Ancient populations have commonly been thought to have lived in small groups where extreme endogamy was the norm. To contribute to this debate, a genetic analysis has been carried out on a collective burial with eight primary inhumations from Montanissell Cave in the Catalan pre-Pyrenees. Radiocarbon dating clearly placed the burial in the Bronze Age, around 3200 BP. The composition of the group-two adults (one male, one female), one young woman, and five children from both sexes-seemed to represent the structure of a typical nuclear family. The genetic evidence proves this assumption to be wrong. In fact, at least five out of the eight mitochondrial haplotypes were different, denying the possibility of a common maternal ancestor for all of them. Nevertheless, 50% of the inhumations shared haplogroup J, so the possibility of a maternal relationship cannot be ruled out. Actually, combining different analyses performed using ancient and living populations, the probability of having four related J individuals in Montanissell Cave would range from 0.9884 to 0.9999. Owing to the particularities of this singular collective burial (small number of bodies placed altogether in a hidden cave, the evidence of non-simultaneous interments, close dating and unusual grave goods), we suggest that it might represent a small group with a patrilocal mating system.
La antropología forense tiene por objeto tanto la identificación del individuo, como la determinación de la causa y circunstancias de la muerte. En este sentido, la antropología forense es esencial para la recuperación de los restos de personas desaparecidas y que fueron enterrados en fosas comunes durante la Guerra Civil y la dictadura franquista, para su posterior retorno a los familiares. En este trabajo se presentan los resultados de la intervención llevada a cabo en la fosa de Gurb, en la que fueron enterrados cuatro soldados republicanos vecinos de Gavà y cuyos familiares habían solicitado su exhumación. El trabajo multidisciplinar llevado a cabo permitió: 1) recuperar toda la información ante mortem disponible en relación a la fosa y los desaparecidos, 2) recuperar mediante metodología arqueológica y directrices antropológico-forenses los restos de los 13 individuos enterrados en la fosa, y 3) analizar los restos en el laboratorio a través de técnicas antropológicas, forenses, moleculares y de superposición craneofacial. Los resultados permitieron tanto la identificación de las cuatro personas buscadas, como la determinación de las causas y circunstancias de su muerte, relacionadas todas ellas con heridas por arma de fuego, acaecidas en un contexto de batalla.
Objectives: Mummified nervous tissue is very rarely found in ancient remains and usually corresponds to corpses which were frozen or preserved in bogs, conditions which limit tissue autolysis and bacterial degradation. Here, we show the unusual finding of spontaneously mummified brain tissue from several individuals from the little known megalithic talaiotic culture of the island of Minorca, dating approximately 3,000 years before present and corresponding to the late Mediterranean Bronze Age. Methods: These individuals were part of an intact burial site containing 66 subjects. Intracraneal samples were carefully rehydrated with Sandison’s solution. We used classical histochemical as well as 2D and 3D (scanning) electron-microscopic techniques. Results: We provide evidence of the nervous nature of the samples as well as a detailed description of the morphological features of these ancient tissues. The intracranial material consisted of well-preserved eosinophilic reticular tissue and, although mostly absent, some exceptional pigment-containing neurons were identified. Conclusions: We present a detailed morphological analysis which can provide valuable information and guidelines for the interpretation of this scarce type of mummified samples and provide explanations for this surprising preservation.
RESUMENLa tafonomía ofrece un marco teórico y metodológi-co para comprender la transición desde la muerte de los organismos hasta su hallazgo . Así ayuda a interpretar el gesto funerario de las sociedades del pasado . Este trabajo analiza los efectos tafonómicos, observados in situ y en el laboratorio, de los restos humanos procedentes de la Cova de Montanissell (Lleida), en el noreste de la Península Ibérica, en relación con los resultados paleogenéticos, paleopatológicos y radiocarbónicos . La cavidad fue utilizada por una comunidad de la Edad del Bronce para enterrar 8 individuos en sucesivas inhumaciones de carácter primario . La interacción de agentes y procesos tafonómicos sobre los esqueletos condujeron a una historia compleja pero de baja intensidad, que ha permitido una muy buena preservación del tejido óseo . La integración de los resultados procedentes de las diferentes líneas de investigación ha sido fundamental para discutir sobre la intencionalidad o no de los entierros, de la disposición de los individuos, y su relación de parentesco .
ABSTRACT
Taphonomy aims to provide a theoretical and methodological frame to understand the transition of biological remains from the moment of death to their recovery, as well as to interpret the funerary gesture of the past societies. In this article, the reconstruction of the taphonomic history of the human remains from
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.