Kanzi: The ape at the brink of the human mind. By Sue Savage-Rumbaugh and Roger Lewin. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 1994. 299 pp. ISBN 0-471-58591-2 $24.95 (cloth)

The archaeological evidence of ancient cranial surgery is limited to cases of trepanation and cauterization. I report here on the only known case of cranial surgery in direct association with the osseous image of a nontrauma-induced soft tissue lesion (sinus pericranii). This case, from Alameda County, California (Late Middle Period, ca. 300–500 AD), is the earliest and only definitive evidence of invasive surgery from prehistoric North America.

1 Throughout this work, all reference to North American evidence excludes cases from south of the border between the United States and Mexico.

Because this individual presents the only bony evidence of cranial surgery other than trepanation or cauterization, it contributes substantially to our extremely limited understanding of medical practices in preliterate societies. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Brief communication: Additional cases of maxillary canine‐first premolar transposition in several prehistoric skeletal assemblages from the Santa Barbara Channel Islands of California

This article identifies and discusses seven new cases of complete maxillary canine‐premolar transposition in ancient populations from the Santa Barbara Channel region of California. A high frequency of this tooth transposition has been previously documented within a single prehistoric cemetery on one of the Channel Islands. A total of 966 crania representing 30 local sites and about 7,000 years of human occupation were examined, revealing an abnormally high prevalence of this transposition trait among islanders during the Early period of southern California prehistory (～5500–600 B.C.). One of the affected crania is from a cemetery more than 7,000‐years‐old and constitutes the earliest case of tooth transposition in humans so far reported. The results are consistent with findings by other studies that have indicated inbreeding among the early Channel Islands groups. Together with the normal transposition rates among mainland populations, the decreasing prevalence of maxillary canine‐first premolar transposition among island populations across the Holocene suggests that inbreeding on the northern Channel Islands had all but ceased by the end of the first millennium B.C., most likely as a result of increased cross‐channel migration and interaction. Am J Phys Anthropol 143:155–160, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Transverse lines in long bones of prehistoric California Indians

Radiopaque transverse lines (lines of arrested growth, Harris's lines) were counted on X-rays of the distal end of 102 adult femurs from prehistoric California Indian populations representing three archaeological Horizons. The sample from Early Horizon has the highest frequency of lines, the Middle Horizon the next, and the sample from Late Horizon has the lowest frequency of lines. These differences are statistically significant. Archaeological evidence indicates that the Indians improved and broadened their subsistence economy from Early to Late Horizon. It is concluded that the differences in the frequency of lines among the three California Indian populations probably are associated with differences in morbidity and/or nutritional status of the people. If this hypothesis is correct, then frequency distribution of transverse lines represents a valuable tool for the paleopathologist and the archaeologist.     

Changing patterns of mobility as a response to climatic deterioration and aridification in the middle Holocene southern Sahara

The African Humid Period witnessed a rapid human re‐occupation of the Sahara as numerous lakes formed during the Holocene climatic optimum circa 10‐5 kya. Permanent waters attracted a variety of aquatic and terrestrial fauna allowing for long‐term occupation of specific paleolake basins. The Gobero paleolake in central Niger was one such location that preserves a unique mortuary record from the southern Sahara. Here, we use radiogenic strontium isotope analysis to investigate how human communities adapted to aridification throughout the Holocene. In particular, we examine the effects of increasing climate instability on patterns of human mobility. Results of radiogenic strontium isotope analysis of enamel and bone samples from Middle Holocene burials (～7.2–4.9 kya) indicate predominantly local values with no evidence for sex‐based variation. Comparisons of radiogenic strontium isotope data with previously published (Stojanowski and Knudson: Am J Phys Anthropol 146 (2011) 49–61) Early Holocene burials (～9.7–8.3 kya) indicate significant differences in both enamel and bone values. Middle Holocene individuals demonstrate a predominantly non‐local signature for enamel values and a predominantly local signature for bone values. Those individuals with non‐local bone values always demonstrated non‐local enamel values; however, the opposite was not the case. This suggests a divergence of mobility strategies during the Middle Holocene with a minority of individuals maintaining a more mobile existence throughout their life and others maintaining a similar strategy as Early Holocene hunter–gatherers that was tied to the paleolake basin. The more mobile individuals likely lived during the terminal phase of the lake's occupation. One response to aridification by Saharan peoples, then, was increasing mobility. Am J Phys Anthropol 154:79–93, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Evidence for long‐term migration on the Balkan Peninsula using dental and cranial nonmetric data: Early interaction between Corinth (Greece) and its colony at Apollonia (Albania)

