Ancient Australia, ABC report

"Aboriginal people are thought to have inhabited the Australian continent for around 45,000 years before European contact, and are frequently cited as the oldest continuous living culture on Earth.

However, written records of their lives exist only since European contact. Many historians and archaeologists assumed that the culture and traditions of Aboriginal people had altered little over time, and that these written records were an accurate window into the lives of the ancestors of today's Aborigines.

But some archaeologists argue that this is not necessarily the case."

Fran Molloy, 2008 - for the rest of the article go to: ABC Science Report

New online journal

There is a new, and free, online journal for archaeology. Past Horizons - Online Journal of Volunteer Archaeology and Training. If you use the link to the journal issue at the top of the page it will take you to a digipage view:



While this view looks pretty, it is very difficult to read, and the zoom function is limited. The alternatives are to print it off or to scroll right down to the bottom of the main page and choose the Scribd view. This will lead to a new page where you can download a pdf of the journal. But warning, it is a very large download if you choose to do this.

Neanderthals wiped out by the aftermath of cannibalism?

Well... it's an interesting proposal suggested by S. Underdown:

Underdown, S., (in press, corrected proof). "A potential role for Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies in Neanderthal extinction". Medical Hypotheses. (2008), doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2007.12.014

For those without access to Medical Hypotheses, there is an article on Underdown's work on Discovery News. You'll note the choice of picture used to depict Neanderthals by Discovery takes us back to the 1970s and earlier views that they were hairy naked ape-men.

To summarise the article, Underdown develops a "Kuru Model" of population depletion taken from the Fore of Papua New Guinea as a direct analogy and applies the model to the Neanderthals.

This hypothesis suggests a possible role of cannibalistically contracted Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies as a causal factor in the process of Neanderthal extinction:

1. The Neanderthals are known to have engaged in cannibalistic practices. Although not a universal practice, the transmission of TSEs need not have been reliant upon consumption of TSE infectedtissues and the route of transmission could have been related to the shared use of infected stone tools during butchery activities. Regardless of the cause behind such behaviour, perhaps ritualistic or ecologically enforced through resource depletion, this practice would have heightened the risk of contraction of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs).
2. Once established within the population TSEs could have played a major role in the eventual extinction of the species through demographic depletion.
3. Ultimately Neanderthal extinction could have been heavily influenced by a cultural trait that introduced a lethal disease, which in turn could have amplified the impact of environmental change or inter-species competition with newly dispersing Homo sapiens populations.

(Underdown, (in press) 2008:2)

Note that the evidence used to support the claim for cannibalism is limited, and it is highly disputed over whether or not cannibalism can be determined in the archaeological record, and if so, how it can be determined. Even if cannibalism did play a role in the lives of Neanderthals, the leap to a "Kuru Model" of population depletion, with no evidence supporting the existence of the disease in Neanderthal populations, is purely speculative.

Taphonomy resources

Well, I shouldn't be too surprised, but finding decent web links for Taphonomy hasn't been easy - there really aren't many.

Wikipedia has a reasonable definition
The Journal of Taphonomy is here
and Taphonomy.com has some good references

So the curious will just have to go and read some source material. This is by no means a complete list of references, but I'm sure it's long enough to keep you busy for a while.

Behrensmeyer, AK 1978 “Taphonomic and ecological information from bone weathering”. Paleobiology 4(4):150-162

Behrensmeyer, AK and SM Kidwell 1995 “Taphonomy's contributions to paleobiology”. Paleobiology 11(1):105-119

Bickart, KJ 1984 “A field experiment in avian taphonomy”. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 4:525-535

Briggs, DEG 2001 “Exceptionally preserved fossils”. In: DEG Briggs and PR Crowther (eds), Palaeobiology II, Blackwell Science, London, pp 328-332

Denys, C 2002 “Taphonomy and Experimentation”. Archaeometry. 44(3):469-484

Dirkmaat, DC and JM Advosasio 1996 “Application of Archaeological Methods to Forensic Investigations”. In: WD Haglund and MH Sorg (eds), Forensic Taphonomy: The Postmortem Fate of Human Remains, CRC Press, New York, NY, pp 39-64

