Osteometry

This study aims to develop age-at-death standards for Valley of Mexico skeletal collections. Using 159 individuals, with a dental age-at-death between 0 to 15 years, we develop linear and quadratic inverse regression models of age-atdeath estimation between dental age and the diaphyseal length of the six long bones. A blind test for both regressions was performed, also a regression developed for a Maya group was carried out. We also compared skeletal growth of our sample by applying regressions developed for Maya and North American populations to assess the magnitude of the differences among ethnically unrelated populations. Our regressions yielded a close correlation between the diaphyseal length and dental age, especially femur and radius. It is noticeable that the disparities between younger and older age categories, the latter presenting larger standard deviations. Quadratic regression fitted better than linear and Maya regressions, and the differences of age-at-death distributions are significant. The skeletal growth curve of the Valley of Mexico is statistically different from other Native American groups. We conclude that for the present standards, despite the high degree of variance, the quadratic regression is a better applicable age estimator, when it is applied to biologically close populations.

The identification of human skeletal remains is one of the most important objectives of anthropologists working in medico-legal contexts. The establishment of identity from human bones is based on four main characteristics: age, sex, ethnicity and stature. The majority of these characteristics can be established relatively quickly if the skeleton is complete. However, this is not always the case and often the skeletal specialists have to work with incomplete and severely fragmented remains.
The correct determination of sex using skeletal remains generally depends on the completeness of the pelvis and the skull as best indicators of sex. The craniofacial element of the skull is rather fragile and easily damaged by external factors. The cranial base is one of the regions of the skull which survive more intact.
The primary objective of this thesis is to establish the sexual dimorphism of a specific anatomical area of the skull base: the foramen magnum region. This analysis has not been undertaken before in any English population. Therefore, sexual dimorphism is examined using a British 18th and 19th century London crypt sample.
Discriminant analysis is carried out and population-specific sex determination functions are developed using the foramen magnum, the occipital condyles and a combination of both. Furthermore, a newly developed semi-automated method for the extraction of foramen magnum data from digital images is assessed and the effect of advanced age on the metric dimensions of the foramen magnum region is analysed.
Results demonstrate the existence of significant sexual dimorphism in this sample of English crania. The newly developed functions based on a combination of foramen magnum and occipital condyle variables permit the correct determination of sex of this collection with 71.9%. Functions using only foramen magnum variables achieved 68.4% correct identifications whilst occipital condyle functions provided the highest correct classification percentage of 76.7%. The semi-automated method proved to be useful and promising for future research application. No significant age effect in the foramen magnum region was found. Overall, sexual dimorphism is evident in the foramen magnum region of the St. Bride’s crania. New discriminant functions developed during this study are useful for sex determination but these methods should not be used in forensic cases without prior testing on modern samples.

Este trabajo pretende incluir la discusión de la variabilidad, tanto interespecífica como intraespecífica,
en los esquemas de análisis de diferenciación morfológica de las poblaciones modernas de las especies de camélidos sudamericanos. Como caso de estudio se evalúa, a partir de dos pruebas, la técnica de R. Meadows de identificación de taxa arqueológicos a partir de referentes modernos: a) con un camélido indeterminado (AMNH 14121) seleccionando cuatro estándares actuales (dos llamas y dos guanacos), y b) sobre una población representativa de guanacos modernos de Patagonia
en la que se usaron doce referentes actuales seleccionados dentro del rango intercuartil de la población. Con esta experiencia se observó que la técnica de Meadow resulta dependiente de la variación intraespecífica, lo que reduce su eficiencia como herramienta de identificación taxonómica cuando se utilizan especies con rangos de tamaño semejantes. Se concluye que es indispensable comenzar por entender más acerca de la variación intrapoblacional e intraespecífica para poder conocer la diversidad taxonómica.