This article seeks to identify “Greeks” and “non‐Greeks” in “mixed” mortuary contexts in a Greek colony. Specifically, we test the hypothesis that Illyrian and Greek individuals lived and were buried together at the Corinthian colony of Apollonia, Albania (established ca. 600 BC). The pattern of human biological interaction at Apollonia is tested by identifying variation in genetic relatedness using biodistance analysis of dental and cranial nonmetric traits for three sites: Apollonia (n = 116), its founder‐city Corinth (n = 69), and Lofkënd (n = 108), an inland site near Apollonia pre‐dating colonization. Logistic regression analysis estimates that individuals from colonial Apollonia are most closely related to prehistoric Illyrian populations (from Lofkënd and prehistoric Apollonia), rather than Greeks (from Corinth). The phenotypic similarity between colonial Apollonia and prehistoric Illyria suggests that there was a large Illyrian contribution to the gene pool at the colony of Apollonia. However, some trait combinations show low biological distances among all groups, suggesting homogeneity among Illyrian and Greek populations (assessed through pseudo‐Mahalanobis' D²). The degree of phenotypic similarity suggests shared ancestry and long‐term migration throughout these regions. The impacts of missing data and small sample sizes are also considered. Am J Phys Anthropol 153:236–248, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Trepanation in South‐Central Peru during the early late intermediate period (ca. AD 1000–1250)

This study evaluates trepanations from five well‐contextualized prehistoric sites in the south‐central highlands of Andahuaylas, Peru. The emergence of trepanation in this region coincides with the collapse of the Wari Empire, ca. ad 1000. Thirty‐two individuals from Andahuaylas, AMS radiocarbon dated to the early Late Intermediate Period (ca. ad 1000–1250), were found to have 45 total trepanations. Various surgical techniques were being employed concurrently throughout the region. Scraping trepanations evinced the highest survival rate; circular grooving, drilling and boring, and linear cutting were far less successful. Evidence of perioperative procedures like hair shaving, poultice application, and possible cranioplasty use aimed to ensure the survival of a trepanation recipient. Postmortem trepanations, also present in Andahuaylas, were likely executed on corpses as a means of better understanding cranial anatomy and improving techniques. Similarities in trepanation patterns throughout the region attest to common motivations to engage in surgery. Although moderate physical head trauma seems to be the impetus for intervention in many cases of trepanation, other motivations included physiological and possibly psychosomatic factors. Nevertheless, treatment was not for everyone. In Andahuaylas, trepanations were withheld from subadults, females, and those individuals who practiced cranial modification. Am J Phys Anthropol 152:484–494, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Birth is but our death begun: A bioarchaeological assessment of skeletal emaciation in immature human skeletons in the context of environmental,social, and subsistence transition

The second millennium BC was a period of significant social and environmental changes in prehistoric India. After the disintegration of the Indus civilization, in a phase known as the Early Jorwe (1400–1000 BC), hundreds of agrarian villages flourished in the Deccan region of west-central India. Environmental degradation, combined with unsustainable agricultural practices, contributed to the abandonment of many communities around 1000 BC. Inamgaon was one of a handful of villages to persist into the Late Jorwe phase (1000–700 BC), wherein reliance on dry-plough agricultural production declined. Previous research demonstrated a significant decline in body size (stature and body mass index) through time, which is often used to infer increased levels of biocultural stress in bioarchaeology. This article assesses evidence for growth disruption in the immature human skeletal remains from Inamgaon by correlating measures of whole bone morphology with midshaft femur compact bone geometry and histology. Growth derangement is observable in immature archaeological femora as an alteration in the expected amount and distribution of bone mass and porosity in the midshaft cross-section. Cross-section shape matched expectations for older infants with the acquisition of bipedal locomotion. These results support the hypothesis that small body size was related to disruptions in homeostasis and high levels of biocultural stress in the Late Jorwe at Inamgaon. Further, the combined use of geometric properties and histological details provides a method for teasing apart the complex interactions among activity and “health,” demonstrating how biocultural stressors affect the acquisition and quality of bone mass. Am J Phys Anthropol 155:243–259, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Paleoepidemiolgical patterns of trauma in a prehistoric population from central California

Skeletal trauma was investigated in a large collection of human remains from central California (N = 162 aged and sexed adults). Lesions investigated included cranial and long bone fractures, projectile wounds, and dislocation. Long bone fractures were found in 10.5% of individuals; overall, incidence by element was 2.3%. In addition, cranial injuries were found in 4.4% of complete adult crania. Projectile wounds were seen unambiguously in four individuals (with embedded obsidian fragments) and strongly suggested in two other individuals with partially healed lesions. Finally, one case of traumatic hip dislocation was also observed. In both incidence and patterning of injuries, this population is similar to other archeological groups from California. This evidence further supports earlier reports indicating that interpersonal aggression was quite common in prehistoric California.     

