磨盘山遗址新石器时代人骨研究

磨盘山遗址是分布在云南省楚雄彝族自治州元谋盆地的一处新石器时代聚落。本文通过对遗址出土的6例新石器时代人骨的体质人类学研究,得出以下结论:磨盘山组颅骨的形态特征可以概括为中颅型与正颅型相结合,阔额型、阔上面型、阔鼻型、中眶型并伴有颇大的面部扁平度;磨盘山组应属于亚洲蒙古人种范畴,在次级分类比较中与南亚类型在鼻眶形态和上面部形态上表现出更多的相似性;在与亚洲蒙古人种各近代组的比较中,磨盘山组与广西壮族组关系最为密切,与蒙古组关系最为疏远;在与其他新石器对比组的比较中,磨盘山组与代表"古华南类型"的甑皮岩组、鲤鱼墩组和昙石山组表现出更多的一致性,与"古中原类型"和"古华北类型"关系疏远。     

山东广饶县中南世纪城墓地出土明代人骨的初步研究

本文对广饶县中南世纪城墓地出土的明代人骨进行了多方面的生物考古学研究,包括性别、年龄的分布,身高的复原以及古病理的观察。牙病方面,对龋病、牙釉质发育不全和错(牙合)畸形进行了观察记录,从性别、年龄、龋患程度及好发牙位等方面对该人群的龋患情况进行统计分析。研究结果表明,该人群牙齿患龋率不具备明显的性别差异,与年龄变化也无显著相关性,好发牙位多为臼齿。此外,还观察到多孔性骨肥厚、骨关节疾病等病理现象以及一处愈合较好的骨折创伤。     

Measurement of luminescence in coral skeletons

Luminescent lines in skeletons of the massive coral Porites record periods when seawater was significantly diluted by land runoff. Records developed from such lines would be useful in a wide range of areas, including climatology, oceanography, civil engineering, agriculture, water resources and reef management. To realise this enormous potential, we built an instrument for routine, reliable recovery of luminescence information from coral skeletons. Skeletal slices were laid on a table that moved in 0.25 mm steps. The coral skeleton was illuminated with ultra-violet light (UV) at 390 nm and luminescent emissions at 490 nm were recorded. Light at 490 nm was then shone on the same 2 mm diameter point on the skeleton and the reflection of 490 nm light was recorded. Luminescent emissions from a point were then standardised by the reflectivity of that same point.Slices cut from three corals that grew at an inshore reef had many strong luminescent lines. Measurements of luminescence in these colonies were nearly identical, both for multiple tracks across one slice and for tracks across slices from the different corals. There was a clear link with discharge from a nearby river. Slices cut from two corals that grew at a reef 56 km offshore had occasional, weak luminescent lines that were also linked with river discharge. Tracks across these slices were similar but the weak luminescence due to river discharge was partially obscured by weak luminescence associated with the annual density banding pattern that characterises massive coral skeletons. The technique recovered excellent information about skeletal luminescence. However, there is a need to gain better understanding of the link between seawater dilution and luminescence and to develop procedures for data processing before the technique can be used to construct useful proxy environmental records.     

The human skeletons of herculaneum

Skeletons of 139 Herculaneans trapped by the vulcanic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in A.D. 79 were studied by observation, measurement and chemical analysis. A cross section of the population suggests that reproduction may not have been sufficient to maintain population numbers, a hypothesis corroborated by parity statistics as well as contemporaty literature. In general, this population had excellent teeth with few lesions and edge-bite occlusion. Twenty-seven percent had some degree of hypoplastic lines in the dental enamel, suggesting that childhood illnesses were common. The ancient population was taller than modern Neopolitans, but shorter than modern Americans. Also, their children grew at a slower rate than Americans of the same ages. Biochemical analysis suggests that their diet was more dependent on sea fish than on red meat. Lead analysis shows slightly higher values for the adult male population than for the females. Some degree of arthritis was apparent in 42% of the population. Traumata occurred to 22.7% of these people. Signs of healed anemia in any degree are present in 34.1%; etiology could have been nutritional deficiency or heterozygotic thalassemia. Two individuals and their pathologies are presented: one case of congenital bilateral hip dysplasia and the other of healed rickets.     