Depuis plus de 50 ans, dans le domaine de l’archéozoologie française et européenne, les études et les données relatives à la taille des animaux domestiques s’accumulent de manière importante. Elles nourrissent notre compréhension globale des modèles économiques et de leur évolution au cours du temps. Le boeuf, par l’abondance du matériel qu’il fournit, se trouve bien souvent au coeur de la réflexion. Cet article propose une synthèse des acquis sur le sujet. En outre, à partir d’un corpus inédit de nombreuses valeurs ostéométriques, il apporte un éclairage nouveau sur les fluctuations morphologiques bovines et leurs implications historiques, en France, du Néolithique à nos jours. Depuis la chute de taille initiale de l’animal domestiqué, en passant par sa croissance laténienne et romaine, sa réduction de format au Moyen Âge, jusqu’aux lourds Charolais qui paissent aujourd’hui dans nos champs, le travail présenté tend à lier les formats bovins aux variations économiques pour une lecture plus précise de l’histoire pastorale française à l’aide du matériel osseux. Si la démarche engagée tend à embrasser la chronologie la plus vaste possible, les périodes gauloise et romaine font l’objet d’une attention particulière. Les résultats obtenus offrent une vision neuve des dynamiques agricoles au cours de La Tène et de l’organisation du territoire gaulois jusqu’aux premiers siècles de notre ère.

Recently we have managed to elaborate a method to evaluate the permanent marks caused by work and lifestyle
on horses’ metatarsus, which is suitable to establish – even in the absence of associated artefacts - the way
horses of archaeological age were used. The structure of the metatarsus is most typically characterising the
specimen in the zone of f.n. (foramen nutricium), therefore this was the location where we prepared across
sectional ground sample, serving as the basis of the analyses. Recently in several projects we have faced the
problem that - for reasons of the protection of cultural heritage artefacts - it is just the most important finds in
the case of which bones should not be examined in a destructive manner, i.e. by preparing cross-sectional
ground samples as we do when applying the basic method. Furthermore, the high demand for such testing also
required us to elaborate a faster and non-destructive method of the analysis the metatarsus-cortex. On the recent
level of technological development, theoretically there are two widely available options for that: magnetic
resonance imaging and computed tomography, however, our experience shows that in archaeological practice
only the latter is usable. We tested the new method through the examination of the horses of the CsanytelekÚjhalastó and Szentes-Vekerzug Scythian cemeteries; the experience gained, and the lessons learnt from these
tests, important from the viewpoint of methodology, will be described herein. The result of the tests conducted to
analyse hypertrophy caused by work in the horse remains of the above-mentioned cemeteries will be published
in the separate study.

The aim of this paper is to present the results of the biometrical analysis carried out on cattle, sheep/goat and pig measurements from a number of Spanish archaeological sites, dated between Roman and post-medieval times. The results show that important transformations occurred in livestock management, as it is visible through various changes in the body size of the main domesticates. The Romans had a great interest in improving1cattle breeds, while during the Middle Ages most effort was put in improving sheep breeds. The size of the three taxa decreased after Roman times, reaching their minimum size between the 8th and 9th centuries, probably in association with changes in livestock management, including free-range keeping and non-selective breeding.

La presente memoria propone revaluar la explotación de los camélidos durante el Periodo Intermedio Tardío (PIT) en la cuenca del Maipo-Mapocho, a través de los sitios RML 008 Blanca Gutiérrez y RML 015 Familia Fernández, ubicados en la comuna de Lampa (RM). A partir de los restos recuperados en estos yacimientos, se construyeron las interpretaciones sobre el rol de los camélidos para los grupos Aconcagua, identificando solo la presencia de animales silvestres (Lama guanicoe), los que habrían sido un recurso obtenido a través de la caza o el aguachamiento (Becker 1993a).
En esta memoria se revalúan los conjuntos faunísticos provenientes de ambos sitios, poniendo especial énfasis en el análisis osteométrico, con el fin de explorar la composición taxonómica de los camélidos. Se revalúa la abundancia anatómica, los perfiles etarios y sexo de los camélidos, y se aporta también con información cronológica e isotópica, con el fin de caracterizar la explotación de camélidos por parte de las poblaciones Aconcagua a partir de nuevas líneas de evidencia.
Los resultados sugieren la existencia de a lo menos dos taxones distintos para el periodo en cuestión, de los cuales uno correspondería a un camélido doméstico no identificado a nivel de especie.

