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Papers by Kent Johnson

The 82nd Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, Knoxville, Tennessee, 2013

The 88th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, Cleveland, Ohio, 2019

The 82nd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2018

Cambridge University Press eBooks, Feb 21, 2013

Bioarchaeology and Social Theory, 2018

Family is a fundamental organizing aspect of human society, but family organization is understudi... more Family is a fundamental organizing aspect of human society, but family organization is understudied within bioarchaeology. Historically, bioarchaeological research has focused on kinship analysis, the reconstruction of biological relationships within archaeological contexts. Kinship analysis has generated important insights into past community organization and cultural practices, but it is rooted in biologistic and heteronormative values. As a result, traditional kinship research inadvertently emphasizes biological relatedness and nuclear family organization and limits our ability to recognize different ways of forming families.

Many models of colonial interaction are build from cases of European colonialism among Native Ame... more Many models of colonial interaction are build from cases of European colonialism among Native American and African peoples, and, as a result, they are often ill-suited to account for state expansion and decline in non-Western contexts. This dissertation investigates social organization and intraregional interaction in a non-western colonial context to broaden understanding of colonial interaction in diverse sociocultural settings. Drawing on social identity theory, population genetics, and social network analysis, patterns of social organization at the margins of the expansive pre-Hispanic Tiwanaku state (ca. AD 500-1100) are examined. According to the dual diaspora model of Tiwanaku colonial organization in the Moquegua Valley of southern Peru, Chen Chen-style and Omo-style ethnic communities who colonized the valley maintained distinct ethnic identities in part through endogamous marriage practices. Biodistance analysis of cranial shape data is used to evaluate regional gene flow among Tiwanaku-affiliated communities in Moquegua. Overall, results of biodistance analysis are consistent with the dual diaspora model. Omoand Chen Chen-style communities are distinct in mean cranial shape, and it appears that ethnic identity structured gene flow between ethnic groups. However, there are notable exceptions to the overall pattern, and it appears that marriage practices were structured by multiple factors, including ethnic affiliation, geographic proximity, and smaller scales of social organization, such as corporate kin groups. Social network analysis of cranial shape data is used to implement a multi-and mesoscalar approach to social organization to assess family-based organization at a regional level. Results indicate the study sample constituted a social network comprised This dissertation is dedicated to my parents, Kent and Judy Johnson, and my wife, Theresa Johnson. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A number of individuals and institutions helped bring this dissertation to completion. First and foremost are my committee members. I would especially like to thank my co-chairs, Jane Buikstra and Chris Stojanowski, who helped me navigate many obstacles and provided crucial advice and support along the way. Their professional accomplishments and the high quality of their scholarship will serve as motivation for years to come. Jane's continued emphasis on the need to critically engage social theory, methodology, and contextual data helped me become a more holistic bioarchaeologist, and I hope that is reflected in the dissertation. Chris' willingness to collaborate, advise, and mentor are unparalleled, and I don't know that I can ever really thank him for what he has helped me achieve. Kelly Knudson offered thoughtful, informed feedback and valuable advice throughout the development and execution of this project, and it would not have come together without her aid. The wealth of knowledge Paul Goldstein possesses about Tiwanaku society, Moquegua Valley archaeology, and (dated) pop culture references made him an invaluable member of my committee. Beyond my committee a number of people helped me complete this project. Financial support for this research was provided by the National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant No. 1441894. At Museo Contisuyo, Directora Lic. Patricia Palacios Filinich offered key advice and ensured I had workspace during the busy field season in Moquegua. At Museo Contisuyo I would also like to acknowledge Antonio Oquiche, former Director, Yamilex Tejada Alvarez, Administradora de Colecciones, and all the staff who create such a welcoming environment. Luis (Lucho)

