Lab Quiz #4

Question 1

Why Study Human Osteology?

Answer 1

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

Question 2

Ideal Environment for Preservation

Answer 2

Waterlogged/frozen conditions
Ex: Tollund Man and Ice Maiden

Question 3

Inhumation/Interment

Answer 3

Process of burying a human body in a simple grave or prepared tomb/crypt

Question 4

Exhumation

Answer 4

Process of removing a human body from a simple grave or a prepared tomb/crypt

Question 5

NAGPRA

Answer 5

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

Question 6

How many bones in human body?

Answer 6

206

Question 7

2 main types of bones

Answer 7

Axial: Central vertical portion of body - skull, ribs, vertebrae
Appendicular: Limbs

Question 8

4 classes of bones

Answer 8

Long Bones, Short Bones, Flat Bones, Irregular Bones

Question 9

Long Bones

Answer 9

Fairly long and tubular
Act as levers and sustain weight

Question 10

Short Bones

Answer 10

Tubular but much shorter
Found where compactness, elasticity and limited motion are required

Question 11

Flat Bones

Answer 11

Offer protection
Found on wide areas of muscle attachment

Question 12

Irregular Bones

Answer 12

Shaped irregularly and in complex forms

Question 13

Normal dentition of adult

Answer 13

32 permanent teeth

Question 14

Teeth decay

Answer 14

Teeth are most resistant to body decay

Question 15

Mouth is divided into

Answer 15

Quadrants

Question 16

Dental Formula

Answer 16

Type and # of teeth in 1 quadrant

Question 17

Normal dental formula of adult

Answer 17

2-1-2-3

Question 18

What does first 2 represent? 2-1-2-3

Answer 18

2 incisors

Question 19

What does second 2 represent? 2-1-2-3

Answer 19

2 premolars

Question 20

What does 1 represent? 2-1-2-3

Answer 20

1 canine

Question 21

What does 3 represent? 2-1-2-3

Answer 21

3 molars

Question 22

Why is it easier to get a good estimate of the age of a child?

Answer 22

Skeletal morphology was still changing, and many characteristics of growth happen at a specific age.

Question 23

It is easier to estimate the sex of an adult

Answer 23

True.

Question 24

Two main criteria of Sex Estimation

Answer 24

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

Question 25

What is Faunal analysis/zooarchaeology?

Answer 25

Study of animal remains, generally in form of bone, antler, shell, or ivory at archaeological sites

Question 26

How are faunal remains usually preserved?

Answer 26

In hot, dry environments

Question 27

2 divisions within zooarchaeology

Answer 27

Cultural analysis and Environmental analysis

Question 28

What does faunal analysis provide information about?

Answer 28

Subsistence and diet, economy, trade and the environment

Question 29

Cultural Analysis

Answer 29

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

Question 30

What does weathered bone tell us?

Answer 30

It has not been deposited into the archaeological record soon after use and was probably exposed to the elements for a while before deposition

Question 30

Environmental Analysis

Answer 30

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

Question 31

Taphonomy

Answer 31

Study of transition of faunal remains from natural state to archaeological state (processes that create/alter archaeological record after deposition)

Question 32

Bone Artifacts

Answer 32

Awls (a long-pointed tool for perforating)
Points and Harpoons
Musical instruments
Ornamentation
Spindle Whorls
Flesher

Question 33

Quantification of Faunal Remains

Answer 33

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.

Question 34

Factors that may bias one’s sample

Answer 34

1. We don’t recover all the faunal remains
2. Number of identifiable bone elements
3. One will encounter differential bone preservation

Question 35

Faunal analysis, 4 common standard methods of presenting data

Answer 35

1. Number of Identified Specimens (NISP)
2. Bone Measurement
3. Bone Weight
4. Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI)

Question 36

What is bone composed of

Answer 36

collagen and hydroxyapatite