The analysis of faunal remains from archaeological sites can make significant contributions both to the interpretation and understanding of prehistoric subsistence and to the re-creation of palaeoecological and palaeobiological conditions. A number of methods have been employed in the quantification of zooarchaeological data, including calculation of the Number of Identified Specimens Present (NISP), the Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI), and the meat weight represented by an assemblage of skeletal remains. The use of statistical regression for the estimation of the live size of fish from skeletal remains provides more precise data, which are particularly useful for interpreting skeletal assemblages from both archaeological and biological perspectives.

Sheep and goats were among the first food animals to be domesticated. They have played an important role in peoples’ lives as providers of sustenance and clothing. These two related genera of bovids, classified within the tribe caprini, have been separated for some 7 million years, but distinguishing their bones is the bane of many a zooarchaeologist’s working life. A plot of astragalus Dl/GLl against Bd/Dl generally separates sheep from goat, especially in Cyprus. Small shape variations shown by sheep but not goats may reflect the more intense and varied selection pressures exerted on sheep. Given the tendency for archaeological astragali to be well preserved, this metrical method could prove useful. Boessneck’s morphological criteria should be used in combination with this method - it is dangerous to rely solely upon measurements. This study shows that Cuvier’s loi de correlation des formes is obeyed in more than 90% of cases.

Key words: sheep, goat, astragalus, shape, metrical distinction

This paper aims to highlight developments in archaeological knowledge relating to dog remains found in deposits from Late Prehistoric contexts at sites along the Iberian Peninsula. Preliminary results from ongoing osteometric and 2D Geometric Morphometric studies applied to these remains are here presented and discussed to contextualize future studies by the author.
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The additional file for this article can be found here:  https://doi.org/10.5334/pia-487.s1  as "Appendix 1" with results of shoulder height and bone stoutness for specimens found in Iberian Late Prehistoric Sites througt the application of indexes from some authors (Harcourt 1885, Koudelka 1974, Clark 1975) to measumerements. Individual measurements with * from Sanchís and Sarrión (2004). Individual measurements with ** from Liesau, Esparza and Sánchez (2014).

This study describes a probable proportionate dwarf from a Third Intermediate Period cemetery at Ain Tirghi in the Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt. The skeleton (Burial 22 or B22) is an adult woman estimated to be in her mid-to-late thirties. Most medical literature defines an adult stature of 2 standard deviations below the population mean as an indicator for clinically short stature, with some bioarchaeologists and clinicians identifying severe short stature at 3 standard deviations below the population mean. B22 satisfies either criteria when compared with the Ain Tirghi adult female population mean for measurements of the radii and femora, as well as the summed measurements of the femora and tibiae. Her limb proportions were normal, and this, with a lack of morphological abnormalities, eliminated several possible causes of small stature (e.g. achondroplasia). The differential diagnosis for an individual with short stature and normal proportions indicates that she represents a probable case of pituitary dwarfism or hypopituitarism. B22 was buried in the same fashion as adjacent burials in a family group burial and showed no differential indication of physiological stress or illness.

Coming from de cemetery ofVillanueva de Soportilla (Miranda de Ebro, Burgos) and belonging roughly to the 9-12 th centuries, a feminine sample of crania has been studied metrically. From the craneometry, it has been posible to infer that the population sample analyzed is Mediterranean in a broad sense, with some robust morphometrical  haracteristics. In the comparisons, by means of the mean values, the crania from  illanueva de Soportilla exhibit the greatest affinities and similarities with the following Spanish series: Medievals from Castilla y León and Romans from Tarragona.

Se realiza un estudio métrico de los cráneos de los individuos adultos exhumados en campaña de excavación de 1975-77 en la necrópolis de A Lanzada, Noalla, Pontevedra. El yacimiento pertenece al mundo galaico romano (siglos III-VII d.C.) Las medidas obtenidas se comparan con las de los individuos exhumados entre 1949-63 en el mimo yacimiento, y con las procedentes de la necrópolis Bajorromana-Altomedieval de San Vicente de O Grove (Pontevedra) y de la Altomedieval de Ouvigo (Ourense). Se observó una gran similitud entre las poblaciones gallegas de época Romana y Altomedieval. Además de ello, los individuos exhumados en las dos campañas de A Lanzada y los de San Vicente tienen características craneales bastante afines. Ambas necrópolis son próximas geográfica y cronológicamente. En base a lo anterior, hemos creado una nueva serie con los esqueletos procedentes de las tres colecciones, cuyo número nos permite realizar comparaciones con otras series peninsulares. Este último estudio nos indica que los individuos Tardo y Bajorromanos de la península de O Grove tienen características cercanas a los romanos de Tarragona.