American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2018

ABSTRACT Supernumerary and ectopic teeth are seldom reported in clinical contexts and described l... more ABSTRACT Supernumerary and ectopic teeth are seldom reported in clinical contexts and described less frequently from archaeological settings. The etiology of these abnormalities is not well understood. Ongoing gross and radiographic examination of the looted and commingled skeletal remains from the Nuvakwewtaqa (Chavez Pass) site (1250-1400AD) in northern central Arizona has revealed multiple dental arcades (n=9) with nonmolar supernumerary and/or ectopic teeth. This poster presents these cases and considers contextual factors that potentially contributed to the observed incidence of dental anomalies from this site. We have only analyzed only relatively complete maxillary (n=69) and mandibular (n=92) arcades. All supernumerary maxillary teeth (n=5) are mesiodens, while all mandibular supernumerary teeth are accessory premolars (n=2). All observed ectopic teeth involve a mesiodens (n=2) or maxillary canine (n=2). While normally erupted supernumerary teeth are generally asymptomatic clinically, ectopic teeth are sometimes associated with chronic conditions (e.g. head and sinus aches) that may affect quality of life but are infrequently associated with mortality. Interestingly, all observed arcades with ectopic teeth lack fully developed third molars; thus, we consider possible evidence of pathology associated with ectopic teeth. A limited effective population size could explain the high occurrence of the dental anomalies. However, naturally occurring environmental toxins (e.g. high arsenic content in the nearby Verde River) along with cultural practices (e.g. presence of lead in Gallina pigment) could have caused developmental perturbations that produced the abnormal traits. This study contributes new data relevant to understanding the etiology of rare morphological variations of clinical and anthropological interest. This research was supported through the Coconino National Forest Repatriation Project, USDA Forest Service Southwest Region for the ASU Chavez Pass Project, School of Human Evolution & Social Change.

Previous archaeological and bioarchaeological research indicates colonies affiliated with the pre... more Previous archaeological and bioarchaeological research indicates colonies affiliated with the pre-Hispanic Tiwanaku state in the Moquegua Valley, Peru were organized along ethnic community lines. In this chapter, biodistance, exploratory, and social network analytical techniques are applied to phenotypic and cranial modification data from human skeletal remains from five archaeological sites to explore social organization in the Moquegua Valley Tiwanaku colonies. Results confirm that ethnic affiliation strongly influenced sociality in the Moquegua Tiwanaku-affiliated communities, yet findings indicate that family networks crossed ethnic community boundaries. Despite outward expressions of cultural difference between ethnic communities, interethnic family networks may have proved critical to the emergence of a shared, regional Moquegua Tiwanaku identity.

Oxford Handbook of Archaeological Network Research, 2022

This chapter reviews the application of network analytical techniques to phenotypic data from hum... more This chapter reviews the application of network analytical techniques to phenotypic data from human skeletal remains as part of biological distance (biodistance) research. Skeletal and dental traits are suitable for network analysis because, as proxies for genetic relatedness, they are relational data and the nodes in biodistance networks represent well-defined social actors (i.e., persons from archaeological contexts). Biodistance network research has been limited compared to archaeological applications of network analysis. In bioarchaeology, social network analysis has used ego-networks, subgroups, and components to identify regional-level biological kin networks among skeletal samples and evaluate an archaeological model of colonial organization. Although critical aspects of biodistance network research require further consideration, network techniques represent a powerful suite of analytical tools for biodistance research in bioarchaeology.

Dental Anthropology Journal, 2018

Dental anthropology played a seminal role in early studies of the peopling of the New World, and ... more Dental anthropology played a seminal role in early studies of the peopling of the New World, and was a foundation of the early three wave model proposed by Greenberg, Turner and Zegura. In recent years, however, developments in anthropological genetics, craniometry, and archaeological discoveries have largely omitted dental anthropology from debates regarding Native American origins. Here we consider this situation and reassert dental anthropology’s relevance to the topic by presenting an inter-individual analysis of Paleoindian and Paleoamer-ican dentitions. A small set of dental morphological variables was used to estimate Gower similarity coefficients between individual specimens. The resulting similarity matrix was ordinated using multidimensional scaling; all analyses were per-formed in Clustan v. 7.05. While results should be considered preliminary, patterns of variation suggest morphological similarity along both coasts of North and South America with a somewhat distinct grou...

