Archaeoanthropology

Arguments that megafaunal extinctions in Australia were anthropogenically mediated have focused on establishing terminal appearance ages. This approach has been underpinned by three principle tenets: (1) if megafauna disappeared before significant climate change, but after human colonisation, then it can be inferred that extinctions were human mediated; (2) climate change within the last glacial cycle was unremarkable relative to previous cycles; and (3) all or most Pleistocene megafauna were present when people arrived on the continent. We review the evidence for human causation and note mounting evidence suggesting that the last 400–300 ka in Australia has been characterised by escalating aridity and climatic variability, culminating in the breach of a hydrological threshold within the last glacial cycle. Only 21 species (35%) of megafauna whose disappearance has been attributed to human activity are known to have
persisted after the Penultimate Glacial Maximum, a time of undoubtedly severe climate change. Thus, 39 species of megafauna (65%) cannot be reliably placed within 85,000 years of firm evidence for human arrival, ca 50–43 ka. At most eight species (13%) were clearly present at this time. Four or more persisted until the onset of full glacial conditions at ca 30 ka. We argue for a falsifiable model of staggered extinction in which most megafaunal extinctions predated human arrival and with the influence of people as a minor superimposition on broader trends in train since middle Pleistocene times.

Nuevas observaciones confirman que El Castillo, la pirámide principal de la antigua ciudad de Chichén Itzá,
en Yucatán, fue orientada para fungir como un marcador astronómico, a partir del cual los sabios mayas del
período Posclásico ajustaban el año, además de ser el centro de un cosmograma que en sus cuatro puntos
cardinales mantiene una alineación con los cenotes Sagrado, Holtún, Xtoloc y Kanjuyum. En 2012, el arqueólogo Ismael Arturo Montero García dio a conocer en la revista National Geographic del mes de agosto de 2013 -con base en valores de orientación- que el paso cenital del Sol por esta estructura prehispánica
ocurre los días 23 de mayo y 19 de julio, asomándose al amanecer en el eje de su esquina noreste en dirección hacia el Templo de las Mesas. La investigación articula la geometría, la astronomía y la arquitectura de una manera extraordinaria gracias al acimut del Sol al amanecer de su día de paso cenital en esta latitud
geográfica y a la singular geomorfología de su entorno.

The early Neolithic enclosure of Herxheim near Landau: Architecture, backfilling processes and duration of use

Download link: https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/handle/fub188/8044

English version of the part concerning Herxheim is out now:

Fabian Haack, The Early Neolithic ditched Enclosure at Herxheim: Architecture, Fill Formation Processes and Service Life. In: Zeeb-Lanz, A. (ed.) Ritualised Destruction in the Early Neolithic - the exceptional Site of Herxheim (Palatinate, Germany), HERXHEIM VOL. 1,  Forschungen zur Pfälzischen Archäologie Band 8.1 (Speyer 2016).
http://archaeologie-speyer.gdke.webseiten.cc/

The early Neolithic enclosure of Herxheim “Gewerbegebiet West“ (Kr. Südliche Weinstraße) has been the subject of controversial discussions. This concerns on the one hand the remains of about 500 manipulated human bodies found here in association with selected and deliberately destroyed items of material culture, and on the other hand the enclosure itself, where these remains had been deposited. About half of the earthwork has been excavated and very well documented, providing an extraordinary resource for the reconstruction of the architecture and for understanding the taphonomic processes connected to the deposition of the bone fragments, sherds and broken stone implements.
The underlying structure of the two ditch-like circuits actually consists of individual pits, approximately 2.5 to 4 m long. They were dug one after the other in a very short time and were then refilled simultaneously. At some points these pit alignments are interrupted or overlap, which hints at different construction segments. The results of geomagnetic prospection and of two excavation trenches in the eastern part of the enclosure suggest that the earthwork never formed a closed circuit. With the exception of loose sediments in the bottom 0.1 m, the backfill in the pit rows is of anthropogenic origin. This includes the concentrations of manipulated human bone and destroyed objects, which were dumped in mixed with soil. The deposits often slope to one side, as they were added above the already existing and inclining primary fills. In some cases, two of these deposits can lie directly above each other or are separated by a fill lying in between them. The fast infilling of both circuits of the earthwork is indicated by the fact that the sides of the pit rows are barely eroded, but also by numerous re-fits of human bone fragments and pottery sherds, which connect either different parts of single deposits, two or more deposits, or deposits and the fills overlying them. This fast refilling process and the distribution of the datable finds clearly indicate a very short period of use for the whole enclosure, dating to the very end of settlement at Herxheim (latest LBK). Activity at the enclosure is closely connected to the rituals focusing on the intensive manipulation of human bodies and material culture. In total, 108 LBK earthworks are now known. The comparison with the 15 best-documented among them has shown similar construction and backfilling processes as at the Herxheim enclosure across the whole distribution area of the LBK. However, in many cases the standard of excavation and recording is not sufficient to address these questions and allows only limited conclusions. Due to their construction, the frequently incomplete layouts and the fast backfilling processes, a defensive function can be excluded for early Neolithic enclosures. Their use must rather be set in a social or ritual context in which the organisation, the building and the backfilling themselves played an important role.

