysis
- NISP
- MINI
long bones consist of
legs and arms
measuring long bones can give an estimate of
how tall the person was
footprints can give an estimate of how
tall the person was
dry weight is about
25 to 30% of live weight
dry bones mean
the bones that are being collected after death
wet weight means
the weight of the person while alive
the weight is based on the average
height and sex calculations in society
the multiple primary burials would give an indication of the
population when alive
the body found at Cladh Hallan is the
oldest evidence of mummification
the body at Cladh Hallan is a ____ burial
composite
locomotion
the evolution of how we became modern homo sapiens from early primates
what happened to our morphology 5 mya
we went from walking on 4 legs to walking on 2 legs
how is the body oriented with four legs
parallel to the ground
how is the body oriented with two legs
perpendicular to the ground
what changes as we shift from 4 legs to 2
the cranium fuses with the spinal cord in a different way
foramen magnum
the hole of the skull that is where the brain fuses with the spinal cord
where is the foramen magnum located in humans
middle of the skull
where is the foramen magnum located in four-legged creatures
near the back of the skull
laetoli footprints are
indirect evidence for locomotion shift
what do the laetoli footprints show about the indivduals
walking on 2 legs and not 4
handedness
whether the people were right or left handed
what evidence can be used to show handedness
- artwork
- writing
- fractures/disease
- muscular arm/hand
- tools
what does a muscular arm/hand show about handedness
shows that the hand was used more often and has increased strength
what do fractures show about handedness
more fractures in one of the hands shows that it was used more
genetic evidence can confirm the
exact species that the remains are related to
lots of people today have Neanderthal DNA from
the interbreeding
Scythian Warriors
were women not men
DNA should be used
together with fossil evidence
speech gene mutation was around
100 000 years ago
endocast of the skull is a
fossilized brain
the speech is located
on the left hemisphere
finding a preserved brain is very common
FALSE
speech may be linked to
fine motor control
could Neandertals speak
Neanderthals and early modern humans did not have the same capability of speech as modern Homo Sapiens can
cavities in teeth are know as
carries
when do carries first spike
Neolithic period when grain was domesticated
harris lines show
periods of stopped growth because of malnutrition
bone collagen shows
deficient uptake of vitamins
coprolites are
fossilized feces
what can prove in cannibalism took place
coprolites that have DNA connected to another individual
Two or more DNA sequences found in coprolites suggest
direct evidence of cannibalism
cannibalism could take place because
- hunger
- some sort of ritual
Vitamin A toxicity comes from
eating large amounts of meat after having a diet mostly of grains
what does eating large amounts of meat cause
thickening of human bones and body not able to dispel vitamin A
Rickets
bowing of the legs
vitamin D deficiency
Rickets
Scurvy
vitamin C deficiency
binding
alterations that change the morphology of the bones
examples of intentional morphological alternations
- alteration
- binding
- medical procedure
- tattoos
antemortem
things that happen to the individual while living
the indivdual could overcome the trauma and survive
antemortem
the individual’s body was healing from the trauma
antemortem
perimortem
trauma right at the time of death
no lines of growth or healing
perimortem
likely to have died from the trauma
perimortem
post-mortem
what’s happened to the human remains between death and when the remains are found
natural processes that have affected the bones while buried
post-mortem
what is necessary at the perimortem stage
determining the cause of death
what factors played into the death of King Tut
- had a compound leg fracture
- became infected = blood infection
- genetic defects from parent incest
- contracted malaria
what key facts led to the finding of King Richard III’s body
- in the right age frame
- in the right time period and time frame
- wounds match descriptions of Richard
- living ancestor with matching DNA
how is age described in human remains
young, adult, old
can human remains be assigned measures in years and months
NO
best indicator for juveniles
the teeth
what was suggested about earlier ancestors compared to us
they grew up faster
how can bones show age
- the ends become fused to the shafts
one of the last bones fused is the
clavical
skull thickness in immature individuals
has a ROUGH relationship to age
thicker the skull
older the person
ribs become _______ with age
more irregular
smaller creatures reach maturity _______ than larger ones
sooner
synostosis
the early growing together (or fusion) of two or more bones in the skull
some ______ runs in the family
morphology
Radioimmunoassay
protein analysis that can identify protein molecules surviving in ancient fossils
can decipher taxonomic relationships of fossils, extinct or living organisms
Radioimmunoassay
detection of reaction to antibodies
Radioimmunoassay
blood groups have been determined from
soft tissue
bone
tooth dentine
Polysaccharides for blood are found
in all tissues NOT just red blood cells
A-B-O system blood types
A
AB
B
O
______ can help clarify physical relationships between different bodies
Blood
results from genetics do NOT show that
family relationships can be worked out through DNA analysis
over long periods of time
DNA molecules are broken up by chemical action
can extract tiny amounts of DNA left in
bones and teeth
stone tools cannot alone tell us
about language
what do marks on the teeth suggest
