Variation among early North American crania

The limited morphometric work on early American crania to date has treated them as a single, temporally defined group. This paper addresses the question of whether there is significant variability among ancient American crania. A sample of 11 crania (Spirit Cave, Wizards Beach, Browns Valley, Pelican Rapids, Prospect, Wet Gravel male, Wet Gravel female, Medicine Crow, Turin, Lime Creek, and Swanson Lake) dating from the early to mid Holocene was available. Some have recent accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates, while others are dated geologically or archaeologically. All are in excess of 4500 BP, and most are 7000 BP or older. Measurements follow the definitions of Howells [(1973) Cranial variation in man, Cambridge: Harvard University). Some crania are incomplete, but 22 measurements were common to all fossils. Cranial variation was examined by calculating the Mahalanobis distance between each pair of fossils, using a pooled within sample covariance matrix estimated from the data of Howells. The distance relationships among crania suggest the presence of at least three distinct groups: 1) a middle Archaic Plains group (Turin and Medicine Crow), 2) a Paleo/Early Archaic Great Lakes/Plains group (Browns Valley, Pelican Rapids, Lime Creek), and 3) a spatially and temporally heterogeneous group that includes the Great Basin/Pacific Coast (Spirit Cave, Wizards Beach, Prospect) and Nebraska (Wet Gravel specimens and Swanson Lake). These crania were also compared to Howells' worldwide recent sample, which was expanded by including six additional American Indian samples. None of the fossils, except for the Wet Gravel male, shows any particular affinity to recent Native Americans; their greatest similarities are with Europe, Polynesia, or East Asia. Several crania would be atypical in any recent population for which we have data. Browns Valley, Pelican Rapids, and Lime Creek are the most distinctive. They provide evidence for the presence of an early population that bears no similarity to the morphometric pattern of recent American Indians or even to crania of comparable date in other regions of the continent. The heterogeneity among early American crania makes it inadvisable to pool them for purposes of morphometric analysis. Whether this heterogeneity results from different early migrations or one highly differentiated population cannot be established from our data. Our results are inconsistent with hypotheses of an ancestor-descendent relationship between early and late Holocene American populations. They suggest that the pattern of cranial variation is of recent origin, at least in the Plains region.     

Lansing man: a half century later

One of the major fossil man finds from the Plains Area of the United States and one of the few from Kansas are the “Lansing Man” skeletons. The discovery was in February 1902 on the west bank of the Missouri River, south of Leavenworth near the town of Lansing, Kansas. Much was written about this skeleton following its discovery and Ale? Hrdli?ka's only trip to Kansas in October 1902 was to observe the skeletons and the site of its discovery. Numerous articles were written suggesting that “Lansing Man” was many thousands of years old. Geologists could not agree on an age of the skeletons, an adult male and a six to seven year old child, because they were discovered in deposits of slumped loess, confusing the geological picture. Hrdli?ka states that the skeletons were physically identical to Indians of that region at the period of historical contact. William Holmes had the skull sent to the U. S. National Museum and the remaining bones were placed in the Museum of Natural History at the University of Kansas. While on the staff of the University of Kansas, I had Carbon-14 tests conducted on bones from the lower limbs by three separate laboratories. These dates range from 2660 to 5020 B.C. with an average date of four samples (1 each from Geochron Laboratories and the University of Michigan and two from the Smithsonian Institution) of 3579 B.C. This suggests that the “Lansing Man” skeletons are Early Middle Archaic and not Paleoindian. They do, however, represent the oldest known human skeletons from Kansas.     

The Gore Pit Site: An Archaic Occupation in Southwestern Oklahoma and a Review Of the Archaic Stage in the Southern Plains