During the first century B.C., with the rise of the Roman Empire, the Levant became the scene of cosmopolitanism where many heteroclite cultures would coexist. The new cosmopolitan society had Rome as its capital (Caput Mundi), and roads drawn up by the army linking the rest of the empire to its capital. Recent rescue excavations (since 2005) in Berytus (Beirut) and Botrys (Batroun) have revealed a considerable amount of unpublished data on populations who lived in the region during the four centuries of the Roman Empire until the early centuries of Christianity. Following an archaeo-anthropological approach, this thesis presents an assessment of eight funerary sites (n= 290) from the cities of Colonia Julia Augusta Felix Berytus and Botrys. Significantly, Botrys, unlike Berytus, did not have the status of a Roman colony. This research seeks to contribute to the history of these two cities. The purpose is to understand the populations of the past through the study of the skeletons, rituals and funerary practices as well as the organisation of funerary spaces. This study primarily reveals a cultural and biological cosmopolitanism illustrated by variability in funerary practices and in biological characteristics. These results suggest that at least two different groups or more coexisted in the Colonia Julia Augusta Felix Berytus. On the contrary, the biocultural data of Botrys skeletons reveal a less cosmopolitan city with less diversity shown on different anthropological and cultural levels. Indeed, the similarity of funerary practices, body treatments, grave goods and the organisation of the funerary space and biological homogeneity are indisputable in Botrys. Comparative analysis between Berytus and Botrys highlighted an existing biological heterogeneity at different scales between individuals of both cities. However, this diversity is contradicted by the homogeneity of the females of both cities during the 2th and the 4th century A. D.

Keywords : Berytus, Botrys, Levant, roman period, roman colony, funerary practices, religious beliefs, archaeoanthropology, archaeothanatology, morphometry, non metric anatomical traits, population health, spatial distribution of burial practices.

(Original version in Brazilian Portuguese):

FUNERARY ENVIRONMENTS: ADORNMENTS  IN HUMAN BURIALS FROM JUSTINO SITE/SE, EVIDENCE OF NATIVE AMERICAN/EUROPEAN CONTACT

Death is configured as the end of the stage, of the cycle of life. It is interpreted within the context of the social sciences, human, biological, health, religious and even within criminal context. Apparently, within this “simple” act dying, there are several implications and varied stages that
they are decoded and implicit in common knowledge. Within the scope of this research, dying constitutes reaching the line that separates the evidence of social relationships in life and after death, and, reading these tests, it is possible to understand the relationships of the dead with the living, and perhaps, their role within a social grouping.

In the current English issue of PES, published reports include one on the tomb of Ankhires, inspector of hairdressers of the Great House (AS 98), recently discovered in Abusir South and dated to the reign of Nyuserre. Another study dedicated to Djedkare’s pyramid complex summarises major achievements of the 2017 season on the site. The history of Abu Ghurab’s sun temples is covered by a report on the 2017 season documenting architectural vestiges preserved in the temple complex of Nyuserre. The penultimate paper deals with a new necropolis of specifically designed tombs discovered in Abusir South underlying the temple of Ramesse II. The concluding text in this part presents a preliminary survey summary on the Beni Hasan el-Shuruq region during the Old Kingdom.
The reports are followed by a study focusing on a specific case of decapitation attested from Old Kingdom Giza. The issue continues with reviews of two recent publications. The first one focuses on the complex of Ninetjer painstakingly excavated by the German Archaeological Institute in Saqqara while the second offers an impressive example of the use of 3D modelling and virtual reality techniques applied to the pyramid field in Giza. The final paper is dedicated to methodology of geodetic works carried out in Abusir.
The issue covers a broad range of topics dealing with exploration not only at the Memphite necropolis but also in the provinces, describing new methods and approaches to the research. As most studies provide a more general framework for the presented data, thus gaining on universal relevance and significance, they may be of interest not only to Egyptologists but also to laypeople and specialists from other fields of archaeological or historical studies.