Irish/A Companion to Dental Anthropology, 2015

Journal of Archaeological Research, 2015

Theoretical developments in sociocultural anthropology have transformed the study of kinship. Her... more Theoretical developments in sociocultural anthropology have transformed the study of kinship. Here, we review these theoretical developments, consider their influence on bioarchaeological kinship research, and propose an alternative framework for studying relatedness in antiquity. We find that broader, more flexible conceptions of relatedness have grown increasingly prevalent in 21stcentury bioarchaeology, but kinship research largely continues to emphasize methodological improvement and identification of biological kin in archaeological contexts. By approaching kinship as a multiscalar dimension of social identity, bioarchaeologists can leverage complex conceptions of relatedness with diverse types of data to gain nuanced perspectives on family-based social organization in the past.

International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 2010

Abstract The specimen reported here presents a rare form of dental variant��a permanent, mandibu... more Abstract The specimen reported here presents a rare form of dental variant��a permanent, mandibular labial canine talon cusp. This anomaly has not previously been reported in the clinical or archaeological literatures and is currently unique. The affected individual is an adult male from the Early Holocene cemetery of Gobero located in the Sahara Desert in the Republic of Niger. The age of this site (ca. 9500 bp) makes this the first archaeological case of labial talon cusp from Africa and the oldest reported talon cusp of any kind (lingual or ...

American journal of physical anthropology, 2015

Dental morphology provides important information on human evolution and interpopulation relations... more Dental morphology provides important information on human evolution and interpopulation relationships. Dental wear is one of the major limitations of morphological data analysis. Wear figures heavily in existing debates about patterns of New World dental variation with some scholars finding evidence for a more generalized dentition in early New World populations (Powell: Doctoral Dissertation, Texas A&M University, TX (1995)) and others questioning these findings based on the probable effects of dental wear on trait scores (Turner, The First Americans: the Pleistocene Colonization of the New World. San Francisco: California Academy of Sciences (2002) 123-158; Turner: Am J Phys Anthropol 130 (2006) 455-461; Turner and Scott, Handbook of paleoanthropology, Vol. III: Phylogeny of Hominids. New York: Springer (2007) 1901-1941). Here we evaluate these competing claims using data from the Early Archaic Windover sample. Results confirm the dental distinctiveness of Windover with respect to...

ABSTRACT Despite Schneider’s claim that the study of kinship had little future, there has been a ... more ABSTRACT Despite Schneider’s claim that the study of kinship had little future, there has been a recent resurgence of anthropological kinship studies. In sociocultural anthropology, kinship research has progressed beyond documenting kin systems to investigating gender relations, interpersonal violence, socioeconomic behavior, and political organization, for example. As a synthetic subdiscipline bioarchaeology is well-positioned to embrace newer conceptions of kinship and use diverse datasets to reconstruct kin relations in the past. A literature review was completed to assess the current state of kinship research within bioarchaeology. First, core journals were identified and keyword searches of terms relevant to kinship studies were performed to obtain publication counts by decade beginning with the 1950s. Second, an exhaustive review of search results was performed to identify 1) whether publications addressed social kinship, biological kinship, or both, and 2) the data types used to investigate kinship. Across all searches, relative counts scaled by years in press indicate that American Anthropologist (423.43 articles) and American Journal of Physical Anthropology (200. 94 articles) have the greatest visibility of kinship-related terminology, while data types commonly employed highlight the disparate treatment of the topic between anthropological subdisciplines. Incidence of the terms “intracemetery”, “mate exchange”, and “lineage” experienced their highest levels over the past decade, possibly reflecting increased interest in biocultural approaches to kinship and continued interest in anthropological genetics. However, as few publications identified represent bioarchaeological research, it seems bioarchaeology has failed to incorporate recent developments in sociocultural anthropology. Notably, studies that apply a social identity perspective to bioarchaeological data emphasize age, gender, status, and ethnic identities, while kin-based identity remains underexplored. With few exceptions bioarchaeological kinship studies have failed to bridge the intellectual trajectories of archaeology, which favors the “house” concept, and biological anthropology, which largely remains focused on using biological data to identify kin groups among archaeological samples.

