When Provenience Is Lost: Achievements and Challenges in Preserving the Historical St. John's, Belize, Skeletal Collection

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Plumer-Moodie ◽  
Carlos Quiroz ◽  
Katherine A. Miller Wolf ◽  
Yasser Musa
Keyword(s):  
Preliminary Analysis ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Human Remains ◽  
Ethical Responsibility ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Significant Group ◽  
European Descent ◽  
Institutional Level ◽  
Indentured Servitude ◽  
Scientific Analysis

AbstractIn small developing countries like Belize, lack of funding for archaeological research and post excavation curation remains one of our greatest challenges to preserving our tangible cultural heritage. The state of curation of human remains and artefact collections at St. John's College in Belize City is a perfect example of what can go wrong in the absence of a properly funded and managed curation program both at the national and the institutional level. This article highlights the rediscovery of a historically significant group of over 70 human remains in the biological collection of Friar Deickman, which had been forgotten in an attic after his death in 2003. We outline the process of, and accomplishments in improving the curation conditions of these individuals while uncovering their importance to Belizean history in the eighteenth through twentieth centuries. Preliminary analysis reveals life histories of slavery and indentured servitude of individuals of African, Maya, European, and possible mixed African and European descent. We emphasize the importance of ethical responsibility in properly curating excavated human remains, and the challenges researchers face when poor curation results in lost provenience. We offer suggestions for scientific analysis in recovering information lost as a result of poor excavation or curation methods.

A Medieval Burial from Graham Street, Leith, Edinburgh

2003 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-169
Author(s):  
Paul R. J. Duffy ◽  
Olivia Lelong
Keyword(s):  
Contextual Information ◽  
Human Remains ◽  
Housing Development ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Archaeological Excavation ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Physical Evidence ◽  
Research Division ◽  
The North ◽  
The Individual

Summary An archaeological excavation was carried out at Graham Street, Leith, Edinburgh by Glasgow University Archaeological Research Division (GUARD) as part of the Historic Scotland Human Remains Call-off Contract following the discovery of human remains during machine excavation of a foundation trench for a new housing development. Excavation demonstrated that the burial was that of a young adult male who had been interred in a supine position with his head orientated towards the north. Radiocarbon dates obtained from a right tibia suggest the individual died between the 15th and 17th centuries AD. Little contextual information exists in documentary or cartographic sources to supplement this scant physical evidence. Accordingly, it is difficult to further refine the context of burial, although a possible link with a historically attested siege or a plague cannot be discounted.

scholarly journals HASIL EKSKAVASI SITUS MALANGSARI, BANYUWANGI: “DATA BARU DOLMEN DI JAWA TIMUR”

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gunadi Kasnowihardjo
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Human Remains ◽  
Wide Distribution ◽  
Distribution Area ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Coffee Plantation ◽  
The Future ◽  
Interesting Object ◽  
Archaeological Resource Management