the mouth was a third handle to grip things
humans repeat actions throughout their lives and it
has an effect on the skeleton
squatting is a habitual trait among the Neanderthals with the
slight flattening of the thigh bones
load-carrying can lead to
degenerative changes in the lower spine
intact bodies can give a
precise cause of death
most afflictions that lead to death
leave no trace on bone
the study of ancient diseases tells us
more about life than death
what survives in soft tissue
parasites
first place to look for parasites in the body
the gut
how can parasites be identified
morphology
example of bodies that had parasites
Egyptian mummies
another source of parasitic information
human feces
how do parasites survive well in human feces
their hard shells
who would commonly be parasite free
hunter-gatherers
________ can also survive in recognizable forms in soft tissue
scabs and viruses
we KNOW how long microbes can lie dormant in the ground
FALSE
skeletal remains are ________ than soft tissue
more abundant
two categories of effects on bone
- violent damage
- disease or congenital deformity
examination of violent damage on the bone can show
- how the damage was caused
- how serious the consequences were
what is needed when the skull has been crushed
x-ray analysis
what holds a limited interest in the medical history
individual wounds and fractures
what is more important in the medical history
frequency and type of injuries
the aim of studying violent damage
study trauma with other pathological conditions as they occur in ENTIRE groups of communities
three ways diseases can affect the bone
- cause the formation
- cause destruction
- cause BOTH
bone lesions of certain diseases can differ
in their number and location in the skeleton
the overall size and shape of the bone can show
growth disorders
Where are Harris Lines the clearest
tibia
in adults, the most common aliment would have been
arthritis
computed axial tomography
a CT or CAT scanner allows certain detailed internal views of bodies
Demographic archaeology
concerned with estimates from archaeological data of various aspects of populations
examples of aspects of Demographic archaeology work with
- size
- density
- growth rates
concerned with the role of population in cultural change
Demographic archaeology
Paleodemography
concerned with the study of skeletal remains to estimate population parameters
example of Paleodemography population parameter
life expectancy
attempt to reconstruct past population structure using samples of human skeletons
Paleodemography
the language spoken by the community is the best predictor of
genetic characteristics of that community
genetics and language are both
products of simular evolutionary processes
what changes much faster
language or genetics
language
some evidence suggests that mtDNA reflect
different haplogroups
macrofamily
a group of language families showing similarities to suggest they are genetically related
we must extract the ______ information from bodies while causing _____ damage to the remains
max and minimum
five non-destructive techniques
- x-rays
- xeroradiography
- computerized axial tomography
- magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
- fibre-optic endoscope
x-rays are also known as
radiographs
what do x-rays reveal lots about
coffins and what lies within
Xeroradiography
a cross between x-rays and a photocopy
produces electrostatic images from coloured power blown onto a selenium plate
Xeroradiography
sharper definition than x-rays
Xeroradiography
both soft tissue and hard tissue can be shown on the same image
Xeroradiography
Computerized (computed) axial tomography (CT) is most effective with
tissues of different density
helical scanners
move around the body and give continuous images
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
lines up body’s hydrogen atoms in a strong magnetic field and causes them to resonate by radio waves
only suitable for objects containing water
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
fibre-optic endoscope
can look inside bodies and see what has survived/assess the condition
reveals details about mummification process and disease
fibre-optic endoscope
what non-destructive technique is also sometimes destructive
fibre-optic endoscope
when tissues are removed how are they rehydrated
in a solution of bicarbonate soda
what happens as the tissue is rehydrated
becomes fragile
microbes are estimated to make up
half of earth’s total biomass
microbes are slightly more than half the
cells in the human body
most of the microbes are
neutral or beneficial
lactic acid bacteria and yeast are used in prehistory to
ferment wine, making bread and sour milk
bones can be infected by
disease
teeth are essential in understanding
- evolution of the human microbiome
- evolution of past epidemics
- evolution of disease
dental calculus
mineralized form of dental plaque that builds up on the surface of teeth
arguments that all American languages belong to
three major macrofamolies
the three major macrofamilies of American languages give rise to the idea that
there was three main migrations into the Americas
it is IMPOSSIBLE to tie language groups in the Americas to the
migrations from Asia
idea that all Native American’s descended from a single
incoming population wave
second population immigration of Native Americans
the material culture of the Paleo-Eskimos
Third population immigration of Native Americans
the Neo-Eskimos include the Thule and ancestors of the Inuit
mtDNA and Y-chromosome branching patterns between Australia and other Indian Ocean populations show
Australia was isolated after the initial settlement
Minor secondary gene flow into Australia could have been from the
land bridge before it was submerged