ABSTRACT Aleš Hrdlička published craniometric data for thousands of individuals in a series of we... more ABSTRACT Aleš Hrdlička published craniometric data for thousands of individuals in a series of well-known catalogs. The Gulf States catalog (1940), for example, includes 714 individuals from 42 locations in Florida and provides an important source of data on biological variation for this state. However, provenience information is meagerly reported - a factor which limits the utility of these data in comparative analyses and in some cases misrepresents the archaeological context. Here we present results of archival research in the Smithsonian Institution Archives for seven of the largest Florida skeletal collections published in Hrdlička's Gulf States catalog. We accessed unpublished field notes, personal correspondence, and accession information to identify provenience data that better delimit sample contexts. Here we focus on two of these collections: Canaveral and Perico Island. Of 91 individuals from Canaveral, 59 can be allocated to specific mounds within the area. As such, “Canaveral” is a meaningless provenance. Of the 102 individuals from Perico Island, 101 can be allocated to more specific provenience locations in this multi-component site. In both cases, using Hrdlička’s provenience label masks important contextual information which impacts the results of biodistance analyses using these samples. This poster demonstrates the importance of accessing archival records and the continued need for a contextualized consideration of human skeletal samples in biological anthropology. Because the majority of these individuals are still curated at the National Museum of Natural History, presenting these data from archival records increases their utility for future research.

American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2010

Talon cusps are rare morphological features of the anterior dentition that represent a spectrum o... more Talon cusps are rare morphological features of the anterior dentition that represent a spectrum of lingual cingulum diversity. In this paper, talon cusp prevalence is described in two Archaic period North American samples, Windover Pond (Florida) and Buckeye Knoll (Texas). Given the early date of these cemeteries (7500 BP), these specimens represent the oldest reported cases of lingual talon cusp in the New World, and perhaps globally. Windover preserves three cases of talon cusp (representing three different individuals) affecting the permanent maxillary lateral incisors. The sample frequencies were 1.8% and 3.1% for the left and right maxillary lateral incisors, respectively. Buckeye Knoll preserves four cases of talon cusp representing three individuals. Talon cusps at this site were distributed throughout the maxillary anterior dentition, including a permanent maxillary central incisor, bilateral permanent maxillary lateral incisors, and a deciduous maxillary lateral incisor. The multicomponent nature of this site complicates sample frequency calculation with by-tooth estimates ranging from 3.6% to 25%. This paper discusses the difficulties with comparative frequency estimation, resulting from a proliferation of terminology that is discipline-specific. Understanding the evolutionary basis and significance of dental morphological variation requires an inclusive approach to the comparative literature that focuses on homology within the context of odontogenetic process.

The 82nd Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, Knoxville, Tennessee, 2013

The 88th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, Cleveland, Ohio, 2019

The 82nd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2018

Cambridge University Press eBooks, Feb 21, 2013

Bioarchaeology and Social Theory, 2018

American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2018

Oxford Handbook of Archaeological Network Research, 2022

Dental Anthropology Journal, 2018

Irish/A Companion to Dental Anthropology, 2015

Journal of Archaeological Research, 2015

International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 2010

American journal of physical anthropology, 2015

American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2010

Recent bioarchaeological approaches have placed emphasis upon individuals, communities, or popula... more Recent bioarchaeological approaches have placed emphasis upon individuals, communities, or populations as units of analysis, leaving mid-scale collective identities, including kinship, largely underexplored. A resurgence of ethnographic kinship studies has generated new, more flexible conceptions of “family”, while advances in multivariate statistical methods used in biodistance analyses and the increased resolution provided by molecular genetic approaches are contributing more reliable means of identifying biological kin in mortuary contexts. As a synthetic approach, bioarchaeology is well positioned to incorporate novel conceptions of kinship and use diverse datasets to reconstruct ancient kin relations. However, with few exceptions, bioarchaeology has yet to bridge the intellectual traditions of archaeology and biological anthropology in its treatment of “relatedness”. This session will emphasize bioarchaeological research employing complex conceptions of kinship to bridge biologically-based and socially-constructed notions of relatedness. The goal is to move beyond the archaeological identification of biological kin to assessing social organization by exploring the interconnectivity of individual, kin-level, and population-level social identities. This research extends the multiscalar and deep-time perspectives on social organization that bioarchaeology strives to provide. Participants will discuss the challenges of applying these concepts to (bio)archaeological data and developing holistic approaches to kinship that incorporate both biological and social relatedness.