Generally in Indonesia and especially in Java, until now, in East Java dolmens are known to be found in, which is in Bondowoso and Besuki. Lately, it is known that dolmen are also found in the area of Banyuwangi Regency. One of the monuments from this megalithic tradition found in the area of PT. Perkebunan Nusantara XII Malangsari, Banyuwangi, East Java. Based on information from the local community it is estimated that the Malangsari plantation area is the Dolmen Tomb Site. Physically, construction of the dolmen in this area only has a few interference because it is buried between 50-60 cm and covered by a coffee plantation which owned by PT. Perkebunan Nusantara XII. However, some of the dolmens have been excavated by people looters. They were able to open the dolmen tomb simply by opening a stone without unpacking its construction. Dolmen that was found from the excavation at Petak D 55 Sidomaju Block, Afdeling Mulyosari, Malangsari, are still intact if it is seen physically and from the construction, but both the human remains and artifacts ware not found. It is a proof that this dolmen has been opened before. Nevertheless, Malangsari dolmen is a very interesting object to conduct research, because of its wide distribution area and there has not been done a comprehensive research for this object. In the future, this object is important to investigate, both for the development of archaeological research, as well as for the benefit of archaeological resource management in Indonesia.Di Indonesia pada umumnya dan Jawa khususnya, selama ini diketahui bahwa dolmen banyak ditemukan di Jawa Timur, yaitu di Bondowoso dan Besuki. Akhir-akhir ini diketahui bahwa dolmen ditemukan pula di daerah Kabupaten Banyuwangi. Salah satu monumen dari tradisi megalitik ini ditemukan di kawasan PT. Perkebunan Nusantara XII Malangsari, Banyuwangi, Jawa Timur. Berdasarkan informasi dari masyarakat setempat diperkirakan bahwa kawasan Perkebunan Malangsari merupakan situs kubur dolmen. Secara fisik, konstruksi dolmen – dolmen di kawasan ini hanya sedikit mengalami gangguan karena tertimbun tanah antara 50 – 60 cm dan tertutup kebun kopi milik PT. Perkebunan Nusantara XII. Namun, rupanya sebagian dari dolmen tersebut telah digali oleh masyarakat yang bertujuan mencari harta karun. Mereka mampu membuka kubur dolmen cukup dengan membuka sebuah batu tanpa membongkar konstruksinya. Dolmen temuan hasil ekskavasi di Petak D 55 Blok Sidomaju, Afdeling Mulyosari, Malangsari, secara fisik dan konstruksi masih terlihat utuh, tetapi baik sisa rangka manusia maupun artefak bekal kuburnya tidak ditemukan. Keadaan semacam ini menunjukkan kemungkinan bahwa dolmen ini pernah dibuka. Luasnya areal sebaran serta belum dilakukannya penelitian secara menyeluruh, menjadikan dolmen Malangsari sebagai objek baru yang sangat menarik untuk diteliti lebih lanjut. Kelak di kemudian hari objek baru ini penting untuk dikaji baik bagi perkembangan penelitian arkeologi, maupun untuk kepentingan pengelolaan sumberdaya arkeologi di Indonesia.

Human Remains and What They Can Tell Us about Status and Identity in the Merovingian Period

2020 ◽  
pp. 138-163
Author(s):  
Andrea Czermak
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Human Remains ◽  
Isotope Ratios ◽  
Transitional Period ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Childhood And Adolescence ◽  
Cultural Changes

The Merovingian period was marked by economic, political, social, and cultural changes, leading to new social structures and cultural identities. Stable isotope analysis of human remains, focusing on potential changes in individuals’ life histories can provide important clues about this transitional period, allowing for conclusions about social structures and relations within a population. Carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios are used for characterization of individuals’ diets. Gained from bone material, isotope ratios reflect an average of an individual’s diet during the last years of life. Teeth reflect nutrition during childhood and adolescence and, due to their appositional growth, can provide a chronology of dietary intake during the first twenty years of life. Serial microsampling of dentine from different teeth that grow at different times allows detection of potential changes in diet and subsistence and thus can give information about changing environmental conditions during an individual’s early lifetime. This chapter asks whether the radical cultural changes evident in material culture in Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages reflect the migration of populations from eastern Europe or cultural change among members of the former Roman population.

FIRST DIRECTLY DATED ROCK ART IN SOUTHEAST ASIA AND THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS

Radiocarbon ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Andrea Jalandoni ◽  
Marie Grace Pamela G Faylona ◽  
Aila Shaine Sambo ◽  
Mark D Willis ◽  
Caroline Marie Q Lising ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Rock Art ◽  
Human Remains ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
The People

ABSTRACT This paper integrates the first rock art directly dated with radiocarbon (14C) in Southeast Asia with the archaeological activity in the area and with stylistically similar rock art in the region. Peñablanca is a hotspot of archaeological research that includes the oldest dates for human remains in the Philippines. The caves in Peñablanca with known rock art were revisited and only 37.6% of the original recorded figures were found; the others are likely lost to agents of deterioration. A sample was collected from an anthropomorph and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dated to 3570–3460 cal BP. The date corresponds to archaeological activity in the area and provides a more holistic view of the people inhabiting the Peñablanca caves at that time. A systematic review was used to find similar black anthropomorph motifs in Southeast Asia to identify potential connections across the region and provide a possible chronological association.

scholarly journals Mingtepa Monument In Archaeological Research

2021 ◽  
Vol 04 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Turdikhujaeva Makhliyokxon Muqimkxuja qizi ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Special Place ◽  
Scientific Analysis ◽  
Historical Issues ◽  
Scientific Achievements ◽  
Archaeological Monument