A diagram from "Los Codices Mayas" A Book Review by George E. Stuart; in ARCHAEOASTRONOMY, The Journal of the Center for Archaeoastronomy, ed. John B. Carlson, Volume IX, Numbers 1-4, Jan.-Dec. 1986, page 166. Stuart summaries the publications of the four Maya Codices starting from 1750 with the Dresden Codex through the 1980's and the Grolier Codex.  It is highly significant that the Mexican State of Chiapas and the Universidad Autonoma de Chiapas chose to include the Grolier Codex as an authentic ancient Maya book in 1985 in the production of "Los Codices Mayas" along with the Dresden, Paris, and Madrid codices.  This study diagram is being posted as a personal tribute to my friend and colleague, the late George E. Stuart, Ph.D. (1935 - 2014) for his great generosity and many extraordinary contributions promoting world archaeology over several generations.

This entry has been posted on Academia.edu as part of the Grolier Codex Project of the Center for Archaeoastronomy under the directorship of John B. Carlson, Ph.D.  The Grolier Codex Project seeks to further advance the study of the Maya Grolier Codex.

In the heart of the city of Bari (Puglia, Italy), at the beginning of 2018, during the renovation of Via Sparano and ‘Borgo Murattiano’ near the Palazzo Mincuzzi, some Late Antiquity sherds and human remains were found. The discovery made possible the investigation of a multi-layered context for the first time in a systematic and scientific way in this part of the city. A funerary area was documented dating to a period between the end of the Late Antiquity and the High Middle Age, with six graves that show the presence of an extra-moenia cemetery area in the south of Bari. This area of the city, well attested throughout the Roman age up to the second century AD, continues for at least 3-4 centuries, indicating the at-tractive role of an extra-urban road system, still efficient in the 5th-6th century AD.

PhD thesis at University of Bordeaux.
Advisors: Dominique Castex, Frédérique Blaizot

FUNERARY PRACTICES AND BIOLOGICAL IDENTITIES IN BERYTUS AND BOTRYS DURING THE ROMAN PERIOD (Lebanon, Ith Century B.C. - IVth Century A.D.)

During the first century B.C., with the rise of the Roman Empire, the Levant became the scene of cosmopolitanism where many heteroclite cultures would coexist. The new cosmopolitan society had Rome as its capital (Caput Mundi), and roads drawn up by the army linking the rest of the empire to its capital. Recent rescue excavations (since 2005) in Berytus (Beirut) and Botrys (Batroun) have revealed a considerable amount of unpublished data on populations who lived in the region during the four centuries of the Roman Empire until the early centuries of Christianity. Following an archaeo-anthropological approach, this thesis presents an assessment of eight funerary sites (n= 290) from the cities of Colonia Julia Augusta Felix Berytus and Botrys. Significantly, Botrys, unlike Berytus, did not have the status of a Roman colony. This research seeks to contribute to the history of these two cities. The purpose is to understand the populations of the past through the study of the skeletons, rituals and funerary practices as well as the organisation of funerary spaces. This study primarily reveals a cultural and biological cosmopolitanism illustrated by variability in funerary practices and in biological characteristics. These results suggest that at least two different groups or more coexisted in the Colonia Julia Augusta Felix Berytus. On the contrary, the biocultural data of Botrys skeletons reveal a less cosmopolitan city with less diversity  shown on different anthropological and cultural levels. Indeed, the similarity of funerary practices, body treatments, grave goods and the organisation of the funerary space and biological homogeneity are indisputable in Botrys. Comparative analysis between Berytus and Botrys highlighted an existing biological heterogeneity at different scales between individuals of both cities. However, this diversity is contradicted by the homogeneity of the females of both cities during the 2th and the 4th century A. D.

Keywords : Berytus, Botrys, Levant, roman period, roman colony, funerary practices, religious beliefs, archaeoanthropology, archaeothanatology, morphometry, non metric anatomical traits, population health, spatial distribution of burial practices.