The application of social identity theory to bioarchaeological research has proven relevant for a... more The application of social identity theory to bioarchaeological research has proven relevant for accessing various dimensions of social organization and the lived experience of past peoples. Despite its recent visibility, most of this research focuses on large-scale collective identities including gender, ethnicity, and religion from the perspectives of individuals and larger social groups, while mid-scale collective identities remain largely under-investigated. Kinship is an essential mid-scale identity for which (bio)archaeology can provide deep-time perspectives, insights that are increasingly significant given the ever-changing definitions of relatedness emerging concomitantly with rapid cultural transformations and new reproductive technologies. This paper provides historical background on the practice of kinship studies in bioarchaeology, highlighting the recent resurgence of kin-focused ethnographic research. We present examples of bioarchaeological research designs that embrace a) the greater resolution provided by new methodological and analytical developments, and b) more nuanced conceptions of “family” in order to move beyond the mere identification of biological kin in mortuary contexts to using kin-based identity as a framework for investigating sociopolitical organization. This paper will provide the theoretical orientation for the symposium while emphasizing the potential of family-focused bioarchaeological research to explore the interconnectivity of individual, kin-level, and population-level social identities.

Despite Schneider’s claim that the study of kinship had little future, there has been a recent re... more Despite Schneider’s claim that the study of kinship had little future, there has been a recent resurgence of anthropological kinship studies. In sociocultural anthropology, kinship research has progressed beyond documenting kin systems to investigating gender relations, interpersonal violence, socioeconomic behavior, and political organization, for example. As a synthetic subdiscipline bioarchaeology is well-positioned to embrace newer conceptions of kinship and use diverse datasets to reconstruct kin relations in the past. A literature review was completed to assess the current state of kinship research within bioarchaeology. First, core journals were identified and keyword searches of terms relevant to kinship studies were performed to obtain publication counts by decade beginning with the 1950s. Second, an exhaustive review of search results was performed to identify 1) whether publications addressed social kinship, biological kinship, or both, and 2) the data types used to investigate kinship.

Across all searches, relative counts scaled by years in press indicate that American Anthropologist (423.43 articles) and American Journal of Physical Anthropology (200. 94 articles) have the greatest visibility of kinship-related terminology, while data types commonly employed highlight the disparate treatment of the topic between anthropological subdisciplines. Incidence of the terms “intracemetery”, “mate exchange”, and “lineage” experienced their highest levels over the past decade, possibly reflecting increased interest in biocultural approaches to kinship and continued interest in anthropological genetics. However, as few publications identified represent bioarchaeological research, it seems bioarchaeology has failed to incorporate recent developments in sociocultural anthropology. Notably, studies that apply a social identity perspective to bioarchaeological data emphasize age, gender, status, and ethnic identities, while kin-based identity remains underexplored. With few exceptions bioarchaeological kinship studies have failed to bridge the intellectual trajectories of archaeology, which favors the “house” concept, and biological anthropology, which largely remains focused on using biological data to identify kin groups among archaeological samples.

"Archaeological data suggest that Tiwanaku enclave communities in the Moquegua Valley of southern... more "Archaeological data suggest that Tiwanaku enclave communities in the Moquegua Valley of southern Peru were composed of Omo-style and Chen Chen-style Tiwanaku populations. Odontometric data from Omo-style (M70) and Chen Chen-style (M43) sites within the Río Muerto site complex are subjected to biodistance analysis in order to investigate the nature and extent of interactions between these contemporaneous Tiwanaku groups. Results are evaluated to assess whether cultural differences between these groups are correlated with phenotypic differences. The present research complements existing literature on Tiwanaku state expansion by applying social identity theory to bioarchaeological data from the Río Muerto site complex."

