Interpreting mortuary treatment from histological bone diagenesis: A case study from Neolithic Çatalhöyük

Abstract

This study examines the evidence for differential mortuary practices at the Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük, in Anatolia, Turkey, using the histological examination of bacterial microbioerosion in archaeological human bone. In order to analyse bacterial microbioerosion, thin sections were prepared from the midshaft of thoracic ribs 6–8, of n = 162 individuals (adults and juveniles) and analysed using qualitative analysis of microscopic focal destructive changes with polarized light microscopy. The extent of destructive change was assessed, and the degree of preservation was examined using the Oxford Histological Index. Individual, in situ interment was assessed using burial and skeletal data. Results show no differences in histological bacterial microbioerosion between male and female burials, but histological preservation was seen to differ between juveniles and adults, findings that are interpreted as the result of differential mortuary practices at the time of death. The challenges and potential of examining recurring taphonomic signatures in bone histology and their relationship to differential burial practices are discussed.

Histotaphonomic analysis of bone bioerosion reveals a regional framework of diverse deathways in the Neolithic of Southeast Italy

“…Arrested bacterial bioerosion (OHI scores 3–4) was mostly observed on the disarticulated bones from Grotta Scaloria, alongside several samples from disarticulated, articulated and semi-articulated remains from Masseria Candelaro. Arrested bacterial bioerosion has previously been encountered on partially articulated skeletal remains [ 54 ], disarticulated bones from disturbed burials in chamber tombs [ 43 ] and disturbed primary burials [ 57 ]. In these studies, however, scores of 3 (indicating 51–85% of bone free of bacterial bioerosion) were rare or absent, whereas they were encountered regularly in the Grotta Scaloria and Masseria Candelaro remains.…”

“…Primary burial, in which the dead body progresses through full decomposition in a grave or other feature surrounded by soil, is expected to result in extensive bacterial bioerosion, and this is commonly observed in bones from articulated skeletons that were probably buried whole and intact soon after death [ 14 , 39 , 40 ]. Diverse post-mortem treatments such as coffin burial, excarnation, defleshing, and disarticulation may lead to absent or partial bacterial bioerosion, related to the ecology of the depositional environment, perhaps also in tandem with the location of the body during the decomposition process [ 55 – 57 ].…”

“…Prehistoric funerary practices have recently been the focus of a large number of histotaphonomic studies, from contexts as wide-ranging as disturbed primary burials and secondary depositions at Neolithic Çatalhöyük [ 44 , 57 ], Neolithic megalithic burials in southwest Sweden [ 58 ], Neolithic primary burials and Mycenaean and Minoan collective tombs in the Aegean [ 43 , 56 ], and burials and disarticulated bones from Bronze and Iron Age contexts in Britain [ 47 , 54 , 59 ]. Until now, histotaphonomic analysis has not been applied to prehistoric skeletal remains from Italy.…”

Histological and stable isotope analysis of archeological bones from St. Rombout's cemetery (Mechelen, Belgium): Intrasite, intraindividual, and intrabone variability

“…Modifications in bone microstructure can be also strongly influenced by other factors such as funerary practices (Bell, 2012; Kontopoulos et al, 2016; Turner‐Walker, 2008). It was not until recently that researchers attempted to link bone histology to funerary treatment (Booth, 2016; Booth & Madgwick, 2016; Brönnimann et al, 2018; Goren et al, 2020; Hollund et al, 2018; Kontopoulos et al, 2016; Kontopoulos, Penkman, Liritzis, & Collins, 2019; Machová et al, 2020; Papakonstantinou et al, 2020; Smith et al, 2016), as early taphonomic history and its effects on bone histology are often not distinguishable from post‐burial diagenesis due to lack of relevant information.…”

Examination of human osteoarchaeological remains as a feasible source of polar and apolar metabolites to study past conditions

“…To help close the gap between archaeological science studies of HSR and metabolomics, here we propose to undertake the first untargeted study to evaluate the potential of HSR as a source of human biological metabolites. It is important to highlight that this research only considers HSR that have been buried and not impacted by any thermal 58 or anthropogenic preservation processes [59][60][61] . To achieve the integration of metabolomics with HSR, we present a detailed micro-sampling method and a robust liquid-solid extraction method to recover aqueous polar and less-polar/apolar metabolites to be utilized in metabolomic studies using UHPLC-HRMS systems.…”