1,720,979 research outputs found
Social reorganization and biological change: an examination of stature variation among Iron Age Samnites from Abruzzo, Italy.
No full textBetween the Orientalizing-Archaic (c. 800-500 BC) and Hellenistic periods (400-27 BC) of the Iron Age, Samnites shifted from being warlike mountain dwellers to becoming a federate state able to challenge Rome’s supremacy over the Italian peninsula. This transition involved a profound reorganization of power relations in the society, which likely affected human biology in many ways. This study explored the biological impacts of this profound social reorganization by examining variation in limb bone lengths (humerus, femur, tibia) and adult stature in relation to time period, sex and social status (as inferred from archaeological evidence). Materials included 568 (192 female; 376 male) Samnites from three different time periods, respectively before, during, and after the social transition. We identified the best regression method for stature estimation in this sample by means of delta of Gini, estimated sexual dimorphism by time period, and used non-parametric analyses to test for differences in long bone lengths and stature among period and status subsamples. Contrary to expectations, results showed no decrease in bone lengths or stature associated with demographic growth and urbanization in Hellenistic period. Significant differences (p=0.02) associated with social status were detected among Orientalizing-Archaic males, where higher status individuals exhibited longer femora and greater stature. Contrary to expectations, in Hellenistic times inequalities appear to be mitigated. Variation in sexual dimorphism throughout social transition and no association between status and female growth outcomes in any period suggest differential access to resources by gender and/or sex-related differences in the susceptibility to environmental perturbations during development
Bioarchaeology of Life and Death in Tuscany, Italy, AD 900–1900
Full text linkHuman remains from archaeological contexts provide a fund of information for addressing questions and hypotheses about what life was like in the past. These remains are especially important because they represent the individual and their life experiences from early childhood through adulthood, and especially those experiences relating to health and lifestyle. This paper presents an overview of health indicators documented in an ongoing bioarchaeological project involving the study of remains of people interred at the church of San Pietro a Pozzeveri, located near the village of Badia Pozzeveri in the province of Tuscany, northern Italy. Founded in the 11th century A.D., the church was in continuous existence until the mid-20th century. The church was part of a monastery during the 12th through 14th centuries, and was located on the Via Francigena, a strategic trade and pilgrimage route connecting Canterbury, England, with Rome. Archaeological excavations have produced numerous skeletons from the medieval, Renaissance, and modern (17th to 19th centuries) periods. Key events that impacted the people living in this region included the Black Death, which swept through Europe in the medieval period, and the local record of the global cholera epidemic in the mid-19th century. Study of skeletal and dental pathology (osteoperiostitis, osteoarthritis, dental caries), trauma, and other evidence of living conditions reveals the hardships of life in this setting. The record of infection and poor oral health speaks to both the poor circumstances of diet, including a focus on dietary carbohydrates, and poor health generally in the region in particular and Europe in general during this thousand-year period of history
Advanced Gis applications for bioarchaeology: methods and case studies
No full textNew computer technologies have become indispensable components in Human Sciences. Archaeology has a long history of adopting and using these technologies to document the site and the excavation process, to record the location of excavated artifacts and materials, and to assist in interpretations and analysis of the excavation and recovered finds. However, despite the constant and ever-developing applications in archaeology, the specialization of bioarchaeology has not yet developed unique standards to fully benefit from these new technologies. This poster is intended to demonstrate the benefits of these digital protocols with bioarchaeological case studies. In particular, it will show the experimental results of an extensive GIS (Geographic Information Systems) survey obtained within two diachronous cemeteries in Tuscany (Italy): the monastery of Badia Pozzeveri (X–XIX centuries) and the castle of Benabbio (XIII–XIX centuries). Additionally, this research proposes new protocols for surveying, managing and processing data produced during an archaeo-anthropological excavation and how that can be beneficial in the initial recovery and study of osteological material. It will present the potential applications of open source GIS, three-dimensional photogrammetric processing and the fusion of these two techniques for the creation of 4D analysis platforms
Porotic Hyperostosis in a Late Upper Palaeolithic Skeleton (Villabruna 1, Italy)
No full textPorotic hyperostosis (PH) is a well-recognised skeletal indicator of physiological stress occurring during the early years of childhood growth. Although frequently found starting from the Neolithic, PH is poorly documented among earlier Palaeolithic hunter gatherers. This study reports a case of PH in a Late Upper Palaeolithic skeleton (Villabruna 1) from northern Italy. Macroscopic and radiographic examinations of the skeleton show symmetric porotic lesions of the cranial vault, hair-on-end appearance, thinning of the cortical bone, diploic expansion and very slight cribra orbitalia (CO). All lesions are highly remodelled and suggest a condition suffered long before death. A differential diagnosis, carried out in order to discriminate between infectious and acquired conditions, points to anaemia as likely aetiology for the changes observed. Absence of postcranial involvement, lesion healing and survival to adulthood suggest a diagnosis of acquired anaemia. Among acquired anaemias, both dietary and infectious models are discussed in light of the individual's skeletal characteristics, as well as geographic location, paleoenvironmental data, subsistence modality and dietary information. The combined analysis of these data suggests that parasitic infestation resulted in megaloblastic anaemia in this individual
The Late Upper Paleolithic skeleton Villabruna 1 (Italy): a source of data on biology and behavior of a 14.000 year-old hunter
No full textSocial reorganization and biological change: An examination of stature variation among Iron Age Samnites from Abruzzo, central Italy
No full textStature is a sensitive indicator of overall environmental quality experienced during growth and development, and can provide insights on a population's ‘well-being’. This study investigated changes in estimated adult stature in a large (N = 568) sample of Samnite Iron Age (800–27 BCE) people from central Italy, during a period of increasing sociopolitical complexity. Stature was analyzed diachronically, between sexes, and across social strata inferred using the ‘Status Index’ based on funerary treatment. It was expected: 1) a decrease in stature from the Orientalizing-Archaic period (O–A) to the fifth century BC (V SEC) and the following Hellenistic period (ELL), due to population increase and urbanization; 2) social status to positively influence the attainment of the full stature potential; 3) sexual dimorphism to be higher in more stratified groups. Results revealed no significant diachronic changes in stature (females: O–A: 154.2 cm, V SEC: 154.2 cm, and ELL: 153.6 cm; males: O-A: 165.0 cm, V SEC: 165.2 cm, and ELL: 165.0 cm) or sexual dimorphism. High-status males were taller than low-status (p = 0.021), possibly due to a better diet, but only in the Orientalizing-Archaic period. Nonsignificant changes in females suggest either differential access to resources in women, or a better buffering from environmental optima or crises. The results of this study highlight the complex interrelation between social factors and human growth, and stress the importance of understanding the specific mechanisms leading to variation in adult stature
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Badia Pozzeveri (LU). Lo scavo bioarcheologico di un monastero lungo la via Francigena
No full textSintesti sui risultati degli scavi bioarcheologici 2011-2016 intrapresi nell'area del monastero camaldolese di Badia Pozzever
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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