The Osteological Paradox 20 Years Later: Past Perspectives, Future Directions

DeWitte, Sharon N.; Stojanowski, Christopher M.

doi:10.1007/s10814-015-9084-1

Cited by 232 publications

(199 citation statements)

References 315 publications

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“…King et al 2016). These exciting developments may allow us to compare isotope ratios between survivors and non-survivors, thus enabling further insights into the veracity of the osteological paradox (Wood et al 1992;DeWitte and Stojanowski 2015). The application of incremental sampling methods (Figure 2) has also led to a reconsideration of how nitrogen stable isotope ratios are interpreted, suggesting that the variables affecting the isotopic relationship between mother and child are more complex than the traditional dietary weaning model posits, and that high nitrogen stable isotope ratios may also represent physiological stress (Beaumont et al 2015;Beaumont and Montgomery 2016).…”

Section: Diet In Infants and Children In The Pastmentioning

confidence: 99%

Child Bioarchaeology: Perspectives on the Past 10 Years

Mays

Gowland

Halcrow

et al. 2017

Childhood in the Past

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The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. This article aims to provide an overview of some of the more important developments in the bioarchaeology of childhood over the past decade. Analysis of publication trends in the major osteoarchaeology and physical anthropology journals demonstrated a rise in research papers dealing with skeletal remains of children, with dietary and palaeopathological studies especially predominant. Innovations in these areas are discussed in more detail, together with some important developments in theoretical frameworks for using skeletal evidence to situate children in past societies. Among these latter is the life course approach, in which childhood is considered within the context of the trajectory of the entire life course. The integration of studies of child skeletal remains with those of adults helps to provide a more complete picture of communities in the past.

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Section: Diet In Infants and Children In The Pastmentioning

confidence: 99%

Child Bioarchaeology: Perspectives on the Past 10 Years

Mays

Gowland

Halcrow

et al. 2017

Childhood in the Past

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“…Although researchers have slowly addressed the complex issues raised by the osteological paradox, its use as a worthy research endeavor in itself has emerged only recently (DeWitte and Stojanowski 2015). Several innovative studies have embraced the investigation of selective mortality and heterogeneous frailty through an examination of specific mortality risks associated with factors such as age, sex, and non-specific indicators of stress (e.g.…”

Section: Contemporary Directionsmentioning

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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“…In some Unauthenticated Download Date | 5/11/18 12:47 AM individuals a particular condition might not have been sufficiently advanced to be identified in the skeletal material or the affected person might have recovered before obvious traces became apparent (Roberts and Manchester 2005;Brickley and Ives 2008;Ortner 2003). Thus, the number of skeletons affected by a given condition may not accurately reflect the number of disease incidence, measured as the number of new cases per total population at risk (Waldron 1994;Roberts and Manchester 2005;DeWitte and Stojanowski 2015). Furthermore, disease prevalence, defined as the number of cases per total skeletal sample, may not represent the true prevalence in the once-living population, because the archaeological sample represents an accumulation of changes that occurred throughout the lives of the individuals.…”

Section: Problems Inherent To Paleopathological Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Growth and health status of children and adolescents in medieval Central Europe

Krenz‐Niedbała

2017

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Subadult growth and health have been analyzed in three cemetery samples from medieval Poland, including two early-urban sites: Cedynia dated to the 10th-14th centuries AD, and Ostrów Lednicki dated to the 13th-15th centuries AD, and a rural site Słaboszewo dated to the 14th-17th centuries AD. The nutritional status was not expected to have substantially differed among the settlements, due to the culturally induced undiversified diet of children, and predominant share of medium-to-low status individuals. However, city life and village life were supposed to differ in factors correlated with the spread of infections, and as such it was expected to find significant differences in respiratory health among early-urban and rural dwellers.The prevalences of diet-dependent diseases, scurvy and rickets, were found to be statistically indistinguishable among the three studied populations, while higher frequency of skeletal signs of poor respiratory health was observed in early-urban Cedynia than rural Słaboszewo. Slightly lower prevalences of skeletal stress indicators were found for the rural than the early-urban site. Skeletal growth profiles and the dynamics of long bone growth were found to be remarkably similar for the early-urban samples (Cedynia and Ostrów Lednicki), with the rural subadults having the shortest diaphyseal lengths, and lower growth dynamics.It can be concluded that adverse factors associated with the urban settlement were more detrimental to respiratory health than those in the village. A variety of factors are potentially responsible for this pattern, including population density, building structure, quality of air and water, sanitation, and occupation. Perhaps, the key factor in response to environmental and socio-cultural constraints was the stability of living conditions in the village, which allowed the inhabitants to develop sufficient adaptive mechanisms. In contrast, the history of strongholds such as Cedynia was changeable due to political situation, military threats and migrations of people.

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The Osteological Paradox 20 Years Later: Past Perspectives, Future Directions

Cited by 232 publications

References 315 publications

Child Bioarchaeology: Perspectives on the Past 10 Years

Child Bioarchaeology: Perspectives on the Past 10 Years

Stronger Together: Advancing a Global Bioarchaeology

Growth and health status of children and adolescents in medieval Central Europe

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