Approaches to Commingling Issues in Archeological Samples: A Case Study from Roman Era Tombs in Greece

Ubelaker, Douglas H.; Rife, Joseph L.

doi:10.1007/978-1-59745-316-5_6

Cited by 12 publications

(13 citation statements)

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“…In Tomb 10 they dug into the fills in the loculi and disturbed most skeletons. This activity caused the fragmentation and commingling of elements from separate skeletons within loculi (Figures 5 and 6), but to a lesser degree than in other tombs on Koutsongila such as Tomb 14 (Ubelaker & Rife, 2008, 105–121). Such rapid, often random activity displaced a few fragments to the chamber floor, but it did not move bones and teeth from one loculus into another.…”

Section: The Evidence From Tomb 10mentioning

confidence: 94%

“…The tombs on Koutsongila fell out of use during the 3rd or 4th century for unknown reasons, perhaps related to natural catastrophe or changes in local demographic, social or economic conditions. There is scattered evidence for the re‐use of certain chambers for Christian burial during roughly the 5th–6th or 7th centuries, at which point the old space was consecrated and bodies were added to new cists or to pre‐existing loculi (Rife et al ., 2007, 163; Ubelaker & Rife, 2008, 101, 104, 119). However, during this era, most residents buried their dead either in large multiple burials around church complexes at the port, or in cists cut into the bedrock of Koutsongila to the west or south of the defunct Early Roman chambers.…”

Section: Roman Kenchreai and The Cemetery On The Koutsongila Ridgementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since 2005, the authors have collaborated on the analysis of human skeletal remains recovered by KCP from a major cemetery on the northeastern periphery of the ancient settlement. Our previous studies have addressed the practice of cremation as reconstructed from archaeological and forensic evidence (Ubelaker & Rife, 2007) and issues of commingling within burial contexts (Ubelaker & Rife, 2008). This article discusses one exceptional tomb at Kenchreai, Tomb 10, which provides rich evidence for mortuary practice.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Skeletal analysis and mortuary practice in an Early Roman chamber tomb at Kenchreai, Greece

Ubelaker

Rife

2011

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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Recent exploration of the site of Kenchreai, the eastern port of Corinth in southern Greece, has focussed on a cemetery of subterranean chamber tombs dating chiefly to the Early Roman period (middle-late 1st to 3rd centuries AD). The copious but fragmentary human bones and teeth found in Tomb 10 have been disturbed since burial by natural processes, including bedrock erosion and the infiltration of moisture, roots and basic sediment, and by destructive looters. Nonetheless, the remains furnish considerable information about the mortuary practices of wealthy residents. Analysis of the remains in their archaeological and taphonomic contexts reveals that Tomb 10 contained at least 23 individuals, 15 inhumed in loculi and 8 cremated and placed in niches, sometimes in urns. The identification of males, females and subadults among the burned and unburned bones and teeth suggests that spouses, parents and children probably from several generations of the same lineage or household were buried here. The nature of the cremated fragments reflects a laborious process during which mourners burned bodies on substantial pyres at extremely high temperatures for a long time. Then they carefully extracted a representative sample of small fragments from throughout the reduced skeleton for burial at the tomb. This study contributes to a better understanding of mortuary practices in the Roman East, particularly the Greek world, where the chamber tomb was a common sepulchral type.

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Section: The Evidence From Tomb 10mentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Roman Kenchreai and The Cemetery On The Koutsongila Ridgementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Skeletal analysis and mortuary practice in an Early Roman chamber tomb at Kenchreai, Greece

Ubelaker

Rife

2011

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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“…In respect to the former, this can provide valuable information concerning, among others, paleodemographic profiles and local mortuary behaviors (Ubelaker and Rife, 2008). On the other hand, in a forensic context, the estimation of the number of individuals is essential for identification purposes, especially in cases of mass disasters (Adams and Konigsberg, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simple algorithms for the estimation of the initial number of individuals in commingled skeletal remains

Nikita

Lahr

2011

Am. J. Phys. Anthropol.

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The determination of the number of individuals represented within commingled remains is based on two types of estimators, those assessing the minimum number of individuals and those assessing the most likely number of individuals. Much as the latter produce improved results, they still exhibit significant drawbacks, which are related to the misidentification of the number of pairs between the existing bilateral elements. This article addresses these problems through the use of two computer algorithms. One algorithm produces a number of potential pairs between bilateral elements and the other estimates the number of individuals in a commingled sample by incorporating the percentages of lost and altered bones into the analysis. These algorithms were validated using hypothetical and actual skeletal samples, and are more effective in comparison to any conventional estimators, particularly in cases, where the elements are poorly preserved.

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“…Understanding the nature of fragmentary, commingled or disarticulated remains can be problematic, as they may represent a number of different phenomena. They could be evidence of a disturbed primary burial, secondary deposits, or they may result from multiple‐phase funerary treatment (Ubelaker and Rife 2008). Identifying secondary contexts with certainty is even more difficult as they could result from natural taphonomic processes, such as fluvial, animal or micro‐environmental movement (Carlson and Steele 1992; Duday 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Evidence for Iron Age Burial and Propitiation Practices in Southern Britain

Tracey

2012

Oxford J Archaeology

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Summary It has been 30 years since the first scheme that categorized fragmentary Iron Age human remains in southern Britain (Wilson 1981), and nearly 20 years since Cunliffe's paper ‘Pits, Preconceptions and Propitiation’ was published (Cunliffe 1992). This study integrates the osteological, forensic and field evidence to identify archaeological signatures from three interrelated areas. The results show different depositional trends for five sites in Hampshire, and that the hillforts studied – Danebury (Hampshire) and Maiden Castle (Dorset) – demonstrate yet another pattern. Three main depositional practices were observed; intentional exposure, propitiatory deposits, and intentional practices, in which the body was kept whole in death, ran in parallel with each another.

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Approaches to Commingling Issues in Archeological Samples: A Case Study from Roman Era Tombs in Greece

Cited by 12 publications

References 1 publication

Skeletal analysis and mortuary practice in an Early Roman chamber tomb at Kenchreai, Greece

Skeletal analysis and mortuary practice in an Early Roman chamber tomb at Kenchreai, Greece

Simple algorithms for the estimation of the initial number of individuals in commingled skeletal remains

New Evidence for Iron Age Burial and Propitiation Practices in Southern Britain

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