The Akkadian Cylinder Seal – Metonym for Life in Akkad

Akkadian cylinder seals, though tiny physical objects, were useful and significant to the Akkadians. This work explores those uses and significances in order to understand the cultural complexity reflected in these small items. Religious scenes on cylinder seals detail the spiritual beliefs and practices of the time. The deeply intertwined relationship between religion and state power in Akkad is also present in the decorations of some cylinder seals. The materials from which cylinder seals are made indicate trade with distant groups and signal the passage of both materials and cultural influences between groups. These cylinder seals also reflect the complexities of daily life; politics, distribution of resources, the specialization of craftspeople, and art can all be read in these minute cylinders. As well, the making of cylinder seals was a technologically complex process, demonstrating sophistication of technique and of material choice that points to the sophistication of the people who made them. Ultimately, these physical and social properties of cylinder seals indicate that they had multiple meanings in the life of Akkadians.

Skeletal Dysplasia: an Analysis of Dwarfism in Ancient Egyptian Culture

The purpose of this paper is to analyze dwarfism and its standing in ancient Egyptian society and culture. Dwarfism existed in ancient Egyptian society, but unlike other ancient societies, those with dwarfism were not blatantly discriminated against (Sullivan 2001). Individuals with dwarfism could hold many positions within society ranging from herdsmen and fishermen, to personal attendants in royal court (Kozma 2008). There is evidence of individuals with dwarfism dating back to the Badarian Period, with statues, sarcophagi, skeletons, and paintings all having been discovered (Kozma 2008). There are several prominent figures who have been studied in detail; Per-ni-ankh-w was an individual with high status in Egyptian society, and there is ample docu­mentation of him in texts, visual imagery, and skeletal evidence (Kozma 2008). Djeho was another individual who has been well documented and aided with burials (Kozma 2008). Individuals with dwarfism also had religious importance, including the gods Bes and Ptah (Kozma 2008). Individ­uals with dwarfism were also considered to hold magical significance, and this was seen in spells and religious texts (Kozma 2008). Additionally, there is an abundance of artistic representation of individuals with dwarfism, in the form of statues, sarcophagi, and visual images (Kozma 2008). The Walters Art Museum is also a significant holder of Egyptian art, with many depictions of dwarfism (Kozma 2010). These individuals were significant in ancient Egyptian society and were well documented in several forms.

Front Matter

N/A

Critical Review of Healing Elements: Efficacy and the Social Ecologies of Tibetan Medicine

This article offers a critical review of Healing Elements: Efficacy and the Social Ecologies of Tibetan Medicine. The ethnography provides rich and comprehensive insights regarding the triumphs and tribulations of Sowa Rigpa (traditional Tibetan medicine) as the medical system is translated across diverse contexts to ensure its continuity within the globalized world; however, these insights can be broadened by more deliberately acknowledging and investigating the (post)colonial subtexts underlying these translations. Incommensurability emerges throughout the ethnography in the form of tensions that arise as tacit knowledge is translated to explicit knowledge in the quest for legitimization. It is argued that expounding the nature of this incommensurability by engaging with rather than rejecting polarized notions of “traditional” and “modern” paradigms can reveal that non-biomedical medical systems and medically pluralistic contexts more broadly are inundated by (post)colonial processes. Borrowing Blaser’s (2013) notion of “Sameing,” it is demonstrated that translation involves (post)colonial processes of assimilation, as Sowa Rigpa is rendered visible through Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), and appropriation, as it is made palatable through pharmaceutical commodification. Furthermore, it is argued that these processes mobilize mimesis and essentialization to transform Sowa Rigpa into a system that is both legitimized and acquiescent to the imperatives of varying external regimes. The simultaneity of these effects and the position that they are not mutually exclusive is asserted throughout the review as further evidence of (post)colonization.

Healing Waters and Buffalo Bones: Using Women’s Histories to challenge the Patriarchal Narrative of Lac Ste. Anne, Alberta

Most historical narratives have overlooked women’s roles in and Indigenous peoples’ relationships with the Roman Catholic church, such as that of Lac Ste. Anne, a 19th century Roman Catholic community in Alberta. Lac Ste. Anne was the first permanent Catholic mission west of the Red River settlement and frequently appears in historical documents and missionary histories. Women and Indigenous peoples, however, are scantily mentioned. In contrast to the dominant patriarchal narratives built from decades of male-based stories, I propose that women’s accounts from the settlement illuminate life and relationships between its inhabitants. Drawing on historical sources left by three Sisters of Charity (Grey Nuns), who maintained the chapel and founded the school and hospital in 1859, and oral histories from Victoria Callihoo, a Métis woman who lived in the settlement as a young girl, I will argue that the Catholic Fathers conflated women’s lives at Lac Ste. Anne into one over-simplistic patriarchal narrative. Additionally, when re-examined with a 21st century lens, these stories can inform the anthropological study of women at Lac Ste. Anne including their roles and responsibilities, living conditions, physical and social mobility, and rela­tionships with colonialism.