山东古代人群头骨上蛛网膜颗粒压迹的观察与探讨

蛛网膜颗粒是由蛛网膜绒毛成组聚集在一起而形成的,有时会在颅骨内板上形成局限性压迹,当颗粒较大时会造成颅内局部骨质吸收,形成溶蚀状小坑。在以往的病理观察中,蛛网膜颗粒压迹多不作为观察统计对象,然其溶蚀状的形态却容易被误认为是某些病理性改变。本文通过对济南大辛庄、刘家庄、曲阜奥体中心等六个遗址出土的114例人骨标本的观察发现:1)蛛网膜颗粒压迹从古至今均表现出较高的发生率且两性间不存在明显差异。2)蛛网膜颗粒压迹的最大径平均值大致在1-6mm之间,个体间存在较大差异,但总体上呈现出随年龄增长而增大的现象。3)蛛网膜颗粒压迹的出现位置最常见于顶骨和额骨,枕骨部位相对少见,但不同年龄组间的出现位置可能存在一定差异。此外,蛛网膜颗粒在颅内形成的溶蚀状小坑易与一些以骨质侵蚀为特征的疾病相混淆,如颅内感染、颅骨板障表皮样囊肿、嗜酸性肉芽肿、脑膜瘤等,需注意对其特征加以辨别。     

The ‘biomineralization toolkit’ and the origin of animal skeletons

Biomineralized skeletons are widespread in animals, and their origins can be traced to the latest Ediacaran or early Cambrian fossil record, in virtually all animal groups. The origin of animal skeletons is inextricably linked with the diversification of animal body plans and the dramatic changes in ecology and geosphere–biosphere interactions across the Ediacaran–Cambrian transition. This apparent independent acquisition of skeletons across diverse animal clades has been proposed to have been driven by co‐option of a conserved ancestral genetic toolkit in different lineages at the same time. This ‘biomineralization toolkit’ hypothesis makes predictions of the early evolution of the skeleton, predictions tested herein through a critical review of the evidence from both the fossil record and development of skeletons in extant organisms. Furthermore, the distribution of skeletons is here plotted against a time‐calibrated animal phylogeny, and the nature of the deep ancestors of biomineralizing animals interpolated using ancestral state reconstruction. All these lines of evidence point towards multiple instances of the evolution of biomineralization through the co‐option of an inherited organic skeleton and genetic toolkit followed by the stepwise acquisition of more complex skeletal tissues under tighter biological control. This not only supports the ‘biomineralization toolkit’ hypothesis but also provides a model for describing the evolution of complex biological systems across the Ediacaran–Cambrian transition.     

On the nature and causes of luminescent lines and bands in coral skeletons: II. Contribution of skeletal crystals

Slices cut from skeletons of massive Porites display two types of luminescence when illuminated by ultra-violet (UV) light: (1) faint luminescent banding associated with the annual skeletal density banding pattern and (2) narrow lines of strong luminescence associated with monsoonal runoff of fresh water from nearby land. Barnes and Taylor [Barnes, D.J. Taylor, R.B. 2001a. On the nature and causes of luminescent lines and bands in coral skeletons. Coral Reefs 19, 221-230] showed how larger skeletal holes could give rise to increased luminescence—thus accounting for the link between skeletal density banding and faint luminescent banding. Work described here tests the notion that strongly luminescent lines are also regions of lower skeletal density. Experiments involving real and artificial coral skeletons indicated that likely changes in hole size in real skeletons cannot account for the amount of luminescence associated with luminescent lines. Larger particles (< 50 μm) of powdered skeleton from cut from luminescent lines were more luminescent than similar particles cut from adjacent less luminescent skeleton. However, very small particles (< 3 μm) from the two regions of skeleton showed no difference in luminescence. Since skeletal crystals would have been largely destroyed by powdering skeleton to very small particle sizes, most of the luminescence of strongly luminescent lines is probably associated with changed crystal size and packing, with changed crystal chemistry, or with a combination of these possibilities.     