This paper is aimed at scrutinizing the dependence between the morphological features of the Eneolithic — Early Bronze population and the geographical and bioclimatic conditions in the Altai valleys and intermountain basins. Across the territory of the Altai highlands, we have identified several local-territorial groups of archaeological sites dating to the period under study. Most of them belong to the Afanasyevо culture, with the rest being represented by the Kurota, Aragol and Ulita cultural types that have been recently designated from the Afanasyevо culture. For each group, in accordance with their geographical localization, we have calculated geographical and bioclimatic parameters. The comparison of these parameters with the characteristics of the corresponding craniological series has allowed us to reveal the main trends of intergroup variability within the Eneolithic — Early Bronze Altai population. A considerable and statistically significant correlation is found between the morphological parameters, such as the height of the cranium, general sizes of a cranial cavity and the width of the face, and geographic and bioclimatic parameters characterizing the severity of the climate and the mountain height above sea level. In terms of other race-demarcating characteristics, no significant difference has been revealed between the territorial groups of the Altai Eneolithic — Early Bronze population characterized by the proto-European type. The identified variations correspond to the previously established differences between the total series of skulls of the Afanasyevо culture from the Altai highlands and the Minusinsk Hollow, as well as to two craniological types defined as the main anthropological components of the Afanasyevо culture population in Southern Siberia. The first of these types, prevailing among the Altai Afanasyevo culture population, is markedly hypermorphic and characterized by a higher and, in general, a larger skull. The second type, determining the craniological specifics of the unicultural population in the Minusinsk Hollow, is moderately hypermorphic and characterized by a smaller and, importantly, less high skull. Our findings suggest that these differences are associated in many respects with a general increase in the body size in populations having lived in the most bioclimatically unfavourable areas of the Altai highlands. This is evidenced by an increase in the longitudinal and girth dimensions of the long skeletal bones of the Altai Eneolithic — Early Bronze population having inhabited the mid-mountain and high-mountain Altai areas compared with the control samples from the low-mountain Altai regions and the Afanasyevo culture from the Minusinsk Hollow. Therefore, according to the calculated parameters, the population from the bioclimatically unfavourable Altai regions was characterized by a rather large weight and height among all the studied ancient Neolithic — Bronze Eurasian groups. Thus, our study confirms that the main mechanism of biological adaptation to the severe mountain environment of the Altai highlands among the Eneolithic — Early Bronze population was the enhancement of energy processes by means of increasing standard metabolism. As a result, the initially tall and large proto-European population was becoming even larger.

Galicia, a current Spanish Autonomous Community placed in the north-west of Iberia, underwent a series of important socioeconomic and environmental changes during the Roman and Medieval periods. The Saint James´Way and an intense maritime traffic, among others, connected this isolated region to the rest of Europe, especially to Portugal and the British Isles.
This research is focused on the bioarchaeological study of 259 skeletons, the majority from four Roman and Medieval necropolises. A Bronze Age collection and a Postmedieval mass grave, found in one of the previous sites, have been included to understand the evolution of the features. This constitutes the largest study so far carried out in Galicia, more than six times greater than the sample size of previous studies.
The structure is grouped into three subdivisions: (1)Normal variability of the populations: archaeological context, paleodemography, morphological and biodistance studies using multivariate analysis. (2)Palaeopathology. (3)Paleodiet, using stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes from human collagen (in collaboration with Gundula Müldner, University of Reading).
This thesis is mainly written in Spanish; nevertheless, the paleodietary section is in English, as well as the abstract and the conclusions.

