Applying Zooarchaeological Methods to Interpret Mortuary Behavior and Taphonomy in Commingled Burials: The Case Study of the Late Neolithic Site of Bolores, Portugal (original) (raw)
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International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 2015
The rock-cut tomb of Bolores in the Portuguese Estremadura dates primarily to the Late Neolithic/Copper Age (2800–2600 BC) and, in a series of recent excavations, has yielded thousands of fragmented, commingled human bone specimens. The primary goals of the present study were to determine the minimum number of individuals interred in the tomb and to analyse spatial patterns in fragmentation intensity to identify natural and anthropogenic taphonomic processes. To investigate these research questions, the authors employed a simplified version of an established method in zooarchaeology to the study of human remains. Human bone specimens were recorded by the presence of osteological landmarks rather than the zones used in similar studies. This recording system allowed for calculation of the minimum number of individuals (further refined through dental analysis) and generated the NISPs (Numbers of Identified Specimens), minimum number of elements, fragment counts and landmarks sums essential to the conjoining and fragmentation studies. Fragmentation analysis led to the identification of four possible use areas in the tomb: two for primary inhumations and two for secondary deposits created by cleaning out the burial chambers at Bolores. We found that the application of multiple zooarchaeological methods to the study of commingled human remains has the potential to provide a more fine-grained understanding of site biography and taphonomy than human osteological methods alone.
International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 2015
The rock‐cut tomb of Bolores in the Portuguese Estremadura dates primarily to the Late Neolithic/Copper Age (2800–2600 BC) and, in a series of recent excavations, has yielded thousands of fragmented, commingled human bone specimens. The primary goals of the present study were to determine the minimum number of individuals interred in the tomb and to analyse spatial patterns in fragmentation intensity to identify natural and anthropogenic taphonomic processes. To investigate these research questions, the authors employed a simplified version of an established method in zooarchaeology to the study of human remains. Human bone specimens were recorded by the presence of osteological landmarks rather than the zones used in similar studies. This recording system allowed for calculation of the minimum number of individuals (further refined through dental analysis) and generated the NISPs (Numbers of Identified Specimens), minimum number of elements, fragment counts and landmarks sums essen...
During the Bronze Age in the Cantabrian region (northern Spain) the human groups buried their dead in the surface of narrow caves. This work focuses, for the first time, in the archaeological, anthropological and taphonomical study of the unpublished human remains found in 1993 in El Espinoso Cave, located in Ribadedeva (Asturias). The site constitutes the only collective burial known from the Bronze Age in Asturias. The taphonomical results show the high fragmentation of the remains due to concretions and water activities and a difference between high and low-density bones representation. Additionally, short bones (patella, calcaneus and talus) were used for the sex and stature determination by applying a new methodological approach. Résumé Durant l'Âge du Bronze, à la région cantabrique (Nord de l'Espagne) les groupes humaines enterraient leurs défunts dans la surface des grottes étroites. Ce travail traite pour première fois des études archéologiques, anthropologiques et taphonomiques des restes humaines trouvés en 1993 à la grotte d'El Espinoso, à Ribadedeva (Asturies). Ce site constitue la seule tombe de caractère collective connue de l'Âge du Bronze des Asturies. L'analyse taphonomique indique une fragmentation élevée des restes à cause de le concrétion et la dissolution et une différence entre la représentation de haute ou basse densité osseuse. D'un autre côté, des nouvelles méthodologies sont utilisées pour la détermination du sexe et la stature des individus à partir d'os courtes comme la rotule, le calcanéum et le talus.
Bom Santo Cave (Lisbon) and the Middle Neolithic Societies of Southern Portugal, 2014
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Confronting Taphonomic Challenges from Excavation Through Curation of Human Remains
Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 2024
Taphonomy as it applies to human remains from archaeological contexts typically considers issues of preservation and diagenesis in the burial environment. Less attention has been paid to biocultural taphonomic factors including excavation techniques, expertise of excavators, and post-excavation treatment. The ways in which human remains are transported from the field to the lab and long-term storage area; effects of field conservation; how skeletons are cleaned, stored, and organized; the degree to which excavation records and osteological analyses are documented; and the management and maintenance of collections over time all have substantial impact on the ability to evaluate and contextualize them. Examples drawn from fieldwork and study of human remains from Cyprus, Egypt, Sudan, and the USA confront these human-induced taphonomic factors. Insufficient expertise and planning for storage and ongoing care of human remains may lead to missing or damaged skeletal elements, mixing, loss of provenience information, and limited accessibility. Best practices are recommended, even where locally available materials are limited. All archaeological projects in which human burials are anticipated must include experienced bioarchaeologists in fieldwork and study to minimize damage and loss of information and to ensure ethical treatment of human remains at all stages.
Journal of archaeological …, 2005
Fragmented, co-mingled assemblages of human and animal bones are not uncommon in archaeological deposits, particularly in prehistoric contexts. It is suggested, firstly, that standard approaches to studying the human material do not lend themselves to the complete understanding of such contexts, secondly, that the application of some techniques more common to zooarchaeology are of particular value in understanding such human material, and, thirdly, that fully integrated, identical recording systems for both human and animal material allow for much greater understanding of the relative peri-mortem, depositional and post-depositional histories of human and animal remains in these complex deposits. Such a fully integrated method of recording, that permits direct comparison of the patterning in the human and animal assemblages, is outlined. These methods encompass issues of identification, ageing, quantification, fragmentation, bone fracture analysis, post-depositional taphonomy and evidence of human-induced butchery/trauma and other modifications. The approach is illustrated with examples drawn from the study of the bone deposits at the Middle Bronze Age ritual enclosure of Velim Skalka, Czech Republic.
Fragmentation and depositions in Pre and Protohistoric Portugal., 2019
Ongoing multidisciplinary studies of skeletonized human remains from the Middle Neolithic Bom Santo Cave (Lisbon, Portugal) is indicating a very heterogeneous population at various levels (diets, mobility and genetics). The current interpretation suggests that its socio-economic and funerary territories encompassed the lower Tagus, its tributaries and the granitic sectors of the Mora–Pavia area in the Alentejo. Archaeothanatological analyses indicated mutually exclusive funerary practices: secondary depositions at Room A and primary and secondary depositions at Room B. Polished stone tools are evenly distributed in both rooms, while ornaments, pottery, flint blades and sheep/goat phalanges are almost restricted to Room A. Such distribution patterns reflects the coexistence of distinct funerary practices in which Room A is part of a much complex behaviour that included primary depositions, exhumation, transportation and re-deposition of human bone remains between different sectors of the cave and/or cemeteries (caves, dolmens) of the above-described territory. Thus, a more dynamic (in its rituals) and wider (in its geography) set of funerary practices than usually perceived—in which the intentional segmentation of human skeletons is attested—seems to have taken place at the onset of megalithism in central-southern Portugal.