The cemetery is located in the south-west of Pottenbrunn, on plot "Steinfeld" (15°41´05"/48°13´55"). Discovered in 1930, it had already yielded objects dating to the early La Tène period. In 1981, road construction revealed further finds which initiated rescue excavations by the Bundesdenkmalamt (State Office for Protection of Historical Monuments) under the guidance of J.-W. Neugebauer (Ramsl 2002a(Ramsl , 13) in 1981(Ramsl and 1982. A total of 42 graves with 45 burials (single and double inhumations, and cremations) have been documented. Some burials were severely disturbed (by ancient activities such as grave robbing and/or contemporary construction work), and some were set within fenced enclosures ("Grabgärten"). Three (of 22) samples of charcoal and bone fragments taken by Peter Stadler (Department of Prehistory, Natural History Museum Vienna) in the course of the FWFproject "Absolute Chronology for Early Civilisations in Austria and Central Europe" returned AMS dates of 410-200 cal BCE (grave 520), 550-200 cal BCE (grave 565) and 380-350 cal BCE (grave 1005) (Ramsl 2002b, 359). The cremation burials were not included in the initial osteological analysis, but 31 inhumed individuals were studied (Gerold 2002). Petrous bones from three of these were successfully analyzed for aDNA. Sample I11699 (female) derived from an individual (inv. no. 26.238) aged c. 20 years in grave 89 which, despite disturbance in antiquity, was accompanied by fibulae and ceramic vessels. Sample I11701 (male) derived from an individual (inv. no. 26.249) aged c. 18 years in grave 570, which also included shears, fibulae, and ceramic vessels. Evidence for bone porosity in the mandible and maxilla suggest possible Vitamin C deficiency, while enamel hypoplasia points to malnutrition or illness during childhood. Sample I11708 (female) derived from an individual (inv.no. 26.250) aged c. 25-35 years in grave 574/2, who was richly adorned with fibulae, bronze, iron and silver-rings, an amber ring, a bracelet, a glass bead, and a worked bone artefact.

Rationale Strontium isotope analysis can be applied to the calcined human otic capsule in the petrous part (pars petrosa ossis temporalis; PP) to gain information on childhood mobility in archaeological and forensic contexts. However, only a thin layer of the otic capsule, the inner cortex, demonstrates virtually no remodelling. This paper proposes an improved sampling method for the accurate sampling of the inner cortex of the otic capsule to ensure that 87Sr/86Sr ratios related to early childhood are obtained. Methods Calcined rib and diaphyseal fragments and PP from ten cremation deposits are sampled for strontium isotope analysis, whereby our improved sampling strategy is applied to sample the inner cortex of the otic capsule. This allows inter‐ and intraskeletal 87Sr/86Sr comparison within an Iron Age collection from Oss, The Netherlands. Results Forty percent (4/10) of the calcined PP that were evaluated for this study show marked differences in 87Sr/86Sr (0.00035–0.00065) between the inner cortex and the bone sample surrounding this layer, the external cortex that has higher remodelling rates. Differences in 87Sr/86Sr between various skeletal elements also aided in the identification of the minimum number of individuals. Conclusions Our study demonstrates the problematic nature of the external cortex and stresses the need for a precise sampling method of the correct areas of the otic capsule. This can only be obtained by cutting the calcined PP midmodiolarly to enable adequate combustion degree assessment, and the correct identification and sampling of the inner cortex of the otic capsule.

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The adoption of a new funerary ritual with all its social and cognitive meanings is of great importance to understanding social transformations of past societies. The first known occurrence of cremation in the territory corresponding to modern Belgium dates back to the Mesolithic period. From the end of the Neolithic onward, the practice of cremation was characterized by periods in which this rite was predominant and periods of contractions, defined by a decrease in the use of this funerary ritual. This paper aims to quantify such phenomenon for the first time by modeling discontinuities in burial practices through kernel density analysis of 1428 radiocarbon (14C) dates from 311 archaeological sites located in Belgium from the Mesolithic to the Middle Ages. Despite possible taphonomic and sampling biases, the results highlight the existence of periods with a large uptake of cremation rite followed by periods of contractions; such discontinuities took place in correlation with changes in the socio-economical structure of local communities, as, for example, during the later Middle Bronze Age and at the end of the Roman Period.

Rickets is caused by vitamin D deficiency as a result of limited exposure to sunlight and inadequate diet. In the 19th century, rickets was endemic in most northern European cities. In post‐Medieval Netherlands, rickets is documented in low frequencies in a few urban samples, but has not been studied in contemporaneous rural populations. Beemster is a rural farming community in the Netherlands that was established in the 17th century upon drained land, with the Middenbeemster cemetery in use until 1866 AD. Ninety‐five individuals from the ages of 32 weeks in utero to 15 years were examined for rickets in order to understand factors that can cause vitamin D deficiency in rural, non‐industrialized populations. To identify rickets in the Beemster sample, ten features were scored, with bending deformities of the lower limb and one other feature, or at least three non‐bending features, having to be present in order for diagnosis. Nine individuals (9.5%) had evidence of rickets—a high prevalence, especially for a rural community where ample sunlight was available. The two and three year old Beemster infants were most heavily affected with an age‐specific prevalence of 30.4%. Two three‐month‐old infants also had rickets. Some of the affected may have developed rickets secondarily, as a result of a different illness, but cultural practices including prolonged swaddling, occlusive clothing, and keeping the young indoors, are suggested to have contributed to this high rickets prevalence. Dietary variables including poor weaning foods and common episodes of malnutrition may have also contributed to vitamin D deficiency. This study demonstrates the value of careful analysis of pathological conditions in subadults and highlights that rickets was not only a disease of cities, but affected populations that would appear to have been at low risk, because of maladaptive cultural practices. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.