Analyses of archaeological faunal assemblages often require the use of varied quantitative techniques for reconstructing aspects of the harvested populations. This is particularly important with the increasing use of zooarchaeological data outside of the realm of traditional archaeological inquiry. Detailed size estimations of archaeological faunal specimens can be used to distinguish between the remains of individual animals, aiding in the reconstruction of minimum number calculations. Statistical regression provides a particularly useful technique for generating size estimations which may then be used to calculate such modified MNI values. This paper outlines a methodology for utilising regression estimated sizes in MNI calculations, and tests the methodology in the context of a case study involving fish remains from Aleutian Islands archaeological sites. The use of this methodology to generate modified MNI values results in consistent increases over values calculated using traditional MNI approaches. Such an approach, while more costly in terms of required effort, is felt to be preferable to traditional approaches in contexts where detailed size estimations are usefully calculated to answer other research questions.

The change in cattle size during the late Iron Age
and the Early Roman period is a widely known phenomenon.
However, hardly any information is available about this
change and its causes in the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula.
In order to shed more light on this issue, variations of
cattle size and shape through the analysis of Bos taurus
remains from ten archaeological sites located in the northeast
Iberia and occupied from the middle fifth century BC to
the third century AD are examined in this paper. Osteometric
postcranial and teeth analyses show a clear change in cattle
size and shape during the Romanization period at newly
founded sites. This change is documented at all the sites
from the Early Roman period. Genetically, authenticated
results from a short fragment of the mitochondrial d-loop
were obtained from 6 cattle metacarpals out of 33 tested.
They affiliate to the main European taurine haplogroup
T/T3. The integration of the available data including the
archaeological background suggests that the presence of
these morphologically different cattle, introduced during
the Romanization period, was more pronounced at sites
interpreted as villas and trading posts, rather than at cities
during the Early Roman period.

The Moroccan Holocene sites with bear (Ursus arctos) bones are ten, five in the Tingitane Peninsula, two in atlasic mountains and tree in the western Meseta. They indicate that the bear has subsided in the mountain and plain areas until to protohistoric times. This small bear was found in Ifri Oussaïd, other site in atlasic mountains, whose Holocene age remains hypothetic. The first measurements bones bear from the last site are given in this study.

Very little data exist on shoulder heights of cattle from archaeological contexts in eastern, central and southern Africa, in no small part due to the virtual absence of complete long bones. We report on complete metapodia of cattle from Mutokolwe, a Late Iron Age site in South Africa that was occupied by Venda-speakers. The shoulder height of cattle from Mutokolwe ranges between 106.90 and 129.49cm indicating the presence of a small breed of cattle. We present shoulder heights for a number of cattle breeds from eastern, central and southern Africa to show that indigenous, unimproved cattle from this region are often small in stature, well within the range for that recorded at Mutokolwe. Dwarf cattle have previously been reported from Nyanga in eastern Zimbabwe dating from the Late Iron Age. The size of cattle at Nyanga, although small, is within the range of other indigenous cattle from the subcontinent.

Ovejas y cabras se encuentran entre los primeros animales que fueron domesticados. Ambas especies han jugado un papel importante para las poblaciones humanas proporcionado alimento y material de abrigo. Estos dos pequeños bóvidos, clasificados taxonómicamente en la tribu caprini, se separaron hace 7 millo-nes de años, sin embargo, discriminar entre los huesos de ambas especies es la pesadilla de la vida laboral de muchos arqueozoólogos. El diagrama de dispersión de los índices del astrágalo Dl/GLl en relación a Bd/Dl normalmente separa ovejas de cabras, especialmente con muestras de Chipre. Pequeñas variaciones morfológicas observadas en ovejas, pero no en cabras, pueden ser el reflejo de una presión selectiva más intensa y variada sobre las primeras. Dada la buena conservación que los astrágalos presentan entre los restos esqueléticos de origen arqueológico, este método métrico puede ser de gran utilidad. Es recomen-dable utilizarlo en combinación con los criterios morfológicos de Boessneck ya que es arriesgado confiar únicamente en las medidas. Este estudio muestra que la loi de correlation des formes de Cuvier se cumple en más del 90% de casos.