Paired fin skeletons and relationships of the fossil group Porolepiformes (Osteichthyes: Sardcopterygii)

The endoskeletal girdles, anocleithrum and paired fin supports of the porolepiform fish Glyptolepis (Osteichthyes: Sarcopterygii: Porolepiformes) are figured and described. The pectoral fin skeleton is known from the proximal part only and the pelvic fin skeleton is fragmentary, but the scapulocoracoid, anocleithrum and pelvic girdle can be reconstructed in their entirety. The anocleithrum is entirely subdermal. The pectoral fin skeleton in shown to be biserial, with a large number of axial mesomeres, whereas the pelvic fin contains fewer mesomeres and is strongly asymmetrical with very few postaxial radials. The scapulocoracoid is essentially similar to a reconstruction figured by Jarvik (1980), but has a more elongate glenoid; this has functional implications. The pelvic girdle consists of two separate halves as in Eusthenopteron, but differs from that genus in lacking dorsolateral rami. A brief survey of the evidence of paired fin structure in other porolepiform genera is carried out to establish whether the structures seen in Glyptolepis are likely to be representative for the Porolepiformes. A study of the morphology and muscle attachments of the paired fin skeletons indicates that the pattern of fin movement was significantly different from that in Neoceratodus. The fin supports and girdles of Glyptolepis are compared with those of other sarcopterygian groups as well as with actinopterygians, placoderms and sharks, in order to establish evolutionary polarities. Glyptolepis is shown to display a number of derived characters. The information gained from the comparison is used to construct a maximum parsimony cladogram, which places coelacanths as the sister group of porolepiforms + lungfishes, with the rhizodonts + tetrapods and osteolepiforms as successive sister groups of this clade. Characters of uncertain polarity are considered in the light of this cladogram. A comparison with recently published cladograms shows that none are completely compatible with the results from this study.     

Double skeletons of silicoflagellates: Their reciprocal position and taxonomical and paleobiological values

The author addresses some problems concerning the double skeletons of silicoflagellates using examples from the Middle Miocene of Romania in conjunction with examples published in the recent literature. The main problem concerns the cause of the reciprocal position of the two individuals in double skeletons, which may occur either with the basal spines and corners of the basal rings of the two specimens aligned, or rotated from one another under different angles. Since the basal ring of the daughter skeleton must be in close proximity to that of the mother skeleton during its skeletogenesis, the main cause of rotation or non-rotation is attributed to the presence or absence of sustaining spines and their position on skeleton, namely beneath the struts or migrated onto the basal ring. A secondary cause is the position of basal spines relative to the plane of the basal ring. An approximate value of the angle of rotation of the basal rings is 180° per number of sustaining spines or struts. Species without sustaining spines, or with these spines migrated clockwise beneath the basal ring, are not rotated. In addition, species without sustaining spines are rotated when some basal spines or all are tilted under the plane of the basal ring. Cretaceous species without a basal ring are also rotated during skeletogenesis under angles depending on number of struts according to the same formula. The importance of this study is multiple: it indicates that silicoflagellates multiply asexually, it may solve some taxonomic problems, and it provides a mechanism in which new morphologies can appear suddenly, without intermediaries. From paleobiological point of view, this study provides an explanation of why in fossil materials, the position of the daughter skeleton with respect to the mother one was in many cases different from that of living species. A short taxonomic appendix is included with a brief discussion of the taxonomic problems of some genera and species mentioned in this article.     

Sex determination of infant and juvenile skeletons: I. Morphognostic features

Ancient cemeteries are often characterized by a considerable number of infants and young children. Sex differences in childhood mortality, however, could rarely be studied up to now, mainly because there were only few proven traits for sexual determination of immature skeletons. Based on a historic sample of sixty-one children of known sex and age from Spitalfields, London (37 boys, 24 girls), sexually distinctive traits in the mandible and ilium are presented for morphognostic diagnosis. Besides other features, boys typically show a more prominent chin, an anteriorly wider dental arcade, and a narrower and deeper sciatic notch than girls. Most of the traits presented in this study allow individuals between birth and five years of age to be successfully allocated to either sex in 70–90% of the cases. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Brief communication: evidence of Bartonella quintana infections in skeletons of a historical mass grave in Kassel, Germany

In 2008, a mass grave was found on the grounds of the University of Kassel, Germany. Historians hypothesized that the individuals died in a typhoid fever epidemic in winter 1813/14. To test this hypothesis, the bones were investigated on the presence of specific DNA of pathogens linked to the historical diagnosis oftyphoid fever. It was possible to prove the specific DNA of Bartonella quintana in three individuals, suggesting that their cause of death is linked to an epidemic background.     