Efremov, JA 1940 “Taphonomy: New Branch of Paleontology”. Pan-American Geologist 74(2):81-93

Farlow, JO and A Argast 2006 “Preservation of fossil bone from the Pipe Creek sinkhole (Late Neogene, Grant County, Indiana, U.S.A.)”. Journal of Paleont. Soc. Korea 22 (1): 51-75

Garland, AN 1987 “A histological study of archaeological bone decomposition”. In: A Boddington, AN Garland and RC Janaway (eds), Death, decay and reconstruction: Approaches to Archaeology and Forensic Science, Manchester University Press, pp 109-126

Gordon, CC and JE Buikstra 1981 “Soil pH, bone preservation, and sampling bias at mortuary sites”. American Antiquity 46(3):566-571

Haglund, WD 1991 Applications of taphonomic models to forensic investigations. PhD Thesis

Haglund, WD and MH Sorg 1996 “Introduction to Forensic Taphonomy”. In: WD Haglund and MH Sorg (eds), Forensic Taphonomy: The Postmortem fate of Human Remains. CRC Press, New York, NY, pp 1-9

Haglund, WD and MH Sorg 1996 “Method and Theory of Forensic Taphonomic Research” . In: WD Haglund and MH Sorg (eds), Forensic Taphonomy: The Postmortem Fate of Human Remains. CRC Press, New York, NY, pp 13-26

Haglund, WD and MH Sorg 2002 Advances in Forensic Taphonomy: method, theory and archaeological perspectives. Boca Raton, CRC Press.

Haynes, G 1983 “A guide for differentiating mammalian carnivore taxa responsible for gnaw damage to herbivore limb bones”. Paleobiology 9(2):164-172

Hill, A 1979 “Butchery and natural disarticulation: An investigatory technique”. American Antiquity 44(4):739-744,

Hill, A and AK Behrensmeyer 1984 “Disarticulation patterns of some modern East African mammals”. Paleobiology 10(3):366-376

Hochrein, MJ 2002 “An Autopsy of the Grave: Recognizing, Collecting and Preserving Forensic Geotaphonomic Evidence”. In: WD Haglund and MH Sorg (eds), Advances in Forensic Taphonomy: Method, Theory and Archaeological Perspectives. Boca Raton: CRC Press, pp 45-70

Iannidou, E 2003 “Taphonomy of Animal Bones: Species, Sex, Age and Breed Variability of Sheep, Cattle and Pig Bone Density”. Journal of Archaeological Science 30:355-365

Jans, MME, CM Nielsen-Marsh, CI Smit, MJ Collins and H Kars 2004 “Characterisation of microbial attack on archaeological bone”. Journal of Archaeological Science 31:87-95

Lambert, PM 2002 “The Archaeology of War: A North American Perspective”. Journal of Archaeological Research 10(3):207-241

Larsen, CS., MC Griffin, DL Hutchinson, BE Noble, L Norr, RF Pastor, CB Ruff, KF Russell, MJ Schoeninger, M Schultz, SW Simpson and MF Teaford 2001 “Frontiers of contact: Bioarchaeology of Spanish Florida”. Journal of World Prehistory 15(1):69-123

Littleton, J 2000 “Taphonomic effects of erosion of deliberately buried bodies”. Journal of Archaeological Science 27:5-18

Lyman, RL 1984 “Bone Density and Differential Survivorship of Fossil Classes”. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 3:259-299

Lyman, RL 1994 Vertebrate Taphonomy. Cambridge University Press

Lyman, RL 2002 “Taphonomic agents and taphonomic signatures”. American Antiquity 67(2):361-365

MacGregor, DM, WB Wood and DJ Brecknell 1996 “Soil accumulation of by-products of tissue decomposition and time since death”. Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences 28:67-71

Milner, GR and VG Smith 1989 “Carnivore alteration of human bone from a late prehistoric site in Illinois”. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 79:43-49

Morton, RJ and WD Lord 2002 “Detection and Recovery of Abducted and Murdered Children: Behavioral and Taphonomic Influences”. In: WD Haglund and MH Sorg (eds), Advances in Forensic Taphonomy: Method, Theory and Archaeological Perspectives. Boca Raton: CRC Press, pp 151-171

