Oh man you guys, I got to work on the most beautiful Potawatomi woman today. Well, all we have of her is her skull, lower legs, and pelvis, but they were so smooth and perfect. Some great winging and shoveling of the incisors too!
The skeletons I’ve been working on lately are being inventoried and photographed, and hopefully repatriated to their descendants. Best use of my year before grad school that I can think of!
I think I’ll do a post on this tomorrow…
Sokushinbutsu (即身仏) were Buddhist monks or priests who caused their own deaths in a way that resulted in their mummification. This practice reportedly took place almost exclusively in northern Japan around Yamagata Prefecture. It is believed that many hundreds of monks tried, but only 24 such mummifications have been discovered to date.
Their diet was nuts and seeds for 1000 days, after that they only ate bark and roots while getting rid of body fat, After the 1000 days they drank a poisionous tea made from the sap of Urushi tree.
Finally, a self-mummifying monk would lock himself in a stone tomb barely larger than his body, where he would not move from the lotus position. His only connection to the outside world was an air tube and a bell. Each day he rang a bell to let those outside know that he was still alive.When the bell stopped ringing, the tube was removed and the tomb sealed. After the tomb was sealed, the other monks in the temple would wait another 1,000 days, and open the tomb to see if the mummification was successful.
If the monk was mummified he was instantly seen as Buddha and put on display. If the mummification wasnt successful then the monk wasn’t seen as one, yet still admired for his trying.
The recent case of a Syrian rebel appearing to take a bite from an opponent’s heart seems utterly shocking and disturbing. But is this incident more inhuman than all the other countless atrocities that have already taken place in this war?
We are used to reports of mass graves, torture, killings and mutilations of civilians, and the eradication of complete villages.
But this particular barbarous act has attracted special attention. Cannibalism seems to contradict common moral and ethical beliefs on what is acceptable in war scenarios and what is not. So has the violence really reached a new dimension and what motivation underlies these acts?
(Source: BBC News)
Wow. This really ties into Foucault (correct me if I’m wrong - I really need to read Discipline and Punish).
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Patty Kelly, “Awkward Intimacies: Prostitution, Politics and Fieldwork in Urban Mexico” (Looking forward to that dissertation…) Archaeologists do it in the dirt! |
For numerous travelers, Naples is the darkest gem of the Old Continent, concealing in its streets countless artifacts of a macabre nature. With skulls, bones, petrified saints, and holy blood, the iconography of death seems to have spread everywhere. Moreover, Naples is paved with obscure legends. Behind every door, under each alcove, vivid tales linger on, tangling together the Italian aristocracy, exalted quests for knowledge, and, of course, cold blooded murders. Included in these is the story of the Anatomical Machines.
Located in the basement of the Sansevero Chapel in the historic district of Naples, the bodies of two people, a man and a woman, stand in an elaborate display. Their skin and their muscles are gone, leaving them open and naked. Yet they proudly present their vascular systems, their skeletons, and some of them inner organs.
It’s evident that our couple is not an object of devotion, so their dramatic internal nudity in one of the most sumptuous chapels in town is paradoxical. Who are these two people and why is their anatomy displayed in this sacred place?
For that answer and more… Morbid Monday: The Macabre Myth of Naples’ Anatomical Machines
Now how did I not know this about Naples?
Tree burial is a Tibetan tradition most commonly practiced with infants, though children as old as thirteen have been entombed this way. The body is cleaned with salt water before being placed in a vessel in a fetal position. The family then hangs the deceased from a tree. Some trees have only one or two vessels, where other have upwards of fifty.
Sexual dimorphism of the bony labyrinth: A new age-independent method
- by Benjamin Osipov, Katerina Harvati,Despoina Nathena, Konstantinos Spanakis, Apostolos Karantanas and Elena F. Kranioti
“Currently in physical anthropology there is a need for reliable methods of sex estimation for immature individuals and highly fragmented remains. This study develops a sex estimation technique from discriminant function analysis of the bony labyrinth as it matures before puberty and can survive taphonomic conditions that would destroy most other skeletal material. The bony labyrinth contains the organs of hearing and balance. For this reason biologists and paleoanthropologists have undertaken research in this area to understand evolutionary changes in locomotion. Prior studies have found clear differences between species, but within-species variation has not been satisfactorily investigated. 3D segmentations of the left and right labyrinths of 94 individuals from a Cretan collection were generated and measured. Mean measurements of height, width, size, and shape indices were analyzed for sexual dimorphism, bilateral asymmetry, and measurement error. Significant sexual dimorphism was detected for several measurements. For sex estimation, the single best variable was the radius of curvature of the posterior semicircular canal, which achieved 76% accuracy. Two multivariate functions increased accuracy to 84%. Although these equations are less accurate than equations for complete long bones and crania, they appear to be as accurate as or better than other techniques for sexing immature individuals and temporal bones” (read more/not open access).