Online access:
http://www.theses.fr/2016BORD0070
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01369038

In the current English issue of Prague Egyptological Studies (no. XIX/2017), several recently uncovered tombs and structures from the excavation works at Abusir are presented, including the mastabas of Kaisebi and Ptahwer (AS 76 and AS 76b), the tomb of Neferherptah (AS 65) and anonymous structures AS 66, AS 69 and AS 91 at Abusir South. Besides these, we are pleased to include a report on the 2016 season conducted at the pyramid complex of King Djedkare at South Saqqara.

Our journal also aims to provide more theoretical studies and in this particular edition, it focuses on a few select questions concerning the archaeology, architecture and social enquiries of the Third Millennium BC. These include a new interpretation of enigmatic limestone fragments from the Memphite necropolis, an analysis of an Old Kingdom household based on research of reliefs in the mastaba of Vizier Ptahshepses from Abusir and a short study of decorated blocks uncovered in the tomb of Rashepses at Saqqara. Additionally, one paper is devoted to the analysis and significance of satellite imagery during the survey and interpretation of the sun temples of Abu Ghurab.

Furthermore, the presented issue also commemorates the 100th anniversary of the birth of Professor Zbyněk Žába, one of the founders of the Czech Institute of Egyptology, and with regret presents eulogies dedicated to the memory of the recently deceased Egyptologist Ahmad El-Sawi.

The 1983 manuscript published in "Calendars in Mesoamerica and Peru: Native American computations of time". Aveni, Anthony F. & Brotherston, Gordon, eds., BAR International Series 174, Oxford from the 1982 manuscript presented both at the 44th International Congress of Americanists, Manchester, England in 1982 and the American Astronomical Society in Boston, January 1983.  This research article is the only scholarly study that provides an independent proof that the Grolier Codex must be a genuine pre-Columbian codex – because it contains key iconographic and other data that could not have been known to a potential fabricator in the mid-1960s when the Codex was found.  One of four known ancient Maya books, the Grolier Codex depicts different manifestations of the planet Venus; the column of glyphs on the left of each panel records days in a 104-year Venus almanac. These plaster-coated bark-paper pages, carbon-dated to the 13th century, represent only half of the 20-page original. The author also demonstrates his discovery that the previously labeled pages 10 and 11 of the Codex are actually two parts of the same page "10".

This 1983 version of the manuscript has publisher introduced typographical errors. Please see the original 1982 manuscript (click "LINK" on this paper listing) for the complete version or follow the link below: 

http://www.academia.edu/7908428/The_Grolier_Codex_A_Preliminary_Report_on_the_Content_and_Authenticity_of_a_Thirteenth-Century_Maya_Venus_Almanac_1982_

This article has been posted on Academia.edu as part of the Grolier Codex Project of the Center for Archaeoastronomy under the directorship of John B. Carlson, Ph.D.  The Grolier Codex Project seeks to further advance the study of the Grolier Codex.

This paper describes how two complementary tools, an English grammar and a bilingual (Italian-English) glossary, can be expanded by University students attending a CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) course in which a funerary archaeology lecturer, an English language instructor
and an archaeologist work together, integrating content and language. This work is part of a wider project carried out at the Division of Palaeopathology, History of Medicine and Bioethics, and approved by the University of Pisa. Starting from a sample of Italian and English monographic texts and other publications in printed or electronic form dealing with the subject of funerary archaeology and other related research areas (anthropology, field archaeology, anatomy and chemistry, which can provide new insights into past civilizations, cultures and practices so far undiscovered), we have extracted separate, preliminary lists of specialized terms. The students working alone, in pairs or in
groups, are asked to expand these lists, tracking down additional words with their definitions and example sentences drawn from other authoritative sources. The information with specification of the authors and detailed bibliographical references should be written in independent appropriately labelled
files, and sent to the computer analyst responsible for the computer software editing. The reading of
various definitions at different levels of depth will enable the user to understand better, have a clearer and more exhaustive picture of a particular word, concept, or phenomenon. The glossary, addressedto the students who are at the same time creators and users of the product, can also be of interest to professors, scholars or translators who need to dispose of the specialised terms of funerary archaeology in a language other than their own. Many of the definitions and other types of useful
information can be exploited to illustrate the different grammar points and structures of an easy-to-use on-line English intermediate-level grammar book, to study the grammar not in isolation but in meaningful contexts and real-life situations, to encourage the learners to become active explorers of
the language. This ongoing grammar can be a valuable resource for students with minimum linguistic knowledge and competence, but also be useful to those wishing to improve the English language, enhancing their learning proficiency. Implementation of the two complementary products - grammar and glossary - will proceed together, contributing to the learning of funerary archaeology on the part of the students, both learners and creators of the two tools. As we know, the possibilities offered by the computer in terms of space, links, cross-references, etc. make it possible to organize and customize the material, meeting as much as possible the users’ needs. The technological tools increasingly available in the educational context support both the subject and language teacher in making the
learning process easier and more engaging, helping clarify certain concepts in a non-traditional way in order to accomplish various instructional objectives.