Issues of affinity: Exploring population structure in the middle and regional developments periods of San Pedro de Atacama,Chile

The Middle Period (AD 400–1000) in northern Chile's Atacama oases is characterized by an increase in social complexity and regional interaction, much of which was organized around the power and impact of the Tiwanaku polity. Despite the strong cultural influence of Tiwanaku and numerous other groups evident in interactions with Atacameños, the role of immigration into the oases during this period is unclear. While archaeological and bioarchaeological research in the region has shown no evidence that clearly indicates large groups of foreign immigrants, the contemporary increase in interregional exchange networks connecting the oases to other parts of the Andes suggests residential mobility and the possibility that movement of people both into and out of the oases accompanied these foreign influences. Here, we analyze biodistance through cranial non‐metric traits in a skeletal sample from prehistoric San Pedro de Atacama to elucidate the extent of foreign influence in the oases and discuss its implications. We analyzed 715 individuals from the Middle Period (AD 400–1000) and later Regional Developments Period (AD 1000–1450), and found greater phenotypic differences between Middle Period cemeteries than among cemeteries in the subsequent period. We argue that this greater diversity extends beyond the relationship between the oases and the renowned Tiwanaku polity and reflects the role of the oases and its different ayllus as a node and way station for the Middle Period's myriad interregional networks. Am J Phys Anthropol 152:370–382, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Health and agricultural intensification in the prehistoric Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico

The effects of agricultural intensification on health are examined in prehistoric populations of the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico. Agriculture was practiced in the Valley of Oaxaca by the beginning of the Early Formative period (ca. 1400 B.C.), and had intensified by the Late Formative (ca. 500 B.C.). Skeletal remains from 14 archaeological sites in the Valley are pooled by temporal affiliation into a nonintensive agriculture group (1400-500 B.C.) and an intensive agriculture group (500 B.C.-1400 A.D.). The health effects of agricultural intensification are assessed by comparing the frequency of periosteal reactions, cribra orbitalia, and enamel hypoplasia between the intensive and nonintensive agricultural groups. Overall, no significant differences (alpha = 0.05) are found between the nonintensive and intensive groups. Power analyses of the chi-square tests indicate that the tests have a high probability of rejecting a false null hypothesis. The intensification of agriculture does not appear to have had a deleterious effect on the health of the prehistoric population of the Valley. The differences between this study and previous studies of health and agricultural development may be explained by differences between the processes of intensification and development or by differences between primary and secondary centers of agricultural development.     

The usefulness of caries frequency,depth, and location in determining cariogenicity and past subsistence: A test on early and later agriculturalists from the Peruvian coast

Dental markers have been used to unravel particularities of paleodiet, subsistence, social structure, and health. This article aims to compare oral pathology among four pre‐Columbian groups with different degrees of agricultural and socio‐cultural development but comparable ecological conditions who lived on the coastal desert of Peru. Three of these groups are assigned to distinct phases of the Formative Period (2500–1 BC), a time critical for our understanding of the development of agriculture and social complexity. The fourth group corresponds to the Late Intermediate Period (1000–1470 AD), when agriculture had its apogee and society was highly stratified. In this study we test whether there is an increase (1) in the frequency of carious lesions and (2) in caries depth, and (3) if there is a shift from occlusal to extra‐occlusal caries locations with the development of agriculture. Therefore, we analyze the frequencies of carious lesions and antemortem tooth loss (AMTL), the caries distributions by age, sex, and type of tooth, as well as the tissues affected by, and the location of the carious lesions. Since there are no significant differences in the frequencies of carious lesions and AMTL between the groups, we reject hypothesis 1. In contrast, caries depth does increase, and caries location changes from occlusal to extra‐occlusal sites with agricultural development. However, we can only corroborate hypothesis 2 and 3 when taking into consideration dental wear. Thus, we recommend that caries depth and locations should be used with evaluations of dental wear to reconstruct subsistence in ancient populations. Am J Phys Anthropol 143:75–91, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Damaged forests provide an opportunity to mitigate climate change