(Source: American Journal of Physical Anthropology, in press 2013; image source: Osipov, B. 2011. “Sexual Dimorphism of the Bony Labyrinth: Applications in Forensic Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology,” Dissertation for MSc in Forensic Anthropology at University of Edinburgh)
Cool! When I was working in Amarna Jerry Rose had us bag the auditory ossicles separately in case someone ever figured out something to do with them, so I’ve been interested to see what would come up!
Learning from Skeletons
Skull
Look for the sagittal suture – the squiggly line that runs the length of the skull – and note whether is it’s completely fused. If it is, the remains are likely to be of someone older than 35. Look for a second line at the front of the skull — the coronal suture – which fully fuses by age 40.
Teeth
Study the teeth. If they’re worn down it could be a sign of a poor diet. If they’re well-maintained and/or have good dental work such as fillings, they were able to afford proper dental care—another clue as to the identity of your skeleton. Consult a scientist who specializes in teeth, known as an odontologist. They can determine how old a person was at death, what kind of health they were in and what kind of diet they had.
Sternum
Examine where the ribs join the sternum. This is also a good indicator of age. A forensic anthropologist will compare it against a database of standard markers and it is often more accurate as it is not a weight-bearing bone and remains unaffected by childbirth.
Pelvis
Look for the pubic symphysis, which is the joint located in the pelvis. The older the person at death, the more pitted and craggy these bones will be. Forensic anthropologists will compare this against a database of standard markers to learn the age of the skeleton. Check if there are any soft marks on the cartilage which are left by childbirth as the bones soften to allow easier birth.
To identify gender, assess the pelvis shape; men have a narrow, deep pelvis and women a wider, shallower pelvis, better-suited to carrying a baby. For a quick identification in the field, a forensic anthropologist will find the notch in the fan-shaped bone of the pelvis and stick their thumb into it. If there’s room to wiggle the thumb, then it’s a female; if it’s a tight fit, it’s the skeleton of a man
Wrist
Examine the wrists, as bones often hold clues to the primary work of the decedent. Bony ridges form where the muscles were attached and pulled over the years. A forensic anthropologist might find a bony ridge on the wrist and decide the dead person may have been someone who used their hands for a living, such as a chef or seamstress.
DNA
DNA samples may be taken from any existing hair tissue. As well as positively identifying someone, it can also identify a person’s race or tribal origins.
Bugs
When the skeleton is first discovered, take samples from around the remains including any bugs you come across. Insects such as blowflies have a very distinct lifecycle and often plant their eggs on newly deceased bodies. By identifying the stage of the lifecycle, a near-exact time of death can be established. This science is known as forensic entomology.
OK, got a bit to add to this:
- Cranial sutures are basically useless for age estimation. Generally speaking, yeah, more open means younger, and more closed means older, but this is more often determined by genetics.
- Teeth wear (attrition) also varies immensely by population. It’s very useful if you know where and when the person came from, and what diet they lived on, but these charts are not universal. A 24-year-old from ancient Egypt will have much more tooth wear than a 24-year-old from post-industrial England. Softer diet, less sand, etc. (I speak from experience in those two populations.) A lot of standards commonly referred to in archaeology are based on Native American populations.
- I’ve heard about using rib ends and longbones for age and sex estimation, but I haven’t followed up on it! The most widely accepted methods look at the pelvies, but forensic anthropologists are always looking for more precise methods pertaining to modern populations. (I’m looking forward to going back to school and learning this stuff!)
Researching the Borgias, Sarah Dunant learnt how syphilis took Europe by storm during the 1490s, and the far reaching effects it’s had ever since
A very interesting look at the cultural impacts of syphilis in history. If anyone was in any doubt why syphilis is one of the most fascinating diseases ever, this will convert you!
| — | Ta-Nehisi Coates (via theatlantic) |
Archaeologists have discovered six Pagan Saxon skeletons dating back over 1,000 years on a housing development site just a few miles from Stonehenge.
The discoveries, which also include round barrows dating back to the Bronze Age 4,000 years ago, were unearthed at a redundant brownfield…
Archaeologists have discovered a 1,000-year-old church during construction work at Lincoln Castle.
Eight skeletons have also been found in the building – which was never known about until now – by workers on the £19.9m Lincoln Castle Revealed project.
Experts believe the church pre-dates…
The stapes (stirrup) is the smallest and lightest bone in the body. The stapes is the connection between the middle and inner ears. The head of the stapes connects to the incus and the footplate rest within the oval window of the cochlea. It is the third ossicle of the middle ear and part of the auditory system that transduces sound energy into mechanical energy and finally, electrical energy.
