Trabecular bone volume fraction in Holocene and Late Pleistocene humans.

Research suggests that recent modern humans have gracile skeletons in having low trabecular bone volume fraction (BV/TV) and that gracilization of the skeleton occurred in the last 10,000 years. This has been attributed to a reduction in physical activity in the Holocene. However, there has been no thorough sampling of BV/TV in Pleistocene humans due to limited access to high resolution images of fossil specimens. Therefore, our study investigates the gracilization of BV/TV in Late Pleistocene humans and recent (Holocene) modern humans to improve our understanding of the emergence of gracility. We used microcomputed tomography to measure BV/TV in the femora, humeri and metacarpals of a sample of Late Pleistocene humans from Dolní Vestonice (Czech Republic, ∼26 ka, n = 6) and Ohalo II (Israel, ∼19 ka, n = 1), and a sample of recent humans including farming groups (n = 39) and hunter-gatherers (n = 6). We predicted that 1) Late Pleistocene humans would exhibit greater femoral and humeral head BV/TV compared with recent humans and 2) among recent humans, metacarpal head BV/TV would be greater in hunter-gatherers compared with farmers. Late Pleistocene humans had higher BV/TV compared with recent humans in both the femur and humerus, supporting our first prediction, and consistent with previous findings that Late Pleistocene humans are robust as compared to recent humans. However, among recent humans, there was no significant difference in BV/TV in the metacarpals between the two subsistence groups. The results highlight the similarity in BV/TV in the hand of two human groups from different geographic locales and subsistence patterns and raise questions about assumptions of activity levels in archaeological populations and their relationships to trabecular BV/TV.

Forensic examination of a fragmentary funerary portrait in the collection of the Harvard art museums.

The Harvard Art Museums' collection includes six Egyptian funerary portraits of the Roman period. These portraits are all that remains of the funerary equipment of individuals whose bodies were carefully prepared for burial and the afterlife. One example, depicting a man, is particularly complicated, broken into multiple fragments which have been glued down onto a board. The in-depth study of the portrait used a combination of non-invasive techniques, including X-radiography, infrared-, ultraviolet- and visible-induced luminescence imaging, and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy to identify and locate particular pigments, binders and other artist materials, without needing to take a sample. Targeted sampling, informed by the imaging process, was then undertaken for additional analysis through the use of cross-sections, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, radiocarbon dating, and lead isotope ratio analysis. This study identified a core group of three fragments in the center of the portrait that comprise much of the face and neck, tunic, and part of the hair. The remaining 15 fragments contain most of the background, parts of the hair, and the proper left eye and tunic, and are distinct from the central group of fragments. Analysis suggests these fragments were reused from other ancient funerary portraits, and whilst it was not possible to connect any of these added fragments to one another, a potential workshop connection between the central fragments and three added fragments can be suggested based on a study of the composition of the lead white pigment, and similarities in painting technique.

Datura quids at Pinwheel Cave, California, provide unambiguous confirmation of the ingestion of hallucinogens at a rock art site.

While debates have raged over the relationship between trance and rock art, unambiguous evidence of the consumption of hallucinogens has not been reported from any rock art site in the world. A painting possibly representing the flowers of Datura on the ceiling of a Californian rock art site called Pinwheel Cave was discovered alongside fibrous quids in the same ceiling. Even though Native Californians are historically documented to have used Datura to enter trance states, little evidence exists to associate it with rock art. A multianalytical approach to the rock art, the quids, and the archaeological context of this site was undertaken. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) results found hallucinogenic alkaloids scopolamine and atropine in the quids, while scanning electron microscope analysis confirms most to be Datura wrightii Three-dimensional (3D) analyses of the quids indicate the quids were likely masticated and thus consumed in the cave under the paintings. Archaeological evidence and chronological dating shows the site was well utilized as a temporary residence for a range of activities from Late Prehistory through Colonial Periods. This indicates that Datura was ingested in the cave and that the rock painting represents the plant itself, serving to codify communal rituals involving this powerful entheogen. These results confirm the use of hallucinogens at a rock art site while calling into question previous assumptions concerning trance and rock art imagery.

Distinguishing the Signs of Fungal and Burial-Induced Degradation in Waterlogged Wood from Biskupin (Poland) by Scanning Electron Microscopy.