Abstract

The Gore Pit site (34CM131), which is within the city limits of Lawton, Comanche County, Oklahoma, has been revealing evidence of Archaic occupation through excavation and surface collection since 1963. The site is contained in the bottom of a large borrow pit which was sera ped to a depth of 15 to 20 feet by he Highway Department.The pit is on the active flood plain of East Cache Creek and borders the creek a few feet to the east. The artifacts recovered by surface collection include projectile points, scrapers, scraper planes, Clear Fork gouges, andgrinding stones and basins. Three burned rock middens were excavated, one of which yielded radiocarbon dates, 6030 + 300 B.P. (Bastian 1964) and 6145+ 130 B.P. (GX1558). In the spring of 1968, a partially preserved, semiflexed human burial was discovered in the pit. There were no associated artifacts. A radiocarbon date obtained from the apatite fraction of the bone resulted in a determination of 7100+350 B.P. (GX2009). The earliest Archaic on the Southern Plains is presently dated around 6000 B.P. However, there is a paucity of dated and documented sites for the preceding 2000 years. Archaic subsistence patterns occur at least 2000 years earlier in areas to the west and east. The origin and age of the earliest Archaic in the Southern Plains remains undetermined. The Archaic must ultimately be identified on the basis of subsistence patterns and not on the basis of projectile point styles.     

Archaic Skeletal Remains from the Central Plains: Demography and Burial Practices

Abstract

Recently a number of reports on Plains Archaic skeletal material have been published which quadruple the number of burials described and analyzed in the literature. Although the total number of burials is still relatively small, it is large enough to allow research to begin in paieodemographic aspects of the central part of thePlains and the suggestion of burial patterns for these materials. By combining all Archaic burials from the Plains a demographic profile has been developed. It is compared with other Archaic populations from the eastern United States, and with a Plains population dating after A.O. 1000. The results of the analysis show that with few exceptions burial patterns and the demographic picture of the Plains are quite stable over time, although differences are found in metric and non-metric variations in both the time and space continua. The analysis further shows that certain anomalous conditions in the skeleton appear to be much more prevalent inArchaic material than in recent material from the same area. The results finally suggest that Archaic people in the demographic and burial practice continua are quite similar to later populations, at least through Middle Mississippian populationsin the Plains.     

Holocene climate and vegetation in the Milford drainage basin,Maine, U.S.A., and their implications for human history

A 9200 ¹⁴C year fossil pollen record from a small kettle lake in central Maine, northeast U.S.A., records the development of nearby upland vegetation throughout the Archaic, Ceramic, and Historic periods of human history. The Early Archaic period (9000 to 8000 B.P.) began as open woodland dominated by Picea, Populus, and Larix, which was replaced by Pinus forest. During the Middle Archaic (8000-6000 B.P.) Tsuga-dominated forest, which developed ca. 7400 B.P., was followed by Pinus forest (ca. 6400 B.P.). The Late Archaic (6000-3000 B.P.) was a period of great transition; Tsuga forest developed again ca. 5700 B.P., but was abruptly replaced by northern hardwood forest ca. 4700 B.P. That Late Archaic expansion of hardwoods would have provided better forage for beaver. Coincidentally, boreal wetland mammals such as beaver (Castor canadensis) and muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) increase in faunal assemblages of local archaeological sites, while remains of anadromous fish decrease. We postulate that the apparent increase in human populations throughout the region during the Late Archaic may be attributed to an increase in the resource base within both upland and wetland areas resulting from the development of hardwood forest in response to climatic cooling.     

Evaluation of morphological sex determinations by molecular analyses

The study presents an evaluation of morphological sex determinations of adult skeletal individuals based on traits of the ossa coxae and the cranium. The evaluation criterion was genetic analysis of the amelogenine gene, which represents parts of the X- and the Y-chromosome (Mannucci et al. 1994). The study was carried out on 33 human skeletons from an early modern burial site in Lower Saxony. In this skeletal series, 88% of the morphological sex determinations matched the genetic sex. The percentage of matches was further improved, if only those morphological determinations were taken into account that were classified as unambiguous by a self-evaluation. In the reverse case, a significant number of non-matching determinations (33%) resulted from those cases in which a sex determination still seemed possible but was classified as "ambiguous" in the self-evaluation. At least within this skeletal series, no clear connection could be detected between the number of matching results and the presence or absence of the ossa coxae. This might be due to a strong cranial dimorphism within this particular skeletal series.     

