Exploring the Efficacy of Comparative Bioarchaeological Approaches in Providing Answers on Marginality and Networking

This paper investigates the efficacy of comparative bioarchaeological approaches in exploring the impact of economic marginality on human lifeways. Skeletal remains from the Late Bronze Age cemetery of Achlada in Northern Greece were chosen to address this, as this specific community was probably less well networked, evident in its location away from major communication routes and the paucity of grave goods at the site. A biocultural methodology combining comparative data on funerary practices and lifestyle was implemented. Sex differences were found within the community and seem to agree with the differential burial placement of the sexes possibly representing the different roles that society symbolically attributed to men and women in deathways. Comparative intercemetery data did not reveal poorer health and diet, or more intense physical activity, compared to well-networked sites. Nonetheless, Achlada, as well as numerous, mostly north communities of the wider context, probably faced more physiological challenges during growth, at least of a mild to moderate level, compared to a number of populations connected by major communication routes. The current study highlights the importance of implementing comparative bioarchaeological approaches as a means of identifying the impact of marginality on human lifeways, particularly in settings with limited material culture information.Limitations linked to preservation issues and the multifactorial nature of lifestyle indicators could be dealt with by future biomolecular and isotopic analyses. Η παρούσα εργασία έχει στόχο να διερευνήσει το κατά πόσο οι συγκριτικές βιοαρχαιολογικές προσεγγίσεις είναι εφικτό να δώσουν απαντήσεις ως προς την επίδραση της οικονομικής περιθωριοποίησης στον ανθρώπινο τρόπο διαβίωσης. Επιλέχθηκαν σκελετικά κατάλοιπα της Ύστερης Εποχής Χαλκού από το νεκροταφείο της Αχλάδας στη Βόρεια Ελλάδα ώστε να απαντηθεί το εν λόγω ερώτημα, καθώς η συγκεκριμένη κοινωνία -βάσει της θέσης της μακριά από τα μεγάλα δίκτυα επικοινωνίας και της παρουσίας πολύ λίγων ταφικών ευρημάτων-ήταν πιθανώς λιγότερο καλά δικτυωμένη. Ακολουθήθηκε μια συνδυαστική βιοπολιτισμική προσέγγιση συγκριτικών ταφικών δεδομένων και συγκριτικών αποτελεσμάτων δεικτών τρόπου διαβίωσης. Βρέθηκαν διαφορές μεταξύ των δύο φύλων στον εν λόγω πληθυσμό οι οποίες φαίνεται να συμφωνούν με την διαφορετική πλευρά κατάκλισής τους, η οποία πιθανώς να συμβόλιζε τη διαφορετικότητα των ρόλων που η κοινωνία απέδιδε σε άντρες και γυναίκες στο ταφικό περιβάλλον. Συγκριτικά αποτελέσματα μεταξύ νεκροταφείων δεν φανέρωσαν χαμηλότερο επίπεδο υγείας και διατροφής, ούτε πιο έντονη εργασιακή καταπόνηση, σε σχέση με καλά δικτυωμένες θέσεις. Παρόλα αυτά, η Αχλάδα, όπως και μια σειρά –κυρίως βόρειων- κοινωνιών τουευρύτερου πλαισίου, πιθανότητα αντιμετώπισαν περισσότερα φαινόμενα καταπόνησης (στρες) κατά τη διάρκεια της ανάπτυξης, τουλάχιστον ήπιου και μετρίου επιπέδου, συγκριτικά με καλύτερα δικτυωμένους πληθυσμούς. Η παρούσα εργασία τονίζει τη σημασία της εφαρμογής συγκριτικών βιοαρχαιολογικών προσεγγίσεων ως μέσο μελέτης της επίδρασης της περιθωριοποίησης στους ανθρώπινους πληθυσμούς, ιδιαιτέρως σε θέσεις με περιορισμένες πληροφορίες υλικού πολιτισμού. Μεθοδολογικοί περιορισμοί οι οποίοι συνδέονται με ζητήματα διατήρησης αλλά και με τον πολυπαραγοντικό χαρακτήρα των δεικτών τρόπου διαβίωσης, ενδεχομένως να αντιμετωπιστούν μέσω των επερχόμενων βιομοριακών και ισοτοπικών αναλύσεων.