Diminished bite force has been considered a defining feature of modern Homo sapiens, an interpretation inferred from the application of two-dimensional lever mechanics and the relative gracility of the humanmasticatory musculature and skull.This conclusion has various implicationswith regard to the evolution of human feeding behaviour. However, human dental anatomy suggests a capacity to withstand high loads and two-dimensional lever models greatly simplify muscle architecture, yielding less accurate results than three dimensional modelling using multiple lines of action. Here, to our knowledge, in the most comprehensive three-dimensional finite element analysis performed to date for any taxon, we ask whether the traditional view that the bite of H. sapiens is weak and the skull too gracile to sustain high bite forces is supported. We further introduce a new method for reconstructing incomplete fossil material. Our findings show that the human masticatory apparatus is highly efficient, capable of producing a relatively powerful bite using low muscle forces. Thus, relative to other members of the superfamily Hominoidea, humans can achieve relatively high bite forces,while overall stresses are reduced. Our findings resolve apparently discordant lines of evidence, i.e. the presence of teeth well adapted to sustain high loads within a lightweight cranium and mandible.

The reasons for megafaunal extinction in Australia have been hotly debated for over 30 years without any clear resolution. The proposed causes include human overkill, climate, anthropogenic induced habitat change or a combination of these. Most protagonists of the human overkill model suggest the impact was so swift, occurring within a few thousand years of human occupation of the continent, that archaeological evidence should be rare or non-existent. In Tasmania the presence of extinct megafauna has been known since the early twentieth century with earlier claims of human overlap being rejected because of poor chronology and equivocal stratigraphic associations. More recent archaeological research has not identified any megafauna from the earliest, exceptionally well-preserved late Pleistocene cultural sites. In 2008 however an argument for human induced megafaunal extinctions was proposed using the direct dates from a small sample of surface bone from two Tasmanian nonhuman caves and a museum sediment sample from an unknown location in a cave, since destroyed by quarrying . supplemented their data with published dates from other Tasmanian caves and open sites to argue for the survival of at least seven megafauna species from the last interglacial to the subsequent glacial stage. To investigate the timing of extinctions in Tasmania and examine the latest claims, new excavations and systematic surveys of limestone caves in south central Tasmania were undertaken. Our project failed to show any clear archaeological overlap of humans and megafauna but demonstrated that vigilance is needed when claiming survival of megafauna species based on old or suspect chronologies. The results of our six-years of fieldwork and dating form the first part of the present paper while, in the second part we assess the data advanced by for the late survival of seven megafauna species. A model of human prey selection and the reasons for the demise of a range of marsupials, now extinct, are discussed in the third part of the paper.

