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Rosa J, Marques MPM, Gonçalves D, Ferreira MT. Half a century of systematic research on heat-induced colour changes in bone - A review. Sci Justice 2023; 63:573-580. [PMID: 37718004 DOI: 10.1016/j.scijus.2023.07.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2023] [Revised: 07/06/2023] [Accepted: 07/16/2023] [Indexed: 09/19/2023]
Abstract
Skeletal human remains presenting heat-induced changes have been a focus of study for a long time. However, there is still a long way to go for the anthropologists to be able to fully interpret and understand these changes. Heat-induced colour modifications are one of the least understood phenomena in bone, displaying a variety of exceptions (e.g., tints of yellow, orange, blue, green, pink, and red) to the expected colour variations that bone can produce when exposed to high temperatures (i.e., ivory, brown, black, various shades of grey, and white). In addition to these, there is a lack of uniformization in the literature regarding the methods to determine the exact colourations observed and the nomenclature used, giving way to subjective descriptions. However, commitment to more objective and reliable methods is visible in more recent research. In this review, we compiled data published in the literature throughout the years to portray the state of the art regarding the potential of heat-induced colour changes for inferring the circumstances of death and the applicability of these methods in the legal framework.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joana Rosa
- University of Coimbra, Centre for Functional Ecology, Laboratory of Forensic Anthropology, Department of Life Sciences, Calçada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456 Coimbra, Portugal; University of Coimbra, Research Centre for Anthropology and Health, Department of Life Sciences, Calçada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456 Coimbra, Portugal; "Química-Física Molecular", Department of Chemistry, University of Coimbra, 3004-535 Coimbra, Portugal; Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, 3000-456 Coimbra, Portugal.
| | - M Paula M Marques
- "Química-Física Molecular", Department of Chemistry, University of Coimbra, 3004-535 Coimbra, Portugal; Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, 3000-456 Coimbra, Portugal
| | - David Gonçalves
- University of Coimbra, Centre for Functional Ecology, Laboratory of Forensic Anthropology, Department of Life Sciences, Calçada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456 Coimbra, Portugal; University of Coimbra, Research Centre for Anthropology and Health, Department of Life Sciences, Calçada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456 Coimbra, Portugal; Direção-Geral do Património Cultural, Laboratory of Archaeosciences (LARC), Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Maria Teresa Ferreira
- University of Coimbra, Centre for Functional Ecology, Laboratory of Forensic Anthropology, Department of Life Sciences, Calçada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456 Coimbra, Portugal; Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, 3000-456 Coimbra, Portugal
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Alarashi H, Benz M, Gresky J, Burkhardt A, Fischer A, Gourichon L, Gerlitzki M, Manfred M, Sakalauskaite J, Demarchi B, Mackie M, Collins M, Odriozola CP, Garrido Cordero JÁ, Avilés MÁ, Vigorelli L, Re A, Gebel HGK. Threads of memory: Reviving the ornament of a dead child at the Neolithic village of Ba`ja (Jordan). PLoS One 2023; 18:e0288075. [PMID: 37531349 PMCID: PMC10396020 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0288075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2023] [Accepted: 06/17/2023] [Indexed: 08/04/2023] Open
Abstract
In 2018, a well-constructed cist-type grave was discovered at Ba`ja, a Neolithic village (7,400-6,800 BCE) in Southern Jordan. Underneath multiple grave layers, an 8-year-old child was buried in a fetal position. Over 2,500 beads were found on the chest and neck, along with a double perforated stone pendant and a delicately engraved mother-of-pearl ring discovered among the concentration of beads. The first was found behind the neck, and the second on the chest. The meticulous documentation of the bead distribution indicated that the assemblage was a composite ornament that had gradually collapsed, partly due to the burying position. Our aim was to challenge time degradation and to reimagine the initial composition in order to best explore the significance of this symbolic category of material culture, not as mere group of beads, but as an ornamental creation with further aesthetic, artisanal and socioeconomic implications. The reconstruction results exceeded our expectations as it revealed an imposing multi-row necklace of complex structure and attractive design. Through multiple lines of evidence, we suggest that the necklace was created at Ba`ja, although significant parts of beads were made from exotic shells and stones, including fossil amber, an unprecedented material never attested before for this period. The retrieval of such an ornament from life and its attribution to a young dead child highlights the significant social status of this individual. Beyond the symbolic functions related to identity, the necklace is believed to have played a key role in performing the inhumation rituals, understood as a public event gathering families, relatives, and people from other villages. In this sense, the necklace is not seen as belonging completely to the realm of death but rather to the world of the living, materializing a collective memory and shared moments of emotions and social cohesion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hala Alarashi
- IMF-CSIC, Barcelona, Spain
- Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, CEPAM, Nice, France
| | - Marion Benz
- Institute of Near Eastern Archaeology, Free University, Berlin, Germany