中国古代人类遗骸的骨折病例

本文记述了作者从河南淅川下王岗新石器时代、湖北长阳深潭湾青铜时代、山西朔州汉代及大同市郊北魏时代等遗址收集的骨折骨骼标本的特征。同时还收集一些已发表的有关古代人类骨骼骨折的资料用于对比,为了解我国古代居民的骨折特征和类型,探索古代人类的行为、环境适应性及疾病历史提供重要依据。     

Thoracic morphology in Near Eastern Neandertals and early modern humans compared with recent modern humans from high and low altitudes

Paleoanthropologists have long noted the unique "hyper-barrel-shaped" Neandertal thorax as inferred from fragmentary ribs, clavicles, and sterna. Yet scholars disagree whether the Neandertal thorax represents an adaptation to cold climates or elevated activity levels. Given the difficulties of reconstructing overall chest shape from isolated and fragmentary thoracic skeletal elements, it is worthwhile comparing Neandertals and contemporaneous early modern human fossils from the same geographic region to recent modern human skeletons that are known to have enlarged chests. This study compares thoracic skeletal morphology in two Near Eastern Neandertals (Tabūn C1 and Shanidar 3) and two early modern humans from the same region (Skhūl IV and V) with four samples of recent modern human skeletons from the Andes (n=347): two coastal groups and two groups from high altitudes. The two highland groups, similar to their living descendants, exhibit morphological evidence of anteroposteriorly deep and mediolaterally wide chests as part of respiratory adaptations to high-altitude hypoxia. I calculated the percentage of deviation of each Neandertal and early modern human fossil from the means of the four recent modern human samples for clavicle and rib lengths and curvatures. Shanidar 3 and Tabūn C1 exhibit ribs that are slightly larger and less curved than the Andean samples, indicating slightly larger thoracic skeletons than modern humans who are known to have enlarged chests in response to increased respiratory demands. Skhūl IV and V have significantly shorter ribs with greater curvature suggesting especially narrow thoracic skeletons. Comparisons with Andean populations suggest that the enlarged thoraces of Neandertals may reflect high activity levels, although results from this study do not exclude cold adaptation as an explanatory factor.     

Early Medieval Muslim Graves in France: First Archaeological,Anthropological and Palaeogenomic Evidence

The rapid Arab-Islamic conquest during the early Middle Ages led to major political and cultural changes in the Mediterranean world. Although the early medieval Muslim presence in the Iberian Peninsula is now well documented, based in the evaluation of archeological and historical sources, the Muslim expansion in the area north of the Pyrenees has only been documented so far through textual sources or rare archaeological data. Our study provides the first archaeo-anthropological testimony of the Muslim establishment in South of France through the multidisciplinary analysis of three graves excavated at Nimes. First, we argue in favor of burials that followed Islamic rites and then note the presence of a community practicing Muslim traditions in Nimes. Second, the radiometric dates obtained from all three human skeletons (between the 7th and the 9th centuries AD) echo historical sources documenting an early Muslim presence in southern Gaul (i.e., the first half of 8th century AD). Finally, palaeogenomic analyses conducted on the human remains provide arguments in favor of a North African ancestry of the three individuals, at least considering the paternal lineages. Given all of these data, we propose that the skeletons from the Nimes burials belonged to Berbers integrated into the Umayyad army during the Arab expansion in North Africa. Our discovery not only discusses the first anthropological and genetic data concerning the Muslim occupation of the Visigothic territory of Septimania but also highlights the complexity of the relationship between the two communities during this period.     

An Alternative View of Some Southern Plains Archaic Stage Characteristics

Abstract

It is argued that Hammatt’s 1976 review of the Southern Plains Archaic Stage is in part not well reasoned or well supported. His contention that projectile point styles are not reliable as indicators of Archaic sites, while Clear Fork gouges are, is unsupportable and logically inconsistent based on the data he used. Other attributes used by Hammatt to define Archaic components are also discussed. Hammatt views the study of subsistence patterns (adaptation) rather than projectile points, as a more meaningful way to identify Archaic sites. This is a welcome argument and goal     

The Oldest Case of Decapitation in the New World (Lapa do Santo,East-Central Brazil)