EnglishDue to the delay in publication of the journal "Eurasia Antiqua", reports of the ongoing excavation have appeared elsewhere in recent years. The present report includes the excavations from the years 2012 through 2016. The discovery of a large lake fed by the Danube can be seen as the most noteworthy result within this report. Along the bank of this lake lay the neolithic anc Copper Age settlement, and the origin of the lake can be placed sometime in the 8th millennium BCE and persisted inteo the first millennium CE. The main focus of the excavations in recent years was the investigation of the outer settlement, in which not only Copper Age but also Neolithic settlement remains have come to light. The quality of perservation in the outer settlement differs: the settlement layers lie partially under a colluvium layer, which ranges in places from 0,5-1,7 m in thickness. The flat settlement and the settlement upon the tell mount persisted simultaneously throughout the (calculated) duration of the settlement; fuerthermore, teh flat settlement seems to have existed for some time before the erection of the settlement mound. According to 14C dates, the oldest settlement remains can be placed in the late 6th millennium BCE. A necropolis has not yet been identified, but burials have instead been discoveren in nearly every surface of the outer settlement, including a mass grave. Burials mostlyexhibit individuals in a crouched position, The Neolithic settlement remains allow us to update our knowledge on the Boian Culture. The excavation results in Pietrele provide us with an opportunity to describe the beginning of a Copper Age settlement mound from the Neolithic settlementactivities, allowing for a better understanding and description of the change from the Neolithic to the Copper Age economic system, whose drastic changes in tchnology and economy are already making themselves known. for instance, a transition from organic to mineral temper took place within the ceramic industry, and even the silex sindustry during the Gumelnita period differs from the late Neolithic flint tools. The technical and economic differences even include cattle breeding and hunting activities: the former played a larger role during the Gumelnita period. Harpoons made of antler can be counted among the fishing tools as a Copper Age innovation, which likely were used in order to hunt very large fish. In 2013, the circular earthwirk complex was investigated, which lies about 680 air-line meters away. A ca. 10 m wide (still 3 m at the base) and 3.7 m deep trench was recorded here, whose filling material can be attributed to a Bronze Age complex belonging to the Tei Culture. This indicates possibly more intense settlement activityon the Lower Danube during the Bronze Age of the second millennium BCE. The 14C dates indicate a relatively short settlement duration spanning from 1400-1300 BCE. DeutschBedingt durch das verspatete Erscheinen der Zeitschrift Eurasia Antiqua wurde in den vergangenen Jahren an anderer Stelle uber der Fortgang der Grabungen berichtet. Im vorliegenden Bericht werden die Jahre 2012-2016 dargestellt. Als Hauptergebnis der Untersuchungen dieser Zeit darf die Identifizierung eines grossen Sees gelten, der durch die Donau gespeist wurde. Die neolithische und kupferzeitliche Siedlung lag direkt am Seeufer. Die Entstehung des Palaosees "Locul Gorgana" durfte bereits im 8.Jt. v. Chr. anzusetzen sein. Er existierte bis in das 1. Jt. n. Chr. Im Mittelpunkt der archaologischen Arbeiten stand insbesondere die Erforschung der Aussensiedlung. Hier haben sich sowohl kupferzeitliche als auch neolithische Siedlungshinterlassenschaften eingstellt. Die Erhaltungsbedingungen der Aussensiedlung sind sehr unterschiedlich. Die Fundschichten der Aussensiedlung liegen teilweise unter einrm bis zu 1,7 m machtigen Kolluvium, teilweise auch nur etwa 0,5 m tief. Die Flachsiedlung bestand wahrend der gesamten bisher nachgewiesenen Dauer der Desiedlung auf dem Siedlungshugel. Die Flachsiedlung existierte daruber hinaus bereits geraume Zeit bevor der Siedlungshugel errichtet wurde. Die altesten Besiedlungsreste gehoren nach 14C-Daten in das spate 6. Jt. v. Chr. Eine Nekropole konnte noch nicht identifiziert werden. Stattdessen wurden mittlerweille in fast allen Flachen der Aussensiedlung Bestattungen entdeckt, darunter auch ein Massengrab. Inzwischen liegen zahlreiche Bestattugen meist in Hockerlage vor. Die neolithischen Siedlungsreste werden eine Aktualisierung der bisherigen Arbeiten zur Boian Kultur gestatten. In Pietrele besteht zudem die Moglichkeit, den Beginn eines kupferzeitlichen Siedlungshugels aus den neolithischen Siedlungsgeschehen heraus zu beschreiben. Damit kann der Weschsel vom neolithischen zum chalkolithischen Wirtschaftsystem besserbeschrieben werden. Bereits jetzt lassen sich tiefgreidende Veranderungen von der neolithischen zur kupferzeitlichen okonomie und Technik erkennen. In der Keramik ist mit dem Ubergang von…

Fabriquer du fromage à l’alpage exige évidemment du bétail, des hommes et leurs savoir-faire, mais également des lieux où chauffer le lait, stocker personnel. Ce texte s’appuie sur un projet interdisciplinaire initié par le Musée de Bagnes pour étudier le patrimoine bâti et propose un tour d’horizon de l’architecture et des pratiques en se basant sur des observations et témoignages issus de la vallée.