British Columbia (BC) forests are estimated to have become a net carbon source in recent years due to tree death and decay caused primarily by mountain pine beetle (MPB) and related post‐harvest slash burning practices. BC forest biomass has also become a major source of wood pellets, exported primarily for bioenergy to Europe, although the sustainability and net carbon emissions of forest bioenergy in general are the subject of current debate. We simulated the temporal carbon balance of BC wood pellets against different reference scenarios for forests affected by MPB in the interior BC timber harvesting area using the Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector (CBM‐CFS3). We evaluated the carbon dynamics for different insect‐mortality levels, at the stand‐ and landscape level, taking into account carbon storage in the ecosystem, wood products and fossil fuel displacement. Our results indicate that current harvesting practices, in which slash is burnt and only sawdust used for pellet production, require between 20–25 years for beetle‐impacted pine and 37–39 years for spruce‐dominated systems to reach pre‐harvest carbon levels (i.e. break‐even) at the stand‐level. Using pellets made from logging slash to replace coal creates immediate net carbon benefits to the atmosphere of 17–21 tonnes C ha^?1, shortening these break‐even times by 9–20 years and resulting in an instant carbon break‐even level on stands most severely impacted by the beetle. Harvesting pine dominated sites for timber while using slash for bioenergy was also found to be more carbon beneficial than a protection reference scenario on both stand‐ and landscape level. However, harvesting stands exclusively for bioenergy resulted in a net carbon source unless the system contained a high proportion of dead trees (>85%). Systems with higher proportions of living trees provide a greater climate change mitigation if used for long lived wood products.     

Insights into the earliest agriculture of Central Portugal: Sickle implements from the Early Neolithic site of Cortiçóis (Santarém)

Direct evidence of agriculture in Early Neolithic Portugal is almost non-existent, so there are very disparate estimates of the role played by agriculture during the period. Recent excavations at Cortiçóis, a newly discovered Early Neolithic site in central Portugal, revealed the first recognizable sickle implements and therefore relevant artefactual evidence of agricultural practices. These are typologically similar to Andalusian and Valencian sickles, reflecting a common technological tradition in southern Iberia during the period (c. 5600–4000 cal BC). Based on this fact, we summarize all available evidence for early agriculture in central Portugal and compare it with the Andalusian and Valencian records in order to tentatively present a model to be tested locally in future research.     

Investigation of diachronic dietary patterns on the islands of Ibiza and formentera, Spain: Evidence from carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratio analysis

To examine how dietary patterns may have changed in the western Mediterranean through time, stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios were measured on extracted bone collagen from fauna (n = 75) and humans (n = 135) spanning four distinct chronological periods: Chalcolithic (c.2100–1600 BC), Punic (6th–2nd/1st century BC), Late Antiquity‐Early Byzantine (4th–7th century AD), and Islamic (c.10th–13th century AD) on the islands of Ibiza and Formentera, Spain. The Chalcolithic, Punic, and Late Antiquity‐Byzantine societies all showed evidence of a predominately C₃ terrestrial‐based diet with a possible input of a small amount of marine and/or C₄ dietary resources. In contrast, the Islamic population on Ibiza had a subsistence strategy that was reliant on a significant amount of C₄ plants and/or animals fed a C₄ diet, likely millet. These results indicate a fairly constant C₃ terrestrial‐based diet on the islands of Ibiza and Formentera through time, with a shift to C₄ dietary resources during the Islamic Period. Further research is needed from other Islamic populations in and around the Mediterranean to better understand this unique dietary adaptation. Am J Phys Anthropol 143:512–522, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Sex differences in humeral bilateral asymmetry in two hunter‐gatherer populations: California Amerinds and British Columbian Amerinds

This study uses two prehistoric Amerindian populations of hunter‐gatherer subsistence patterns to determine whether levels of sexual dimorphism in humeral bilateral cross‐sectional asymmetry are related to sex‐specific differences in activities among these populations. Results confirmed that males of the California Amerind population who engaged in the more unimanual activities of spear hunting and warfare were more asymmetrical than were their female counterparts who engaged in the more bimanual activities of grinding acorns. California Amerind males were also more asymmetrical than British Columbian Amerind males who rowed (using both arms) extensively. Sex differences within British Columbian Amerinds were not statistically significant, nor were female differences between populations. In general, levels of humeral asymmetry appear to be more dependent on sex and population‐specific behaviors rather than broad subsistence patterns. Am J Phys Anthropol 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Regional, social, and evolutionary perspectives on treponemal infection in the Southeastern United States

