Representativeness and Bias in Archaeological Skeletal Samples

Jackes, Mary

doi:10.1002/9781444390537.ch5

Cited by 57 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 74 publications

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“…Nonetheless, due to the large size of the sample (n = 198), it is possible to infer meaningful information regarding palaeodemography, local background strontium and oxygen isotope values, and origin-related population dynamics. In addition, the use of statistics in all likelihood contributed to the selection of a sample that is as unbiased as possible (Jackes 2011). Nevertheless, it has to be taken into account that the results of the present study are directly connected to sample selection, and might have been different if sample selection had been based on different parameters.…”

Section: Representativeness Of the Oldenzaal Isotope Samplementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In osteoarchaeological research, the complex relation between original living populations and excavated samples is well studied and understood. Biological, cultural and methodological factors may bias sample selection and hence analytical results (Hoppa 1996(Hoppa , 2001Jackes 2011;Waldron 1994). It is safe to assume that these factors also affect the representativeness of the Oldenzaal sample.…”

Section: Representativeness Of the Oldenzaal Isotope Samplementioning

confidence: 99%

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Beyond isolation: understanding past human-population variability in the Dutch town of Oldenzaal through the origin of its inhabitants and its infrastructural connections

Kootker

Lanen

Groenewoudt

et al. 2017

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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This study presents a first attempt to assess the mechanisms and potential controls behind past residential mobility through the integration of isotopic data from human inhumations and spatial infrastructural information pertaining to the settlement containing these inhumations. Strontium Reconstructions of historical route networks show that Oldenzaal was wellconnected interregionally throughout the Middle Ages and early-modern times (ca. AD 800-1600). Although the working hypothesis was that in the past a high degree of spatial connectivity of settlements must have been positively related to a highly variable geographical origin of its inhabitants, the isotopic data from Oldenzaal indicate a population characterized by a low variability in terms of their origin. This unexpected result may be caused by (a combination of) various factors, related to (1) biases in the isotopic dataset, (2) interpretative limitations regarding the results of isotopic analyses and (3) the impact of broader socio-cultural factors that cannot be traced through isotopic analyses, such as infrastructural connectivity, socio-economics and political factors. The human oxygen isotope dataset presented here provides a first step towards a δ 18O PDB reference dataset, against which future samples can be compared without the need to convert the data. This paper establishes that although in archaeology a biomolecular approach potentially provides a detailed reconstruction of the development of past populations in terms of palaeodemography and geographical/cultural origin, such studies should be performed in a transdisciplinary context in order to increase the understanding of the wider controlling factors of past population change.

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Section: Representativeness Of the Oldenzaal Isotope Samplementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Representativeness Of the Oldenzaal Isotope Samplementioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond isolation: understanding past human-population variability in the Dutch town of Oldenzaal through the origin of its inhabitants and its infrastructural connections

Kootker

Lanen

Groenewoudt

et al. 2017

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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“…Improvements to existing techniques of age estimation (e.g., Brooks and Suchey 1990), development of new techniques (e.g., using the auricular surface [Lovejoy et al 1985] and sternal ends of ribs [İşcan et al 1984a, 1984b]), and new statistical approaches (e.g., transition analysis [Boldsen et al 2002]) have helped allay these concerns. Additionally, more sophisticated and critically applied paleodemographic analyses have arisen that incorporate Bayesian statistics and hazards analysis (for more information concerning these developments see Chamberlain 2000;Hoppa and Vaupel 2002;and Milner et al 2008) as well as fertility centered models (Jackes 2011).…”

Section: The Development Of Bioarchaeologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Stronger Together: Advancing a Global Bioarchaeology

Baker

2017

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Bioarchaeology is a burgeoning, integrative field that spans the globe. Bioarchaeology is often thought to encompass the study of only the human remains found within archaeological sites, frequently divorced from the contexts in which they were found. The physical remains of people store a record of their biological attributes, providing information on illnesses or trauma they survived or that may have contributed to their deaths, their daily activities, biological affinities, and more. Equally informative are the different ways that people were treated in death by those who survived them. Rather than investigating only the biological remains or studying material culture alone, integrating these components permits a more complete understanding of how people experienced an array of circumstances over the course of their own lives and through multiple generations. Differing subsistence practices, access to resources, exposure to hazards, and changes in economic, political, religious, or environmental factors over time and across vast areas of the world are topics explored by bioarchaeologists. Learning how past peoples were affected by pathogens, climate change, and immigration, for example, provides insight into contemporary issues and ABSTRACTBioarchaeology is a relatively young field that aims to improve our understanding of life, death, and interrelationships among past humans around the globe. The discipline grew out of 1960s American processual archaeology and biological anthropology and emerged as human osteoarchaeology in the UK. Today, bioarchaeology is a vibrant, interdisciplinary field of study that cross-cuts biological anthropology, archaeology, and social theory to situate past peoples within their biological, cultural, and environmental circumstances. The field emphasizes not only the study of human remains but the integrative analysis and interpretation of their context, including the archaeological, sociocultural, and political milieu and the environmental setting in which people lived. The growing interest in bio archae ol o gi cal research has created the need for a new peer-reviewed journal to help unify and advance this discipline around the globe. In this introduction to Bioarchaeology International, we trace the origins of the field and the different "schools" of bioarchaeology that have developed and are now merging as the discipline has matured. We then delineate the purpose and goals of the journal, highlighting how the articles in the first issue contribute to those goals. Finally, as co-editors in chief, we describe our vision for contemporary and future directions in bioarchaeology. With this overview of the field and journal, we wish to stimulate discussion and promote international submissions. We intend for Bioarchaeology International to strengthen this growing field and help promote scholarly and public interest in our collective research.Keywords: archaeology; biological anthropology; biocultural; funerary archaeology; mortuary behavior; osteology; osteoarchaeology; paleopatholo...

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“…For the same series of q-type age specific death rate, the shape of the population pyramid, determined by the growth rate, strongly influences the age specific death distribution (BocquetAppel, 2008;Jackes, 2011). Thus the growth rate also influences the survival function estimate.…”

Section: Survival Function Estimatementioning

confidence: 99%