A partial skeleton of an elderly man, suffered from cerebral palsy, is described. The person died in the collapse of the building destroyed by the fire in the stronghold of Tver, most likely during the siege of the city by the hordes of Batu Khan in 1238. Located at the basement of the structure, the body of a man was not exposed to fire, unlike the bodies of an elderly woman, a girl and a child who died in the same house. Unsuitable for the protection of the city these people died in the building where they were hiding.

Sperduti A., Bondioli L., Craig O., Prowse T., Garnsey P. 2018. Bones, teeth, and history, in Scheidel W. (a cura di), The science of Roman history: biology, climate and the future of the past. Princeton University Press. Pp: 123-173.

Human bones and teeth are the primary data-bank for biological anthropologists but have aroused little interest among historians of antiquity. The beginnings of an explanation of this disparity are to be sought in the fact that human skeletal remains have no obvious relevance as a source of information for politics, political institutions, political thought, government, law, religion, warfare, in brief, for the traditional concerns of ancient historians. A second consideration is that physical anthropology is rooted in prehistory; its practitioners are characteristically involved in the exploration of the origins of humanity. Fortunately (for our present purposes) some anthropologists have allowed themselves to stray into historical periods, including the classical world of Greece and Rome. For example, the laboratory of bioarchaeology at the Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnografico‘Luigi Pigorini’ in Rome houses the skeletons of Isola Sacra, the burial ground of classical Rome’s harbour-town of Portus, and over the last three decades or so has produced a lengthy sequence of articles and dissertations deriving from the study of this large sample. In the meantime, historians of antiquity are showing increased interest in social, economic and cultural history, and are displaying a new willingness to expose themselves to other disciplines, including the natural and social sciences. Thus, the time seems ripe for fruitful communication between historians and anthropologists. Specifically, health and demography (mortality, fertility, mobility) hold promise as fields for constructive dialogue and collaborative research. Initial contacts have already been made, though not always with happy results.

Arguments that megafaunal extinctions in Australia were anthropogenically mediated have focused on establishing terminal appearance ages. This approach has been underpinned by three principle tenets: (1) if megafauna disappeared before significant climate change, but after human colonisation, then it can be inferred that extinctions were human mediated; (2) climate change within the last glacial cycle was unremarkable relative to previous cycles; and (3) all or most Pleistocene megafauna were present when people arrived on the continent. We review the evidence for human causation and note mounting evidence suggesting that the last 400-300 ka in Australia has been characterised by escalating aridity and climatic variability, culminating in the breach of a hydrological threshold within the last glacial cycle. Only 21 species (35%) of megafauna whose disappearance has been attributed to human activity are known to have persisted after the Penultimate Glacial Maximum, a time of undoubtedly severe climate change. Thus, 39 species of megafauna (65%) cannot be reliably placed within 85,000 years of firm evidence for human arrival, ca 50-43 ka. At most eight species (13%) were clearly present at this time. Four or more persisted until the onset of full glacial conditions at ca 30 ka. We argue for a falsifiable model of staggered extinction in which most megafaunal extinctions predated human arrival and with the influence of people as a minor superimposition on broader trends in train since middle Pleistocene times.

NB - Monograph is Open Access, available for download at: http://www.undena.com/BM.html#30.