| | - Julia Gresky
- German Archaeological Institute, Berlin, Germany
| | - Alice Burkhardt
- Department of Conservation-Art History, Stuttgart State Academy of Art and Design, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Andrea Fischer
- Department of Conservation-Art History, Stuttgart State Academy of Art and Design, Stuttgart, Germany
| | | | - Melissa Gerlitzki
- Landesamt für Geologie, Rohstoffe und Bergbau (LGRB) im Regierungspräsidium Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Martin Manfred
- Landesamt für Geologie, Rohstoffe und Bergbau (LGRB) im Regierungspräsidium Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Jorune Sakalauskaite
- Section for GeoBiology, GLOBE Institute, Faculty of Health and Medical Science, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Institute of Bioscience, Life Sciences Centre, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania
| | - Beatrice Demarchi
- ArchaeoBiomics, Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Meaghan Mackie
- Section for GeoBiology, GLOBE Institute, Faculty of Health and Medical Science, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Matthew Collins
- McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Carlos P Odriozola
- Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueología, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain
- UNIARQ, Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
| | | | - Miguel Ángel Avilés
- Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Sevilla, Universidad de Sevilla- CSIC, Seville, Spain
| | - Luisa Vigorelli
- Electronics and Telecomunication Department, Polytechnic of Torino, Turin, Italy
- Physics Department, University of Torino and INFN, Turin Section, Turin, Italy
| | - Alessandro Re
- Physics Department, University of Torino and INFN, Turin Section, Turin, Italy
| | - Hans Georg K Gebel
- Institute of Near Eastern Archaeology, Free University, Berlin, Germany
- ex oriente e.V., Berlin, Germany
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Santana J, Millard A, Ibáñez-Estevez JJ, Bocquentin F, Nowell G, Peterkin J, Macpherson C, Muñiz J, Anton M, Alrousan M, Kafafi Z. Multi-isotope evidence of population aggregation in the Natufian and scant migration during the early Neolithic of the Southern Levant. Sci Rep 2021; 11:11857. [PMID: 34088922 PMCID: PMC8178372 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-90795-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2020] [Accepted: 05/12/2021] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Human mobility and migration are thought to have played essential roles in the consolidation and expansion of sedentary villages, long-distance exchanges and transmission of ideas and practices during the Neolithic transition of the Near East. Few isotopic studies of human remains dating to this early complex transition offer direct evidence of mobility and migration. The aim of this study is to identify first-generation non-local individuals from Natufian to Pre-Pottery Neolithic C periods to explore the scope of human mobility and migration during the Neolithic transition in the Southern Levant, an area that is central to this historical process. The study adopted a multi-approach resorting to strontium (87Sr/86Sr), oxygen (δ18OVSMOW) and carbon (δ13C) isotope ratio analyses of tooth enamel of 67 human individuals from five sites in Jordan, Syria, and Israel. The isotope ratios point both to a significant level of human migration and/or mobility in the Final Natufian which is compatible with early sedentarism and seasonal mobility and with population aggregation in early sedentary hamlets. The current findings, in turn, offer evidence that most individuals dating to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic were local to their respective settlements despite certain evidence of non-locals. Interestingly, isotopic data suggest that two possible non-local individuals benefitted from particular burial practices. The results underscore a decrease in human mobility and migration as farming became increasingly dominant among the subsistence strategies throughout the Neolithic transition of the Southern Levant.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Santana
- grid.8250.f0000 0000 8700 0572Department of Archaeology, Durham University, Durham, UK ,grid.4521.20000 0004 1769 9380G.I. Tarha, Departamento de Ciencias Históricas, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas, Spain
| | - Andrew Millard
- grid.8250.f0000 0000 8700 0572Department of Archaeology, Durham University, Durham, UK
| | - Juan J. Ibáñez-Estevez
- grid.483414.e0000 0001 2097 4142Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Institución Milá y Fontanals, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Fanny Bocquentin
- grid.463799.60000 0001 2326 1930Cogitamus Laboratory and CNRS, UMR 7041, ArScAn, Equipe Ethnologie Préhistorique, MSH Mondes, Nanterre, France
| | - Geoffrey Nowell
- grid.8250.f0000 0000 8700 0572Department of Earth Science, Durham University, Durham, UK
| | - Joanne Peterkin
- grid.8250.f0000 0000 8700 0572Department of Earth Science, Durham University, Durham, UK
| | - Colin Macpherson
- grid.8250.f0000 0000 8700 0572Department of Earth Science, Durham University, Durham, UK
| | - Juan Muñiz
- Pontificia Facultad de San Esteban de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
| | - Marie Anton
- grid.10988.380000 0001 2173 743XUniversité Paris 1, Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris, France ,grid.4444.00000 0001 2112 9282CNRS, UMR 7206, Musée de l’Homme, Éco-Anthropologie et Ethnologie, Paris, France
| | - Mohammad Alrousan
- grid.14440.350000 0004 0622 5497Department of Anthropology, Yarmouk University, Irbid, Jordan
| | - Zeidan Kafafi
- grid.14440.350000 0004 0622 5497Department of Archaeology, Yarmouk University, Irbid, Jordan
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