Epidemics and Wars: Comparative Archaeology and Anthropology of Ancient Greek Mass Burials

The high number of dead bodies to deal with in time of mortality crises (events marked by an unusually high number of dead in a limited amount of time) often leads to modifications in the traditional funerary practices of a society. This contribution questions the way Ancient Greeks, from the 8th till the 3rd century BC, handled such mortality crises, focusing on mass burials. In a first methodological part, we discuss the means to identify funerary sites related to mortality crises, using the methods of archaeothanatology. By confronting archaeological features (taphonomic processes, position of the remains, grave type, offerings, etc.) and bioanthropological data (number of dead, sex, age, pathologies, etc.), we will first define the main characteristics of mass burials. We will then question how to discriminate between mass burials linked to war, epidemics, massacres and famine, underlining the major importance of historical sources in this process. The second part is dedicated to the study of various cases from Athens, Paros, Chaeronea, Tanagra and Greek Sicily and their interpretation. We will argue that epidemic mass burials are the most difficult to identify, since they may present innumerable variations in terms of osteoprofiles and archaeological features. Finally, we will question our abilities, as archaeoanthropologists, to evaluate the impact of epidemics on the funerary treatment of the dead in the Ancient world.

A political archaeology of Theravada Buddhism: Unearthing the emotions of changing funerary practices in northern Thailand

As the central Thai government expanded into the northern region during the early decades of the twentieth century, thousands of northern monks created a movement spearheaded by the famous monk, Khruba Srivichai (1878–1939). Even after Srivichai's multiple arrests and the disrobing of some 1,000 of his disciples in 1936, tensions continued. Oral histories reveal underlying differences in religious interpretations; one was outrage at the construction of funerary chedis on temple grounds. To understand why northerners found this practice sacrilegious, this essay undertakes an ideological archaeology into the ‘space of dissension’ of differing central and northern Thai funerary practices.

Insights into the Funerary Practices in the Dolmen of Cabecinha (Figueira da Foz, Portugal)

The dolmen of Cabecinha in the region of Figueira da Foz (Coimbra, Portugal) was excavated at the end of the 19th century by António dos Santos Rocha. This tomb belongs to a Megalithic necropolis of c. 21 dolmens in Western-Central Portugal and was explored and published between 1880 and 1909. The aim of this contribution is to present the human bone collection of the Megalitho da Cabecinha, cross-referencing this data with the original available documentation from the excavation and the chronology obtained from direct radiocarbon dating of a human bone fragment. This approach is adopted to get insights into the funerary practices, and the biological and pathological profiles of the individuals deposited in the dolmen. The most relevant information obtained pertains to the mortuary behaviour, where a unique funerary practice for this Megalithic necropolis was identified. In each corner of the irregular polygonal chamber, an adult individual was deposited in crouching or squatting position in sandy sediment and surrounded by small flat limestone slabs. All but one individual was associated with votive items.

Into the fire: Investigating the introduction of cremation to Nordic Bronze Age Denmark: A comparative study between different regions applying strontium isotope analyses and archaeological methods

Changes in funerary practices are key to the understanding of social transformations of past societies. Over the course of the Nordic Bronze Age, funerary practices changed from inhumation to cremation. The aim of this study is to shed light on this fundamental change through a cross-examination of archaeometric provenance data and archaeological discussions of the context and layouts of early cremation graves. To this end, we conducted 19 new provenance analyses of strontium isotopes from Early Nordic Bronze age contexts in Thisted County and Zealand and Late Bronze Age contexts from Thisted County and Vesthimmerland (Denmark). These data are subsequently compared with data from other extant relevant studies, including those from Late Bronze Age Fraugde on the Danish island of Fyn. Overall, the variations within our provenience data suggest that the integration and establishment of cremation may not have had a one-to-one relationship with in-migration to Nordic Bronze Age Denmark. Moreover, there seems to be no single blanket scenario which dictated the uptake of cremation as a practice within this part of Southern Scandinavia. By addressing habitus in relation to the deposition of cremations as juxtaposed with these provenance data¸ we hypothesize several potential pathways for the uptake of cremation as a new cultural practice within the Danish Nordic Bronze Age and suggest that this may have been a highly individual process, whose tempo may have been dictated by the specificities of the region(s) concerned.