The volume is the final publication of the Royal Palace of Urkesh, built around 2250 BC. Besides offering a detailed architectural analysis of the structure, it deals extensively with methodology as a way to draw significant conclusions about the economy and the social setting that made its construction possible.
The analysis in chapters 2 and 6 is a major contribution to our understanding of the public buildings of ancient Urkesh, and of palaces from this region and time period. As a part of this analysis the proportion of perimeter to area was used to support typological definitions of rooms and an access analysis were used. These methods are seldom (if ever) used in the field, but show promise within the framework of architectural analysis.
A second portion of the dissertation focuses on an understanding of the process of construction, combining data from the archaeological record, ethnographic parallels and textual evidence. This approach gives a deep understanding of the process of construction in general, as well as giving a series of 'algorithms' I developed from several sources (archaeological record, experimental archaeology, anthropological studies, textual sources) by which one can quantify the energy invested in the construction project. These algorithms are applicable in general to structures in stone and mudbrick, and as such can be used to define and compare the 'cost' and value of such structures in a meaningful way. This proposes an objective standard of measurement that can be used not only in archaeological, but also in an ethnographic context.
The theoretical considerations brought up in chapter 4 introduce aspects of theory which can be tied to the data presented in this study. Such a link between theory and data is fundamental, and strengthens the understanding of both. One strength of the dissertation lies in the direct tie between the archaeological record and a discussion of more abstract concepts such as ‘monumentality’ and ‘prestige’.
The dissertation then presents a 3D model of the AP Palace at Tell Mozan, done not as an aesthetically appealing product, but as an organic research tool which can adapt to a changing archaeological reality as well as be a heuristic model. Such a model, done 'for archaeologists, by archaeologists', is a versatile tool for archaeology, and has real benefit in both formulating and answering research questions, both in the course of fieldwork as well as in secondary analyses. This 3D model is a telling example of how such a model can contribute to reaching the research goals.
The methodological approach to architectural analysis done hand in hand with ethnographic data and combined with 3D modeling techniques allows for the application of the general algorithms gained in the third chapter to the specific volumetrics of the Urkesh Palace. Such an approach allows archaeologists to better understand concepts such as the value of materials in architecture as related to studies of energetics; an approach which highlights both the individuality of this structure while placing it in a number of very interesting contexts, such as other Mesopotamian monumental structures or palaces from other cultural contexts.

In Early Medieval human remains recovered near Misciano (Bari, Italy), skeletal and dental characteristics were considered as indicators of living and health conditions and of physiological and functional stress. Average stature was 1673 mm in male and 1547 mm in female adult subjects. Bone pseudoerosions and squatting facets were observed, as well as evidence of diseases and traumas. Schmol's disk hernations, cribra orbitalia were recorded. Enamel hypoplasia was studie together with other dental pathologies: dental decay, periapical abscesses, intra-vitam tooth loss; parodontophaties, calculus and dental anomalies; degree of tooth wear.

The paper characterizes human bones found during an excavation in previously unknown medieval necropolis located in the central part of the Zagorodsky suburb in Tver. There is some data оn sex, age and height of buried people as well as signs of diseases оп their bones. Anthropological characteristics of people buried here are compared to characteristics of people buried at other Tver cemeteries at the same time.

This paper describes how two complementary tools, an English grammar and a bilingual (Italian-English) glossary, can be expanded by University students attending a CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) course in which a funerary archaeology lecturer, an English language instructor and an archaeologist work together, integrating content and language. This work is part of a wider project carried out at the Division of Palaeopathology, History of Medicine and Bioethics, and approved by the University of Pisa. Starting from a sample of Italian and English monographic texts and other publications in printed or electronic form dealing with the subject of funerary archaeology and other related research areas (anthropology, field archaeology, anatomy and chemistry, which can provide new insights into past civilizations, cultures and practices so far undiscovered), we have extracted separate, preliminary lists of specialized terms. The students working alone, in pairs or in groups, are asked to expand these lists, tracking down additional words with their definitions and example sentences drawn from other authoritative sources. The information with specification of the authors and detailed bibliographical references should be written in independent appropriately labelled files, and sent to the computer analyst responsible for the computer software editing. The reading of various definitions at different levels of depth will enable the user to understand better, have a clearer and more exhaustive picture of a particular word, concept, or phenomenon. The glossary, addressed to the students who are at the same time creators and users of the product, can also be of interest to professors, scholars or translators who need to dispose of the specialised terms of funerary archaeology in a language other than their own. Many of the definitions and other types of useful information can be exploited to illustrate the different grammar points and structures of an easy-to-use on-line English intermediate-level grammar book, to study the grammar not in isolation but in meaningful contexts and real-life situations, to encourage the learners to become active explorers of the language. This ongoing grammar can be a valuable resource for students with minimum linguistic knowledge and competence, but also be useful to those wishing to improve the English language, enhancing their learning proficiency. Implementation of the two complementary products -grammar and glossary -will proceed together, contributing to the learning of funerary archaeology on the part of the students, both learners and creators of the two tools. As we know, the possibilities offered by the computer in terms of space, links, cross-references, etc. make it possible to organize and customize the material, meeting as much as possible the users' needs. The technological tools increasingly available in the educational context support both the subject and language teacher in making the learning process easier and more engaging, helping clarify certain concepts in a non-traditional way in order to accomplish various instructional objectives.