A scanning electron microscopy (SEM) investigation of pine (Pinus sylvestris) and oak (Quercus sp.) wood samples exposed to various types of natural degradation is presented with the aim of discussing the correct identification of multiple degradation signs in waterlogged wood. This is part of an experiment performed at the archeological site of Biskupin (Poland) to evaluate the dynamics of short-term wood degradation during reburial and the suitability of excavated wood as substrate for the fungal attack. The final aim is to support and inform the in situ conservation strategy currently applied to archeological woods. To replicate the burial conditions, wood samples were put into lake water and peat. The samples were removed from the burial environments after 4, 6, 8, and 10 years, and then exposed to laboratory-controlled attack by a brown rot fungus Coniophora puteana and a white rot fungus Coriolus versicolor. SEM images were acquired for all samples before and after the fungal attack. The results showed a slight degradation occurred in the burial environments (soft rot and bacteria). In addition, both typical and previously neglected features of fungal attack were observed, highlighting that the extent of the fungal decay varies according to the previous degree of wood degradation. Some comparisons are provided with archeological wood samples from the Biskupin site.

The principles, procedures and pitfalls in identifying archaeological and historical wood samples.

BACKGROUND: The science of wood anatomy has evolved in recent decades to add archaeological and historical wood to its repertoire of documenting and characterizing modern and fossil woods. The increasing use of online wood anatomy databases and atlases has fostered the adoption of an international consensus regarding terminology, largely through the work of the International Association of Wood Anatomists (IAWA). SCOPE AND CONCLUSIONS: This review presents an overview for the general reader of the current state of principles and procedures involved in the study of the wood anatomy of archaeological and historical specimens, some of which may be preserved through charring, waterlogging, desiccation or mineral replacement. By means of selected case studies, the review evaluates to what extent varying preservation of wood anatomical characteristics limits the level of identification to taxon. It assesses the role played by increasingly accessible scanning electron microscopes and complex optical microscopes, and whether these, on the one hand, provide exceptional opportunities for high-quality imaging and analysis of difficult samples, but, on the other hand, might be misleading the novice into thinking that advanced technology can be a substitute for specialized botanical training in wood anatomy.

On the antiquity of cancer: evidence for metastatic carcinoma in a young man from ancient Nubia (c. 1200 BC).

Cancer, one of the world's leading causes of death today, remains almost absent relative to other pathological conditions, in the archaeological record, giving rise to the conclusion that the disease is mainly a product of modern living and increased longevity. This paper presents a male, young-adult individual from the archaeological site of Amara West in northern Sudan (c. 1200 BC) displaying multiple, mainly osteolytic, lesions on the vertebrae, ribs, sternum, clavicles, scapulae, pelvis, and humeral and femoral heads. Following radiographic, microscopic and scanning electron microscopic (SEM) imaging of the lesions, and a consideration of differential diagnoses, a diagnosis of metastatic carcinoma secondary to an unknown soft tissue cancer is suggested. This represents the earliest complete example in the world of a human who suffered metastatic cancer to date. The study further draws its strength from modern analytical techniques applied to differential diagnoses and the fact that it is firmly rooted within a well-documented archaeological and historical context, thus providing new insights into the history and antiquity of the disease as well as its underlying causes and progression.

From the Cover: A Howiesons Poort tradition of engraving ostrich eggshell containers dated to 60,000 years ago at Diepkloof Rock Shelter, South Africa.

Ongoing debates about the emergence of modern human behavior, however defined, regularly incorporate observations from the later part of the southern African Middle Stone Age and emphasize the early appearance of artifacts thought to reflect symbolic practice. Here we report a large sample of 270 fragments of intentionally marked ostrich eggshell from the Howiesons Poort at Diepkloof Rock Shelter, Western Cape, South Africa. Dating from approximately 60,000 years ago, these pieces attest to an engraving tradition that is the earliest reliable evidence of what is a widespread modern practice. These abstract linear depictions were made on functional items (eggshell containers), which were curated and involved in daily hunter-gatherer life. The standardized production of repetitive patterns, including a hatched band motif, suggests a system of symbolic representation in which collective identities and individual expressions are clearly communicated, suggesting social, cultural, and cognitive underpinnings that overlap with those of modern people.