Sex determination of fetal and neonate skeletons by means of discriminant analysis

Facing the requirements of refined paleodemographical analyses, the access to the early ontogenetic sex ratio of skeletal populations is an important feature. Using raw data provided byFazekas & Kosa (1978) for a sample of known sex, discriminant functions are derived from hip and thigh bone dimensions that allow an almost unbiased classification of more than 70% of fetal and neonate individuals.     

Testing hypotheses of element loss and instability in the apparatus composition of complex conodonts: articulated skeletons of Hindeodus

Knowledge of the conodont skeleton, in terms of the morphology of the elements and the positions they occupy, provides the foundation for understanding of homology, taxonomy and evolutionary relationships in conodonts. This knowledge also underpins analyses of conodont functional morphology and feeding. Direct evidence of skeletal anatomy and apparatus architecture comes from natural assemblages: fossils that preserve together the articulated remains of the conodont apparatus, either collapsed onto a bedding plane or as clusters of elements in which juxtaposed and overlapping elements have been fused together by diagenetic minerals. Here we describe six clusters of the biostratigraphically important conodont Hindeodus parvus from the Lower Triassic Shangsi section, Sichuan Province, South China. Five of these clusters represent the partial remains of articulated skeletons, providing direct evidence of the number and arrangement of elements in the apparatus. Combined with data from previously published natural assemblages this provides a test of the hypothesis that Triassic conodonts had a reduced dentition. Hindeodus parvus possessed a complete raptorial array of two M and nine S elements (unpaired S₀; symmetrically paired S₁, S₂, S₃, S₄); the paired P₁ locations were occupied by carminiscaphate elements, but the apparatus lacked P₂ elements. This is consistent with broader evidence for a particularly high degree of integration and constraint operating on the S–M array of morphologically complex conodonts, leading to conserved architecture of the array over a period of more than 250 million years. The loss of elements from the P domain implies a change in food processing ability and, given the predominance of data from P elements in conodont taxonomy and biostratigraphy, the hypothesis of element loss from the P domain has significant implications for the broader understanding of conodont diversity and evolutionary patterns.     

Human skeletal remains from Mumba Rock Shelter,Northern Tanzania

During their expeditions in Northern Tanzania in 1934/38, Ludwig and Margit Kohl-Larsen (discoverer of Eyasi and Garusi hominids)excavated i. a. the Mumba Rock Shelter. This important excavation yielded human skeletal remains of 18 individuals. The most relevant results of the morphological analyses are presented here. According to the affinities and absolute dating (hominid IX, 3700 B. C. ), the present study supports recent indications of the presence of Negroid groups in East Africa at an early stage in Later Stone Age times.     

河南新郑望京楼遗址出土的动物骨骼及其反映的家养动物的差异化

聚落考古研究表明,二里头文化时期（1750~1530 BC）中原腹地出现了都邑和大、中、小型四级聚落系统,东亚地区由此进入了早期广域王权国家时代。二里头文化时期的生业经济研究对于理解中华文明形成与早期发展过程中的关键时期的社会变革与文化演进的骤然提速具有重要意义。家养动物及其副产品的开发和利用、管理和分配是生业经济研究和社会复杂化发展的重要内容。在以往研究中,尽管学界已对二里头文化时期的核心都邑二里头遗址和若干中小型聚落遗址开展了多项动物考古学研究,但是针对大型聚落的系统分析较少。鉴于此,本文以河南省新郑市望京楼遗址发掘出土的动物骨骼为研究对象,通过种属鉴定、数量统计、测量数据分析、死亡年龄推算等方法,尝试探讨居于大型聚落的先民对动物资源的消费和利用。结果显示,该遗址的家养动物有猪、黄牛、绵羊、山羊和狗,家养动物数量占多数。遗址的猪多数为未成年个体,说明肉食消费是遗址先民养猪的主要目的;绵羊多数为成年个体,说明获取羊毛是遗址先民养羊的主要目的。通过与二里头、南洼、煤山和皂角树等其他等级聚落遗址的比较可知,早期国家的都邑和大中型聚落的家养动物的种类更丰富,绵羊的数量比例随聚落等级的降低而减少,绵羊的身体尺寸随聚落等级的降低而变小,以获取羊毛为主要目的养羊业更容易在高等级聚落中出现。这一研究揭示了早期国家大型聚落和国家内部不同等级聚落开发利用动物资源的特点和差异,为从动物考古的角度探讨早期社会复杂化提供了可能性。     