We present here evidence for an early Holocene case of decapitation in the New World (Burial 26), found in the rock shelter of Lapa do Santo in 2007. Lapa do Santo is an archaeological site located in the Lagoa Santa karst in east-central Brazil with evidence of human occupation dating as far back as 11.7–12.7 cal kyBP (95.4% interval). An ultra-filtered AMS age determination on a fragment of the sphenoid provided an age range of 9.1–9.4 cal kyBP (95.4% interval) for Burial 26. The interment was composed of an articulated cranium, mandible and first six cervical vertebrae. Cut marks with a v-shaped profile were observed in the mandible and sixth cervical vertebra. The right hand was amputated and laid over the left side of the face with distal phalanges pointing to the chin and the left hand was amputated and laid over the right side of the face with distal phalanges pointing to the forehead. Strontium analysis comparing Burial 26’s isotopic signature to other specimens from Lapa do Santo suggests this was a local member of the group. Therefore, we suggest a ritualized decapitation instead of trophy-taking, testifying for the sophistication of mortuary rituals among hunter-gatherers in the Americas during the early Archaic period. In the apparent absence of wealth goods or elaborated architecture, Lapa do Santo’s inhabitants seemed to use the human body to express their cosmological principles regarding death.     

Introduction

Abstract

In the space of 20 years the Plains region has progressed from one of the least known to one of the better known regions as far as skeletal studies are concerned. This paper reviews the development of skeletal biology and the accumulation of the large, well documented samples. It provides up-to-date bibliographic citations of the recent literature relating to the United States Plains, including M.A. theses and Ph.D. dissertations which deal with or utilize Plains skeletal material.     

The history and composition of the Raymond A. Dart Collection of Human Skeletons at the University of the Witwatersrand,Johannesburg, South Africa

The Raymond A. Dart Collection of Human Skeletons (Dart Collection) is housed in the School of Anatomical Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, and comprises one of the largest documented cadaver‐derived human skeletal assemblages in the world. This collection originated in the early 1920s as a result of the efforts of Raymond Dart and continues to grow. The skeletons included represent varied indigenous and immigrant populations from southern Africa, Europe and Asia. This contribution documents the history of the collection and provides an updated inventory and demographic assessment of this valuable research collection. According to a recent inventory the Dart Collection currently comprises 2,605 skeletons representing individuals from regional SA African (76%), White (15%), Coloured (4%) and Indian (0.3%) populations. A large proportion of the skeletons (71%) represent males. The recorded ages at death range from the first year to over 100 years of age, but the majority of individuals died between the ages of 20 and 70. The Dart Collection has been affected by collection procedures based on availability. All of the cadavers collected before 1958, and large proportions subsequently, were derived from unclaimed bodies in regional South African hospitals. Some details of documentation (age at death, population group) are estimates and some aspects of the collection demographics (sex ratios) do not closely reflect any living South African population. Our inventory and analysis of the Dart Collection is aimed to assist researchers planning research on the materials from this collection. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Disease in the neolithic population of the Lengyel culture (4300-4000 B.C.) from the Kujawy region in north-central Poland

In this paper the skeletal sample from Os?onki near W?oc?awek (Kujawy region) is analysed. It is dated back to 4300-4000 B.C. The material consists of skeletal remains of 92 individuals (being one of the largest samples from the neolithic period in Poland). Skeletons were examined for the presence of congenital malformation, traumatic and degenerative changes, diseases of the masticatory system, and cribra orbitalia. Some interesting results have been achieved by comparing the incidences of diseases regarding sex groups: pathological alterations were observed with greater frequency in male than female skeletons.     

Evidence of probable scurvy in subadults from archeological sites in North America

The authors surveyed subadult human skeletons from Native American archeological sites in the United States for evidence of skeletal lesions associated with scurvy. Geographic regions surveyed include the Midatlantic area, the Southeast (Florida), the Southwest, and the Plains. The prevalence of probable subadult scurvy ranged from zero in the Plains samples to 38% in a small sample from Florida. These data indicate the likelihood that scurvy was a significant childhood disease in many Native American groups. Reasons for variation in prevalence remain speculative but include regional and seasonal variation in food types and abundance, cultural patterns of storage and utilization, periodic food shortages, and the relative importance of corn in the diet. These factors are part of a nutritional complex that is related to disease prevalence which can be studied through evidence seen in archeological human remains.     

