Double child burial from sunghir (Russia): Pathology and inferences for upper paleolithic funerary practices

Abstract

The double child burial from Sunghir (Russia) is a spectacular Mid Upper Palaeolithic funerary example dated to about 24,000 BP. A boy (Sunghir 2) and a girl (Sunghir 3), about 12-13 and 9-10 years old, respectively, were buried at the same time, head to head, covered by red ocher and ornamented with extraordinarily rich grave goods. Examination of the two skeletons reveals that the Sunghir 3 femora are short and exhibit marked antero-posterior bowing. The two femora do not show any asymmetry in the degree of shortening and bowing. Bowing affects the whole diaphysis and shows a regularly incurved profile, with the highest point at midshaft. Pathology is confined to the femora, and no other part of this well-preserved specimen shows abnormality. The isolated nature of the Sunghir 3 anomalies points to cases reported in the medical literature under the label of "congenital bowing of long bones" (CBLB). These are a group of rare conditions exhibiting localized, sometimes bilateral, bowing and shortening which are nonspecific and may result from different causes, including abnormalities of the primary cartilaginous anlage (i.e., the aggregation of cells representing the first trace of an organ). Localized ossification disturbances, possibly linked to a diabetic maternal condition, might explain the shortening and the coincidence of maximum midshaft curvature with the position of the primary ossification center, as well as the lack of involvement of other skeletal parts. This scenario, rather than other possibilities (early bilateral midshaft fracture, acute plastic bowing deformities, or faulty fetal posture), provides the most likely explanation for the Sunghir 3 femoral deformities. The intriguing combination of a pathological condition apparent since birth with a spectacular burial of unusually positioned young individuals of different sexes recalls significant aspects of the triple burial from the contemporary site of Dolní Vestonice (Moravia), evoking a patterned relationship between physical abnormality and extraordinary Upper Paleolithic funerary behavior.

Late Pleistocene adult mortality patterns and modern human establishment

“…Yet, there were decreases or stasis in the incidence of both forms of lesions among both Middle Paleolithic and earlier Upper Paleolithic modern humans relative to the late archaic humans (33,35,37,38). This paleopathological shift is not likely to reflect differential survival, given the survival of individuals with serious developmental and degenerative abnormalities in both groups (6,37,(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45).…”

“…None of the individuals with preserved remains sustained and healed a lower limb injury or deformity that would have prevented locomotion; the oldest known such injury (54) is early Holocene in age. Even those individuals, who sustained serious developmental or traumatic deformities of the lower limbs (6,37,44,45,49) or developed advanced posttraumatic osteoarthritis of primary weight-bearing articulations (39,40), continued to be mobile. Under these conditions, it is likely that older individuals with reduced mobility were left behind, to die and have their remains consumed by the ubiquitous carnivores on the landscape.…”

A 12,000-year-old Shaman burial from the southern Levant (Israel)

“…The elaborate and invested grave at Hilazon Tachtit confirms the special status of the buried individual and her high standing within the community. Moreover, although pathologies are not universally characteristic of shamans, there are numerous cross-cultural accounts of physically disabled individuals being ascribed healing and spiritual powers (26,27). The goods accompanying the burial are also typical of shaman burials.…”

Mitochondrial DNA analysis of Yayoi period human skeletal remains from the Doigahama site

“…Archeological and morphological evidence has often been used to estimate the kinships of ancient human skeletal specimens. [44][45][46][47][48] However, it is difficult to examine the kinship with accuracy based on only morphological evidence. In this study, DNA analyses on the remains, which have involved some interesting data in previous archeological and morphological studies, were carried out to investigate the relationship between burial style and kinships at the Doigahama site.…”