Colonial Continuum

The Fort York National Historic Site was chosen as the site of research to examine how tourist attractions are constructed through the use of certain images and narratives, which reflect existing socio-political power dynamics through the processes of selecting and excluding what is represented. Research into media representations of Fort York was first conducted on the websites of Fort York and the City of Toronto on May 15th and May 16th, 2018. Field observations were subsequently conducted at the Fort York National Historic Site on May 20th, 2018, from 3–5 p.m.; May 30th, 2018, from 2–4 p.m.; and June 2nd, 2018, from 3–5 p.m. The analysis illustrates how the social, cultural, and historical constructions of Fort York render Canada and Canadians as conceptually White spaces and bodies, thus reflecting how the Canadian settler state continues to normalize the erasure of Indigenous peoples, communities, identities, and cultures within the contemporary Canadian landscape. Application of queer Indigenous theories then helps to concep­tualize how multiple uninterrupted strands of settler colonialism intersect to form a cohesive but variegated colonial continuum, or the tangible inertia of settler colonialism that self-perpetuates colonial heteronormativity. Queer Indigenous theories are thus argued to provide the framework through which colonized peoples can collectively dismantle the colonial continuum.

New and Emerging Prospects for the Paleopathological Study of Starvation

Starvation represents a significant contributor to morbidity and mortality, past and present, and is therefore of critical importance to the field of paleopathology. Scholars have previously argued that while critical to understanding past human health, starvation is often not directly observable in skeletal remains. But is this assessment still valid today? In re-evaluating this assessment, this paper discusses new developments in the analysis of (1) the “hunger osteopathies” (osteoporosis with some overlay of osteomalacia), (2) skeletal signs of arrested growth such as Harris lines and Linear Enamel Hypoplasia (LEH), and (3) carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis of skeletal remains. Periods of starvation are known to cause these visible and chemical alterations within skeletal remains, but these phenomena are complex, multi-etiological, and approaches to evaluate them are often fraught with a lack of standardization and specificity. An interdisciplinary approach synthesizing multiple lines of osteological and dental evidence, borrowing anatomical and medical research, and implementing new advancements in computer modeling, imaging modalities, and chemical micro-sampling may theoretically aid in inferring starvation bioarchaeologically.

Reorienting Bioarchaeology for an Era of Reconciliation

Anthropology, in general, has recently been working toward reworking their systems to be better suited to the needs of descendent communities. Bioarchaeology, however, has been slower to adopt these efforts. In the spirit of reconciliation, it is important for all disciplines to self-reflect and critique the colonial systems that have been institutionalized their teaching and research. This paper serves as a theoretical exploration into the current practice of bioarchaeology and seeks to provide a theoretical model that could contribute toward the decolonization of the discipline to be appropriate for application in Canada. It discusses how to better orient theory to compliment ancestral knowledge and reorganize bioarchaeology so that it could be more useful to responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Calls to Action (2015) and benefit the needs of descendants. It will proceed by reviewing the integration of social theory in bioarchaeol­ogy, providing a critique of the biocultural approach, and finish by proposing a theoretical model that seeks to contribute to the ongoing decolonization of bioarchaeology. The model that this paper proposes serves is a suggestion of how to better structure and conduct a project including ancient human remains to better optimize the application of archaeological theory as a compliment to traditional knowledge. It is formed on the bases of theories of personhood, shared histories, behavioral archaeology, and biocultural approaches to provide a pragmatic synthesis of theory for a community driven bioarchaeology.

The Effect of Agriculture on Health in Neolithic Populations in the Levant

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect that the onset of agriculturalism had on the lives and health of the various Neolithic populations in the Levant during that time. Analysis of bones found at the site of Abu Hureyra (which was occupied by both hunter-gatherers and agriculturalists) show evidence for increased physical stress in the skeletons of agriculturalists, which was due to the physical stress of agriculture (Molleson 1994). Furthermore, musculoskeletal markers on Neolithic male skeletons were shown to be more symmetrical than on Natufian male skeletons. This correlates with the shift from hunting to farming (Eshed et al. 2004). It was also found that the agricultural lifestyle increased the infectious disease rate of farming populations when compared to their Natufian counterparts (Eshed et al. 2010). The shift to an agricultural lifestyle brought about many changes for dental health as well. In Neolithic populations, the rates of dental caries increased, while the wear on their teeth decreased (Eshed, Gopher, and Hershkovitz 2006; Richards 2002). This was due to the increased consumption of carbohydrates and the decreased use of teeth as tools, respectively (Eshed, Gopher, and Hershkovitz 2006; Richards 2002). Furthermore, the mandible was shown to decrease in size in the Neolithic populations when compared to Natufians (Pinhasi, Eshed, and von Cramon-Taubadel 2015). These dental changes were also seen in other areas during the agricultural shift, such as South Asia and South America (Eshed, Gopher, and Hershkovitz 2006).