Sex determination of adolescent skeletons using the distal humerus

Accurate determination of the sex of immature skeletal remains is difficult in the absence of DNA, due to the fact that most sexually dimorphic features of the human skeleton develop as secondary sex characteristics during adolescence. Methods of assessment of adult skeletons cannot reliably be applied to adolescent skeletons because of the transitional nature of the skeleton at puberty and the variability of the adolescent growth spurt. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the accuracy of Rogers's method of morphological sex determination using the distal humerus (Rogers: J Forensic Sci 44 ( 1999 ) 55–59) to assess the sex of adolescent skeletons. The sample consists of 7 documented adolescent skeletons from the Christ Church Spitalfields collection at the British Museum of Natural History and 35 from the Luis Lopes skeletal collection housed in the National History Museum (Museu Bocage) of the University of Lisbon, Portugal. Ages range from 11 to 20 years. The technique achieved an accuracy of 81% on the combined sample of 42. This method can be applied to adolescent skeletons once the trochlea begins fusing to the humeral diaphysis, which occurred by age 11 years in the test samples. Am J Phys Anthropol 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Settlement Pattern Variability in Brush Creek Valley,Platte County,Missouri

Abstract

During the summer of 1971, a field party from the Museum of Anthropology at the University of Kansas conducted an intensive archaeological- ·survey along Brush Creek, a tributary of the Missouri River four miles west of Parkville, Missouri. Data collected during this survey provides a preliminary characterization of the local environmental setting and a comparativecontrastive statement on prehistoric settlement pattern variability from the Early Archaic to the Steed-Kisker phase.

Topographic, geological, and botanical features of importance in establishing the parameters of effective biophysical environments for prehistoric occupants are summarized, and four resource zones tentatively identified: an upland prairie zone, an oak-history forest zone, a river-bottom forest zone and the Missouri River itself. Although the time depth for these resource zones is unknown, their presence throughout the history of man’s presence is a possibility.

Aspects of the human occupation and utilization of Brush Creek valley, which began as early as 8000 B.C., are viewed as adaptations to the local environmental setting. During the Archaic period (8000 B.C.-A.D. 1), £rush Creek valley was apparently exploited by hunters and gatherers who established short-duration camps. A large and probably permanent village was established during the period of Kansas City Hopewell occupation (A.D. 1-500), although small, temporary, camps were also in evidence. The Late Woodland occupation (A.D. 500-1 000) is marked by small sites with little evidence of any long term occupation. The final occupation of the valley, by Steed-Kisker peoples (A.D. 1 000-1250), is characterized by a pattern of many small homesteads occupied by populations who made their living through a combination of hunting, gathering, and horticulture.     

The Poafpybitty Site: A Late Nineteenth Century Kiowa Burial From Southwestern Oklahoma

Abstract

This report concerns the excavation of two Plains Indian burials in southwestern Oklahoma, six miles north of Fort Sill. The landowner, herself a Comanche, had been told by her father that the burials were of Kiowas killed near that place by soldiers from the fort in the latter 1800’s. Removal of the grave fill revealed the skeletons of a middle-aged female and a teenaged boy, plus a large inventory of grave goods acquired both by trade and indigenous manufacture.The grave goods confirm that the burials were Kiowas, buried between 1872 and 1875. The burials from this site are compared to other documented Plains Indian burials.     

郑州地区汉唐宋成年居民的身高研究

本文对郑州地区荥阳薛村遗址和新郑多处遗址汉唐宋墓葬成年人骨标本(汉代55例,唐代22例,宋代39例)的肢骨进行了观察和测量,依据陈世贤和张继宗的黄种人身高推算公式,分别以肱骨、股骨和胫骨的最大长推算出三个时期两性的平均身高;汉、唐、宋男性的平均身高分别为169.52cm、167.03cm和164.49cm,女性的平均身高分别为159.11cm,158.39cm和156.17cm。对两性平均身高进行的独立样本T检验显示,汉、唐、宋两性平均身高均为男性大于女性,两性身高存在显著性差异;两性身高随着时代的发展大致呈下降的趋势,但身高的时代差异均不存在显著性意义。郑州汉唐宋两性身高呈现出的下降趋势,应该与这个历史时期中原地区汉民族与我国其他地区异族交流、融合有关,也可能是因为居民生存压力的增加和饮食的影响,也不排除人类身高微观演化的可能。较低的身高性二形性水平也许意味着郑州地区汉唐宋时期的两性不平等现象小于同时代的其他地区。本文的研究结论为了解郑州地区汉唐宋居民两性的健康发育等体质状况提供了有意义的参考。