The origin and geographic distribution of syphilis, a form of treponemal infection, have long been regarded as among the most important medical riddles of prehistoric and historic disease evolution. In this study, we expand on previous discussions of the origin, evolution, and relationship of treponemal infections as they occur in the prehistoric southeastern United States. Individuals from 25 skeletal series (n = 2,410 individuals) were examined for cranial and dental lesions characteristic of treponemal infection. They lived between the Archaic period (8000-1000 BC) and protohistoric period (AD 1500-1600), and in physiographic zones from the coast to the mountains of Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Radial cranial scars were found for 47 individuals, but none of the four cases of dental lesions could be attributed to congenital syphilis. Differences in frequency of cranial lesions by region were minimal, with the least number of cases found for the mountains, but the frequency of positive cases tended to increase through time. It is suggested that increasing population density and changing behaviors, rather than novel strains of the treponemal pathogen, are responsible for the chronological increase in the frequency of positive cases.     

Subadult stress,morbidity, and longevity in Latte Period populations on Guam,Mariana Islands

The frequency and age distribution of linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) in the dentition of 293 individuals from Latte Period sites (AD 800–1521) on Guam, Mariana Islands, are examined in this study. Individuals dying as subadults (before age 16) and as young adults (ages 16–21) have more frequent LEHs than those who survived to middle or late adulthood, documenting a relationship between LEH-causing stress events and reduced life expectancy. The age distributions of cribra orbitalia and skeletal infection in children who died by age 10 exhibit striking similarities to the etiological age patterns of LEH in children, and those with skeletal infection have more frequent hypoplasias than children without infection. The comorbidity of systemic stress and infection in children, and their impact on life expectancy, are interpreted in the biocultural context of high population density in the large coastal villages of the late prehistoric period in the Marianas. Am J Phys Anthropol 104:363–380, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Studies on several genetic hematological traits of the Mexican population. XIV. Serum polymorphisms in several indian tribes

The distribution of haptoglobins, transferrins and serum pseudocholinesterase in 1353 Mexican Indians belonging to 13 tribes is described. The frequency of the Hp¹ gene is variable; it ranges from 0.40 to 0.65, although the majority of values fall between 0.50 and 0.65. The reason for this variability is obscure; there is no correlation between Hp¹ values and linguistic affinities or habitat, and different degrees of nonIndian admixture are not accountable for the situation. It is suggested that possibly the main factor determining the present day distribution is the founder effect. Only 16 individuals have a transferrin different from C; in two, the CD phenotype is seen and the rest belong to the BC variety. Ten of the latter identified as B_0–1C, are found in a single tribe, the Cora. The scarcity of unusual transferrins in the Amerindians is corroborated in this study, although it may be somewhat unusual that the majority of them are of the fast moving type rather than of the more common slow moving type. The overall frequency for the atypical pseudocholinesterase gene is of 0.005 and therefore lower than that found in most other populations, except for two Venezuelan and two Bolivian tribes where the atypical gene is absent. Thus, present findings suggest that the atypical gene was either absent or had a very low frequency in the ancestors of present day Amerindians.     

Bronze age dating of timber from the salt-mine at Hallstatt, Austria

The prehistoric salt mine of Hallstatt together with its burial ground is one of the most prominent archaeological sites in Austria, which has also given name for the “Hallstatt period” of human civilisation (800–400 BC). Due to the perfect conservation in rock salt a great number of organic materials have been found, among mostly wooden artefacts. Currently, the major archaeological focus is on the Bronze Age salt mining activities with excavations taking place at the historic Christian von Tusch-Werk, Alter Grubenoffen mine.

Chronology building started at the Dachstein plateau, in the vicinity of Hallstatt, where tree-trunks were discovered in an alpine lake (Schwarzer See) and after recovery a spruce-larch chronology was compiled that dates back to 1475 BC. In addition, at the bog Karmoos, very close to the mining place of Hallstatt, preserved trees were intensively sampled resulting in a spruce chronology reaching even 1523 BC.

Over 500 samples were taken at the Christian von Tusch-Werk, Alter Grubenoffen. They also included samples from the recently discovered world's oldest wooden staircase. The spectrum of wooden species encompassed Norway spruce, Silver fir, beech, European larch and maple. We were able to synchronize 128 samples, ending in a 282-year long floating chronology. While the staircase dated back to 1344 BC, the end year of the floating chronology dated even to 1245 BC. Tree felling dates showed clusters within the chronology, providing evidence for archaeologists to find construction phases and usage periods.

The Dachstein–Hallstatt spruce chronology currently holds 840 synchronized series, and includes samples from the lake at the Dachstein, from the Karmoos bog at Hallstatt, from the prehistoric Hallstatt salt mine, and from historical buildings, as well as living trees. The chronology covers the period between 1523 BC through 2004 AD.