The article presents the historical issues of the Mingtepa archaeological monument, which is famous in the Fergana Valley. The archaeological study of Mingtepa as well as the scientific analysis of the various archaeological and historian's works on the solution of the archaeological problems of the Fergana Valley will be carried out. Also, in the article, opinions are expressed about the studies that have a special place in the historiography of this archaeological research. In the process of analyzing the historiography of Mingtepa archeology, an attempt was also made to cover the issue of the ancient capital of David . In addition, the data from the research archaeologists who studied this monument are comparative-analyzed, as well as the conclusions of the historiography. The results and prospects of the joint archaeological research carried out by Chinese-Uzbek archaeologists in the territory of Mingtepa today are summarized, and the scientific achievements of these expeditions are observed.

scholarly journals Les restes humains et l'archéologie : état des lieux juridique

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 201-205
Author(s):  
Agnès Mathieu
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Civil Law ◽  
Human Remains ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Societal Issues ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Scientific Nature ◽  
Object Of Study ◽  
Legal Understanding ◽  
Archaeological Objects

The subject of human remains in archaeology is linked to ethical or societal issues that call into question the notion of “dignity” and therefore of “respect” due to the human body. In archaeological research, the “human remain” is, to a certain extent, an object of study like other archaeological objects. This normality results from the scientific nature of the process, but also from the anonymity that is most often attached to the human remains uncovered. This duality between ethics and professional deontology is logically reflected in the subject’s legal understanding. There are thus general standards in civil law or funeral law that do not specifically concern archaeology, but which may apply to some of its situations. Specific standards are needed to reconcile the ethical issues related to human remains with the scientific issues of archaeology. But defining such standards is not easy, as evidenced by recent work in France on the law on freedom of creation, architecture and heritage (LCAP).

From corpse to skeleton: dealing with the dead in prehistory

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 4-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Parker-Pearson
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Histological Analysis ◽  
Human Remains ◽  
Bone Microstructure ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Funerary Practices ◽  
Mortuary Practice ◽  
Scientific Analysis ◽  
Outer Hebrides

The shortcomings of the archaeological record raise many challenges for the interpretation of prehistoric funerary practices, particularly because the remains of most people in prehistory have left no trace at all. Throughout prehistory, most human remains were treated in ways that are archaeologically invisible. A brief review of the sequence of funerary practices in British prehistory reveals major gaps and deficiencies in the burial record. It may well be that the normative rites for much of British prehistory were those that left little or no archaeological trace, such as excarnation through exposure of corpses or scattering of cremated ashes.One form of mortuary practice only recently demonstrated for British prehistory is that of mummification. Scientific analysis of Late Bronze Age skeletons from Cladh Hallan, in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, has revealed that they were not only composites of multiple individuals but were also mummified prior to burial. In particular, histological analysis of bioerosion in the bone microstructure reveals that putrefaction was arrested soon after death. This method of histological analysis has been applied to a large sample of prehistoric and historical human remains, and reveals that patterns of arrested decay are particularly a feature of the British Bronze Age from the Bell Beaker period onwards.

Interdisciplinary explorations of the Mesoamerican past

Antiquity ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 93 (372) ◽  
pp. 1680-1682
Author(s):  
John W. Verano
Keyword(s):  
Life Histories ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Human Remains ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Biological Anthropology ◽  
Global Perspectives ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approaches ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The University

Bioarchaeology of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica: an interdisciplinary approach is the latest volume in a series from the University Press of Florida ‘Bioarchaeological Interpretations of the Human Past: Local, Regional, and Global Perspectives’, edited by Clark Spencer Larsen. With this contribution the series now comprises 20 published volumes that take a bioarchaeological approach to the study of ancient human remains from various regions and time periods. Bioarchaeology is a term that was introduced in the USA in the late 1970s by biological anthropologist Jane Buikstra to describe the application of biological anthropology to archaeological research questions. Its use has become increasingly common in recent decades among scholars in the USA, Latin America and Europe, although in the UK the term Osteoarchaeology is more commonly used to describe this research. Whichever name one prefers, a common thread is the shift from typological and descriptive osteological monographs towards an emphasis on applying theoretical models and interdisciplinary approaches to reconstructing the life histories, health and population dynamics of past societies from the analysis of human remains.

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