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Gluten-Free Rome: Celiac disease in the bioarchaeological record: Celiac Disease in the Bioarchaeological Record
No full textCeliac disease, an autoimmune disorder triggered by consumption of the gluten protein, is theorized to have originated alongside the domestication of wheat during the European Agricultural Revolution, ca. 8 000 BCE (Freeman 2013). Human conditions that primarily affect soft tissue, like celiac disease, do not leave tangible evidence on the skeleton and therefore it is difficult to prove their presence. However, recent analyses have employed a suite of macroscopic, molecular, and chemical techniques to establish that a Roman Imperial (100–300 CE) individual from Cosa, Italy, likely suffered from celiac disease. This paper analyzes the works of these researchers and argues that this case study exemplifies modern bioarchaeology, which frequently requires an arsenal of methods beyond visual observation. Using similar syntheses of techniques bioarchaeologists can possibly identify celiac disease in individuals predating 100 CE, recreating the origins of celiac disease as well as tackling other previously ‘impossible’ research questions in this field
Touch, martial arts, and embodied knowledge
No full textTouch is essential to normal human development. It communicates a wide variety of things depending on the culture and the context. Through touch the boundary between subject and object becomes blurred and empathy can be cultivated. In the context of martial arts, touch can paradoxically lower levels of aggression,particularly in a traditional setting. This paper explores how touch is managed in martial arts and the embodied experiences that it can cultivate. Positivistic methodologies have revealed some of the benefits of martial arts on both physical and mental health, and studies that take a quantitative and culturally sensitive approach are revealing other dimensions of bodily experience
The relationship between age and arachnoid depressions in humans
No full textThe human skeletal collection housed in the Department of Anthropolog y at the University of Alberta was used to determine the relationship between age and the occurrence of arachnoid depressions on the endocranial aspect of the skull. There were significant differences between the total number of arachnoid depressions found on the vaults of juveniles, adolescents, and adults. When mean ages were compared with total number of arachnoid depressions on the vault, a significant relationship did not emerge. When age was grouped into nine-year intervals to counteract the effect of idiosyncratic variation, the mean number of depressions increased with age, as did the maximum number of arachnoid depressions. The frequency of older individuals without arachnoid depressions waslow. Older individuals were more likely to have larger and deeper arachnoid depressions. There were no sex-based differences in the expression of arachnoid depressions. There were no significant differences between archaeological, historic, and modern samples or between pathological and healthy individuals. Although this study verifies the association between arachnoid depressions and senescence, the presence of arachnoid depressions is highly variable andcannot be used reliably as an indicator of chronological age or even as a sign of senescence
Re-approaching palaeodiet in the Andes: use and application of sulphur isotope analysis in reconstructing Peruvian palaeodiet: Use and Application of Sulphur Isotope Analysis in Reconstructing Ancient Peruvian Diet
No full textoai:ojs3_compass:article/9This research critically examines palaeodietary analyses in ancient Peru. Research is often approached using ceramics, flora, and faunal remains to examine human diet and behaviour prior to written records however these remains may not be indicative of items used exclusively for subsistence. More directed approaches employ stable isotope analyses of human remains as these data can provide direct indication of foods consumed during life. Peruvian isotope studies focus on 13C-enrichment patterns, and follow the premise that maize (corn) was the main source of 13C-enrichment recorded in bone collagen. Recent studies in Peru have identified other dietary sources that cause similar enrichment patterns, including kiwicha (pseudocereal), marine protein (e.g. shellfish, fish, and seals), and mococho (seaweed). As a result, additional methodologies must be employed to more sufficiently identify sources of subsistence in ancient Peru. I propose that stable sulphur isotope methodology may be used to overcome the issues presented. By critically reviewing previous palaeodietary analyses of Peru I examine current limitations and overview the application potential of carbon and nitrogen isotope studies complemented with sulphur isotope analysis of human and faunal remains within a Peruvian context. Ultimately I advocate for a more comprehensive approach to Peruvian palaeodiet
