A Community in Life and Death: The Late Neolithic Megalithic Tomb at Alto de Reinoso (Burgos, Spain).

The analysis of the human remains from the megalithic tomb at Alto de Reinoso represents the widest integrative study of a Neolithic collective burial in Spain. Combining archaeology, osteology, molecular genetics and stable isotope analysis (87Sr/86Sr, δ15N, δ13C) it provides a wealth of information on the minimum number of individuals, age, sex, body height, pathologies, mitochondrial DNA profiles, kinship relations, mobility, and diet. The grave was in use for approximately one hundred years around 3700 cal BC, thus dating from the Late Neolithic of the Iberian chronology. At the bottom of the collective tomb, six complete and six partial skeletons lay in anatomically correct positions. Above them, further bodies represented a subsequent and different use of the tomb, with almost all of the skeletons exhibiting signs of manipulation such as missing skeletal parts, especially skulls. The megalithic monument comprised at least 47 individuals, including males, females, and subadults, although children aged 0-6 years were underrepresented. The skeletal remains exhibited a moderate number of pathologies, such as degenerative joint diseases, healed fractures, cranial trauma, and a low intensity of caries. The mitochondrial DNA profiles revealed a pattern pointing to a closely related local community with matrilineal kinship patterns. In some cases adjacent individuals in the bottom layer showed familial relationships. According to their strontium isotope ratios, only a few individuals were likely to have spent their early childhood in a different geological environment, whilst the majority of individuals grew up locally. Carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis, which was undertaken to reconstruct the dietary habits, indicated that this was a homogeneous group with egalitarian access to food. Cereals and small ruminants were the principal sources of nutrition. These data fit in well with a lifestyle typical of sedentary farming populations in the Spanish Meseta during this period of the Neolithic.

Degenerative alterations of the spine in an Early Mediaeval population from Mannheim-Seckenheim, Germany.

Palaeopathological and palaeoepidemiological analyses of human skeletal remains are some of the most important bases for the reconstruction of life of past populations. The assessment of frequency and degree of pathological alterations contributes to conclusions of a population's health status, labour conditions, and environmental influences. Degenerative diseases of the spine are among the most common lesions observed in archaeological human remains. The large number of excavated Early Mediaeval cemeteries in Germany enables the comparison of contemporary populations increasing the reliability of conclusions regarding their living conditions. In this study, 112 adult individuals with largely complete and well preserved spines from the Early Mediaeval population of Mannheim-Seckenheim were analysed for pattern and degree of degenerative changes of the spine. The severity of degeneration was recorded using modified categories originally presented by Lutter (1984) for spondylosis deformans and spondylarthrosis deformans scaling from 0 to 4. In addition, the presence of Schmorl's nodes was recorded and the vertebrae were examined for signs of Scheuermann's disease. In general, there was a high prevalence of degenerative diseases of the spine and males were affected more often and to a greater degree than females. The frequency of spondylosis deformans and spondylarthrosis deformans increased with age. In comparison with other Early Mediaeval series there was a much higher prevalence of degenerative diseases in Mannheim-Seckenheim, although most instances were mild manifestations. No cases of Scheuermann's disease (defined as three adjacent vertebrae with wedging of 5° or more and anterior extensions) were identified in the studied sample.