Khonkho Wankane is a ceremonial center located in the southern Lake Titicaca Basin, Bolivia. During the Late Formative period (AD 1–500), its residents practiced agropastoral lifeways and participated in the rise of the state at Tiwanaku. Like at many Andean sites, bones from the family Camelidae are the most abundant large mammal in domestic contexts. Identifying camelid morphotypes represented by these bones carries far-reaching implications for understanding past hunting, herding, and caravanning practices, and their roles in larger social and economic webs. Identifications were based on a locally focused reference collection, including llamas (Lama glama) from the immediate vicinity of the site, as well as Andean guanacos (Lama guanicoe), a much smaller morphotype than the Patagonian guanacos used in many osteometric studies. Different analyses suggest that the crux of osteometry lies in the reference collection, not the statistical test. Multivariate statistical analyses and incisor morphology identified all four camelid species. An additional, very large morphotype likely corresponds to a castrated llama, the preferred cargo animal among modern drovers. The presence of these animals is interpreted as evidence that groups hunted vicuñas (Vicugna vicugna) and guanacos, which are not currently present around the site, herded llamas and alpacas (Vicugna pacos), and perhaps organized caravans with castrated llamas.

Issues related to the identification of Late Pleistocene dogs from different sites in Eurasia, triggered by recent publications (see Germonpré et al., 2009, 2012; Ovodov et al., 2011), are discussed. The main focus is the problem of how to distinguish wolves from early dogs on the basis of skull and teeth morphology. The studies by Germonpré et al. (2009, 2012), reporting so-called 'Palaeolithic dogs' from P redmostí, Goyet, and other sites in Eastern and Central Europe, have some serious deficiencies. In our opinion, more work needs to be done to understand the biological mechanisms involved in wolf domestication and until then, it is premature to classify these Palaeolithic canids as fully domesticated dogs or even incipient dogs.

En poblaciones vivas, los camélidos silvestres sudamericanos son sexados a partir de la observación de su conducta social y reproductiva. Por lo general, tanto biólogos como arqueólogos asumen la ausencia de caracteres morfológicos
que evidencien un dimorfismo sexual marcado entre individuos adultos de guanaco (Lama guanicoe). Los principales estudios que evalúan las diferencias osteológicas entre machos y hembras en esta especie están basados
en análisis de variables morfométricas craneanas y en caracteres morfológicos de la pelvis. En este trabajo se evalúa la existencia y magnitud de variables osteométricas poscraneales de diferenciación sexual en una población moderna de guanacos procedente de la localidad Cinco Chañares, Provincia de Río Negro, Argentina. Se estudiaron 32 individuos (8 machos y 24 hembras) de más de 30 meses en los que se midieron 51 hemipelvis, 40 húmeros, 39 radioulnas, 40 fémures y 41 tibias. Los resultados mostraron que las principales diferencias osteológicas, vinculadas con el dimorfismo sexual, se relacionan con variaciones en el tamaño y la forma de la pelvis. En los huesos largos, las diferencias osteométricas significativas se registraron sólo en variables aisladas y no se pudieron definir diferencias osteométricas asociadas con el dimorfismo sexual. Igualmente se considera que esto deberá ser reevaluado con mayor profundidad considerando una muestra mayor de individuos machos.

Localized studies of goat size variation in southern Africa suggest that goats from the last two millennia were smaller
than their modern counterparts. Measurements from archaeological sites taken over three decades at the Transvaal
Museum, Pretoria, were compared with a modern goat herd from Khoikhoi villages in Namibia. Shoulder heights were
calculated and these provided conclusive evidence that goats from southern Africa's prehistory were small, but not
dwarf-sized as suggested by some researchers.

В статье дана остеометрическая характеристика меотов, захороненных в могильниках Старокорсунского городища № 2 и могильнике № 3 городища хутора имени Ленина, датирующихся VI в. до н.э.–III в. н.э. Для проведения внутригрупповой сравнительной характеристики, весь исследуемый материал был разбит на две хронологические группы: IV–I вв. до н.э. и I–III вв. н.э. Была проведена реконструкция среднего значения длины тела и дана оценка абсолютных величин отдельных признаков для всех изучаемых групп. Абсолютные значения продольных размеров длинных костей у мужчин IV–I вв. до н.э. характеризуются средними значениями, а для I–III вв. н.э. кости рук среднего размера, а кости ног – малого. Женские скелеты попадают в категорию малых. Условный показатель величины скелета для всех рассмотренных периодов показал некрупные тотальные размеры тела, также данный признак позволяет нам говорить об уменьшении размеров тела меотов с течением времени. При сравнении указателей платикнемии и платолении мужская часть двух сравниваемых периодов показала высокий уровень достоверности различий по данным признакам.