Savage (1997, 2001) has hypothesized that the development of Egyptian social complexity was fue... more Savage (1997, 2001) has hypothesized that the development of
Egyptian social complexity was fueled by descent group competition during the Predynastic period (ca. 3900-3050 BC). This study tests for the presence of distinct biological descent groups at the Predynastic center of Naqada, Egypt. Biological affinity is examined by assessing differences in gene flow and phenotypic variability between three cemeteries at Naqada, Cemetery T, Cemetery B, and the Great Cemetery, using previously published craniometric data (Fawcett and Lee 1902). Results of R matrix and Relethford-Blangero analyses contradict previous analyses by documenting greater endogamy in the Great Cemetery than Cemetery T.

"Trepanation is considered the oldest recognizable form of surgery. Reasons for its practice in ... more "Trepanation is considered the oldest recognizable form of surgery. Reasons for its practice in the pre-Hispanic Peruvian Andes remain obscure. Therapeutic, magico-therapeutic, and magico-ritualistic motives have been proposed, but these are difficult to evaluate for pre-Hispanic Peruvian trepanned specimens because of the lack of contextual information for many of these specimens. Often all we know about a given specimen is its cultural provenience. Physical evidence provides crucial information regarding the practice of trepanation, but it paints an incomplete picture. A thorough consideration of motives for trepanation must somehow incorporate the socio-cultural context in which trepanation was practiced.

The current study uses bioarchaeological evidence to evaluate motives for trepanning in pre-Hispanic Peru. A sample of 53 pre-Hispanic Peruvian trepanned crania is analyzed for evidence of fracture and pathology and to detect potential demographic patterns of trepanation. Eighteen specimens (33.96%) have at least one trepanation associated with fracture, while one specimen exhibits non-traumatic pathology. There is no significant difference in the frequencies of trepanned adult males and adult females. While physical evidence indicates that trepanation served as a therapeutic treatment of cranial fracture in some instances, magico-therapeutic and magico-ritualistic motives for trepanation cannot be ruled out. Archaeological and ethnohistoric evidence suggestive of Andean worldview – the social embeddedness of violence and conceptions of the body, health, and illness – are consulted in order to situate pre-Hispanic Peruvian trepanation within a regional socio-cultural context and to develop a biocultural approach for evaluating the motives for pre-Hispanic Peruvian trepanation."

Published biodistance data from Semna South, Sudan suggest population continuity between the Mero... more Published biodistance data from Semna South, Sudan suggest population continuity between the Meroitic and post-Meroitic periods, while archaeological data from the site indicate population replacement. The present study evaluates models of biocultural change by analyzing odontometric data using biodistance analyses that model microevolutionary processes. Results of Lande’s test exclude genetic drift as the microevolutionary mechanism responsible for phenetic differences between the samples, while Relethford-Blangero results indicate extralocal gene flow during the post-Meroitic period. The integration of multiple lines of evidence suggests a complex population history in which Nubian ethnogenesis was largely a local process along with extralocal genetic input.

American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2018

Societal collapse is a major research focus within the social sciences. Collapse also appeals to ... more Societal collapse is a major research focus within the social sciences. Collapse also appeals to the wider public, perhaps due to the combination of romantic connotations of "lost civilizations" and large-scale schadenfreude. In recent decades, research has shifted from a focus

American Journal of Physical Anthropology

Sex, although based on biological characteristics, and gender are cultural constructs. The number... more Sex, although based on biological characteristics, and gender are cultural constructs. The number of sexes and genders recognized, the normative characteristics and behaviors associated with specific sexes and genders, and the discourse surrounding sex and gender are culturally determined and vary among societies. These ideas are well established in bioarchaeology and are not the focus of "Exploring Sex and Gender in Bioarchaeology." Instead, this impressive volume addresses the insidious ways in which cultural biases infiltrate bioarchaeological research methodologies, influence the questions bioarchaeologists ask (and do not ask), and structure the narratives bioarchaeologists use to interpret their data.