Lab Quiz #4 Flashcards
Why Study Human Osteology?
Evolution (Paleoanthropologists)
Disease (Paleopathologist)
Specific Repeated activities (Bones are quite plastic and respond to what we do in life)
Ritual Practices
Environmental Conditions and stress
Nutritional habits or stress - “you are what you eat”: diagnostic chemical signatures of what a person ate are left on bones)
Population migration
Sex/Age
Crime (Forensic anthropology) and injury
Ideal Environment for Preservation
Waterlogged/frozen conditions
Ex: Tollund Man and Ice Maiden
Inhumation/Interment
Process of burying a human body in a simple grave or prepared tomb/crypt
Exhumation
Process of removing a human body from a simple grave or a prepared tomb/crypt
NAGPRA
In US - an important legislation that was enacted in 1990
Protects Native American human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony
Archaeologists must consult with tribes and reach agreements
How many bones in human body?
206
2 main types of bones
Axial: Central vertical portion of body - skull, ribs, vertebrae
Appendicular: Limbs
4 classes of bones
Long Bones, Short Bones, Flat Bones, Irregular Bones
Long Bones
Fairly long and tubular
Act as levers and sustain weight
Short Bones
Tubular but much shorter
Found where compactness, elasticity and limited motion are required
Flat Bones
Offer protection
Found on wide areas of muscle attachment
Irregular Bones
Shaped irregularly and in complex forms
Normal dentition of adult
32 permanent teeth
Teeth decay
Teeth are most resistant to body decay
Mouth is divided into
Quadrants
Dental Formula
Type and # of teeth in 1 quadrant
Normal dental formula of adult
2-1-2-3
What does first 2 represent? 2-1-2-3
2 incisors
What does second 2 represent? 2-1-2-3
2 premolars
What does 1 represent? 2-1-2-3
1 canine
What does 3 represent? 2-1-2-3
3 molars
Why is it easier to get a good estimate of the age of a child?
Skeletal morphology was still changing, and many characteristics of growth happen at a specific age.
It is easier to estimate the sex of an adult
True.
Two main criteria of Sex Estimation
Most male features are more robust than female ones. Muscle attachments are often bigger in males. The orbital ridge and mastoid process is usually more pronounced in males
The innominate bones of the pelvis are
also indicative of sex
What is Faunal analysis/zooarchaeology?
Study of animal remains, generally in form of bone, antler, shell, or ivory at archaeological sites
How are faunal remains usually preserved?
In hot, dry environments
2 divisions within zooarchaeology
Cultural analysis and Environmental analysis
What does faunal analysis provide information about?
Subsistence and diet, economy, trade and the environment
Cultural Analysis
Function of a site and types of activities that were performed there
Diet and subsistence of people living at a site
Whether animals were domesticated or not
Methods of hunting and butchering
Seasonality
What does weathered bone tell us?
It has not been deposited into the archaeological record soon after use and was probably exposed to the elements for a while before deposition
Environmental Analysis
Faunal remains used to reflect and reconstruct past environment
Insects and small rodents are very good for this type of investigation, as they are often quite sensitive to changes in environment
Taphonomy
Study of transition of faunal remains from natural state to archaeological state (processes that create/alter archaeological record after deposition)
Bone Artifacts
Awls (a long-pointed tool for perforating)
Points and Harpoons
Musical instruments
Ornamentation
Spindle Whorls
Flesher
Quantification of Faunal Remains
Analysis includes examining, quantifying, and interpreting the faunal remains found
Only under extremely rare conditions are 100% of faunal remains recovered from an archaeological site. Screening can help to increase the number of bones recovered
One will encounter differential bone
preservation at a site due to soil type, bone mass, species, bone type, and cultural factors such as breaking bones, or feeding leftovers to dogs, pigs, etc.
Factors that may bias one’s sample
- We don’t recover all the faunal remains
- Number of identifiable bone elements
- One will encounter differential bone preservation
Faunal analysis, 4 common standard methods of presenting data
- Number of Identified Specimens (NISP)
- Bone Measurement
- Bone Weight
- Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI)
What is bone composed of
collagen and hydroxyapatite