The objective of this research work is to evaluate the strategies for the use of camelids during the Mochica III and Mochica IV phases, through discriminatory, exploratory and statistical analyzes applied to the first phalanx. The investigations in the archaeological complex of the Huaca del Sol y de la Luna have shown an important occupation since phase III, with the establishment of areas for the use of resources and the development of an urban nucleus governed by a Theocratic State. During phase IV the great changes in the technological organization are linked to the processes of change of subsistence and the generation of new economic forms that allowed the emergence of a Secular State. The results reveal a majority presence of alpacas in both phases, in order to obtain products derived from meat and fiber. On the other hand, during phase III, the superposition of specimens and a high intraspecific variability are shown, in contrast to phase IV, which denotes a greater differentiation of the specimens and a high stability of the intraspecific populations.

Although the economic importance of sheep husbandry in the Middle Ages, especially during the development of the major cloth industries, and the speculation of animals for wool, is recognized, until now the evolution of sheep forms on the French mainland have not been the subject of major investigations. The purpose of our study, therefore, was to assess the morphological diversity of sheep across eleven centuries, and attempt to reconstruct the zootechnical practices used in husbandry and their effectiveness from the zooarchaeological remains. In addition, a database was created, with the help of numerous specialists, grouping 16,353 measured bones corresponding to 59,801 distributed measurements from the 9th to the 19th centuries in France. Our purpose was to describe the shape of animals bred for wool (through size or dimensions) across a wide territory using bone remains and the help of common methods and tool, such as shoulder height, the slenderness index, and the log size index. The work carried out within the framework of this study should be reproducible for any type of zooarchaeological study. The results reveal an evolution in sheep diversity and morphologies according to three stages, from the end of the Late Middle Ages to the industrial era. The first phase corresponds to fairly homogeneous sheep herds from the 9th–10th and the 12th–13th centuries, with a low diversity of forms: small and stunted. We then witness an important development in morphological variety from the 13th–14th centuries, in all dimensions, from the smallest to the largest. Many of the various forms emerged without impacting sheep dimensions in depth; overall, the herds remained composed of smaller individuals. Finally, from the 12th–13th and the 18th–19th centuries, there is a loss of diversity in sheep forms to the benefit of herds primarily consisting of larger di-mensioned individuals. This zootechnical evolution can be compared to the effect of merinisation operating at the end of the modern period.

Olduvai Hominid 8 (OH 8), an articulating set of fossil hominin tarsal and metatarsal bones, is critical to interpretations of the evolution of hominin pedal morphology and bipedal locomotion. It has been suggested that OH 8 may represent the foot of a subadult and may be associated with the OH 7 mandible, the type specimen of Homo habilis. This assertion is based on the presence of what may be unfused distal metatarsal epiphyses. Accurately assessing the skeletal maturity of the OH 8 foot is important for interpretations of the functional morphology and locomotor behavior of Plio-Pleistocene hominins. In this study, we compare metatarsal fusion patterns and internal bone morphology of the lateral metatarsals among subadult hominines (85 modern humans, 48 Pan, and 25 Gorilla) to assess the likelihood that OH 8 belonged to either an adult or subadult hominin. Our results suggest that if OH 8 is indeed from a subadult, then it displays a metatarsal developmental pattern that is unobserved in our comparative sample. In OH 8, the fully fused base of the first metatarsal and the presence of trabecular bone at the distal ends of the second and third metatarsal shafts make it highly improbable that it belonged to a subadult, let alone a subadult that matches the developmental age of the OH 7 mandible. In total, the results of this study suggest that the OH 8 foot most likely belonged to an adult hominin.