Place and contested identity: portraying the role of the place in shaping common sociopolitical identity in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh
No full textThis research is about how a collective socio-political identity, the ‘Pahari’ (the hill people), is constructed by the ethnoculturally diversifi ed groups of indigenous people in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh. While conducting my PhD dissertation fi eldwork in the CHT, I experienced that most of the non-Bengali ethnicities use a common term ‘Pahari’ in their everyday conversations. This term derives from the Bengali word ‘pahar’, which means “hill”; and the term ‘Pahari’ is the term used by ‘the inhabitants of hills’ or ‘the hill people’ to introduce them to visitors, tourists, or in their everyday conversations. Of course, they have their own distinctive and individual ethnic identity marked by language, religion, kinship, and marriage system (e.g., Chakma, Marma, Tanchang ya). Thus, they have two different identities: the ethnic identity and the common socio-political identity. The infl uence of hills, land, forest, Kaptai Lake, and above all, the ecological system of this region on the economy and the lives of the people who live here is immense. In this research paper, I will refl ect on how a particular place, a different geographical setting, is used to bring group members of diverse ethnicities together in order to construct a common socio-political identity. Although the ‘place’ is central to the construction of this Pahari identity, social, economic, and political relations with the Bengalis appear as determining factors in adopting such collective identity by the culturally differentiating ethnicities in the CHT. Finally, I will describe how and why the Pahari identity is contested and contradictory in broader socio-political context in Bangladesh
Using Debitage Analysis to Investigate an Alberta Archaeological Site
No full textAhai Mneh (FiPp-33) is a significant pre-contact archaeological site in Alberta. Located west of Edmonton on Lake Wabamun, this site contains material from the Early Prehistoric right up until Late Prehistoric pre-contact times. Ninety-five percent of the lithic artifacts collected are pieces of debitage. Aggregate analysis is a method of examining the whole of the debitage collection, rather than analysing singular pieces. This method is more time efficient, less subject to bias, replicable, and is used often, and successfully, at archaeological sites with immense quantities of debitage. Here I use aggregate analysis to examine the debitage assemblage from two field schools at Ahai Mneh. I investigate various characteristics such as size, raw material type, cortex amount, and number of dorsal scars. I argue that this method is successful, as it provided new information on where people were acquiring raw materials, as well as what types of flintknapping occurred at this site. These analyses resulted in the determination of a focus on local raw material, yet this material was being brought to the site as prepared cores or blanks, rather than complete unaltered cores. Tool production was the focus at this site, and this trend continued throughout time
Identification of Macrofossils within Stone Tools: a possibility for tracing the source of artifacts? A possibility for tracing the source of artifacts?
No full textThis paper discusses the application of malacological identification of macrofossils in stone tools. A macroscopically distinct toolstone utilized by prehistoric peoples, reported widely in archaeological consulting literature across central and southern Alberta (Meyer et al. 2007; de Mille 2009; Bohach 2010; Porter 2014), features fossilized root traces and occasional large fossil shells. These fossils can be identified, and correlated with temporal and geologic formations indicative of the environments within which the taxa occurred. Artifacts with fossils morphologically coherent with Hydrobia, Lioplacodes, and Viviparus spp. are identified in stone artifacts analyzed in this paper. These taxa are consistent with depositional environments of Paleocene period Paskapoo Formation sedimentary rocks, particularly, as identified at the Blindman-Red Deer River confluence and Joffre roadcut paleontological localities (Hoffman and Stockey 2011). In this paper we explore how the identification of these fossils offer clues to the procurement areas which were sought out by prehistoric toolmakers. We do not suggest that all Red Deer Mudstone is from these localities, though the fossil molluscs presented so far do not refute this conclusion, but we do suggest that identifying large fossil shells can be a critical diagnostic tool for identifying the geologic origin of artifacts