Continuous fixed-bed column study and adsorption modeling: Removal of cadmium (II) and lead (II) ions in aqueous solution by dead calcareous skeletons

The sorption of Cd(II) and Pb(II) ions was conducted in a continuous fixed-bed column by using dead calcareous skeletons (CS). The column performances were evaluated by varying the adsorbent bed height, influent flow rate and metals initial concentration. The breakthrough curve for the bed height indicated that a longer bed column prolonged the life span of the column with a maximum capacity of 26.447 and 38.460 mg/g for the Cd(II) and Pb(II) column, respectively. The increased flow rate and initial concentration caused the column exhaustion time to occur earlier. The experimental column data were also expressed in column adsorption models, namely, the Thomas, Yoon–Nelson and Adam–Bohart models. The Thomas model fitted well with the Cd(II) data with the correlated curve (r² > 0.9). The Yoon–Nelson model was selected to predict the 50% breakthrough time achieved by the column system and provided the estimated breakthrough time for the columns that were not exhausted during the operation. The Adam–Bohart model was applicable for the initial part of adsorption with the saturation concentration data at the equilibrium. The saturation index of aragonite and calcite depicted that dissolution of calcium occurred in the aqueous solution. The experimental and theoretical data were correlated with a significant relationship trend (p < 0.01), which showed that the trend of experimental data fit well with the modeling trend. The trends of both the experimental and theoretical data were strongly and significantly correlated due to involving the column parameters and the components of CS.     

统万城遗址出土人骨颅面测量性状

统万城遗址位于陕西省靖边县,是十六国时期大夏国都城所在,历经北魏、西魏、北周、隋、唐、五代、北宋七个朝代共575年。其所处中国北方农牧交错地带,一直是人群往来、交融之地。本文参照《人体测量手册》所列方法对统万城遗址出土人骨进行颅面形态特征的分析。结果表明,统万城遗址出土颅骨是以亚洲蒙古人种为主体,在形态上既存在古人种类型的差异,又表现出多种古人种类型融合的特点,另外还有个体表现出少量欧罗巴人群的性状。统万城遗址居民颅面特征的多态性与融合性,和古代人群演化的历时性特点相吻合,与统万城历史上频繁的人群往来相关,欧罗巴人种因素可能来自粟特人的影响。男女两性居民的主体构成可能有不同来源,随着政治权力主体变化,农人与牧人所占比重也发生了变化。     

Fused mid‐caudal vertebrae in the titanosaur Uberabatitan ribeiroi from the Late Cretaceous of Brazil and other bone lesions

Bone pathology in the titanosaur dinosaur Uberabatitan ribeiroi from the Marília Formation (Bauru Group, Late Cretaceous) of Uberaba city (Minas Gerais State, Brazil) is analysed here. They include two fused procoelous mid‐caudal vertebrae (CPPLIP‐1020) and a haemal arch (CPPLIP‐1006) of the middle section of the tail with a healing fracture callus. The analyses of the caudal vertebrae CPPLIP‐1020 of Uberabatitan permit us to recognize the following signs, based on CT scan and external macroscopic observations: (1) ossified longitudinal tendons; (2) likely ossified intervertebral disc, producing fused vertebral bodies; (3) fused right zygapophyseal process with a laterally developed osteophyte affecting this joint; (4) osteophytes and exostoses at different portions of the vertebrae; (5) cloacae, bone erosion and likely internal infection. According to all the processes observed in these caudals, we could not discard at least two possibilities for the diagnosis of the fused vertebrae. It could be the result of a spondyloarthropathy process (considering most of the observed signs) or possibly have been associated with an infection (e.g. discospondylitis/infections spondylitis or septic arthritis). The bone lesion record in Uberabatitan ribeiroi from the Late Cretaceous of Brazil increases the range of study of titanosaur dinosaurs, which although have a large fossil record, have few pathological studies.