Morton, RJ and WD Lord 2006 “Taphonomy of child-sized remains: A study of scattering and scavenging in Virginia, USA”. Journal of Forensic Science 51(3):475-479

Munsen, PJ and RC Garniewicz 2003 “Age-mediated survivorship of ungulate mandibles and teeth in canid-ravaged faunal assemblages”. Journal of Archaeological Science 30:405-416

Nelson, AJ 1998 “Wandering Bones: Archaeology, Forensic Science and Moche Burial Practices”. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 8:192-212

Nicholson, RA 1998 “Bone degradation in a compost heap”. Journal of Archaeological Science 25:393-403

Payne, JA 1965 “A summer carrion study of the baby pig Sus Scrofa Linnaeus”. Ecology 46(5)592-602

Reichs, KJ (ed) 1998 Forensic Osteology: Advances in the Identification of Human Remains (2nd ed.), Charles C. Thomas: Springfield, IL

Roksandic, M 2002 “Positon of skeletal remains as a key to understanding mortuary behaviour”. In: WD Haglund and MH Sorg (eds), Advances in Forensic Taphonomy: Method, Theory and Archaeologica Perspectivesl,Boca Raton: CRC Press, pp 99-117

Saul, JM and FP Saul 2002 “Forensics, Archaeology, and Taphonomy: The Symbiotic Relationship”. In: WD Haglund and MH Sorg (eds), Advances in Forensic Taphonomy: Method, Theory and Archaeologica Perspectivesl, Boca Raton: CRC Press, pp 71-97

Schmitt, S 2002 “Mass Graves and the Collection of Forensic Evidence: Genocide, War Crimes, and Crimes against Humanity”. In: WD Haglund and MH Sorg (eds), Advances in Forensic Taphonomy: Method, Theory and Archaeological Perspectives, Boca Raton: CRC Press, pp 277-292

Scott, DD and M Connor 1996 “Context Delecti: Archaeological Context in Forensic Work”. In: WD Haglund and MH Sorg (eds), Forensic Taphonomy: The Postmortem Fate of Human Remains. CRC Press, New York, NY, pp 39-64

Shipman, P, G Foster and M Schoeninger 1984 “Burnt Bones and Teeth: an Experimental Study of Color, Morphology, Crystal Structure and Shrinkage”. Journal of Archaeological Science 11:307-325

Sledzik, PS 1998 “Forensic Taphonomy: Postmortem Decomposition and Decay”. In: K Reichs (ed.), Forensic Osteology: Advances in the Identification of Human Remains. 2nd Edition, Charles C. Thomas: Springfield, IL, pp 109-119

Soares, MB 2003 “A taphonomic model for the Mesosauridae assemblage of the Irati Formation (Paran Basin, Brazil)”. Geologica Acta 1(4):349-361

Stojanowski, CM, RM Seidermann and GH Doran 2002 “Differential skeletal preservation at Windover Pond: Causes and consequences”. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 119:15-26

Symes, SA, JA Williams, EA Murray, JM Hoffman, TD Holland, JM Saul, FP Saul and EJ Pope 2002 “Taphonomic Context of Sharp-Force Trauma in Suspected Cases of Human Mutilation and Dismemberment” In: WD Haglund and MH Sorg (eds), Advances in Forensic Taphonomy: Method, Theory and Archaeological Perspectives, Boca Raton: CRC Press, pp 403-434

Tersigni, MA 2007 “Frozen human bone; A microscopic investigation”. Journal of Forensic Science 52(1):16-20

Toots, H 1965 “Sequence of disarticulation in mammalian skeletons”. University of Wyoming Contributions to Geology 4:37-39

Turner, CG II, JA Turner and RC Green 1993 “Taphonomic analysis of Anasazi skeletal remains from Largo-Gallina sites in northwestern New Mexico”. Journal of Anthropological Research 49(2):83-110

Ubelaker, DH 2002 “Approaches to the Study of Commingling in Human Skeletal Biology”. In: WD Haglund and MH Sorg (eds), Advances in Forensic Taphonomy: Method, Theory and Archaeological Perspective, Boca Raton: CRC Press, pp 331-351

Villa, P, and E Mahieu 1991 “Breakage patterns of human long bones”. Journal of Human Evolution 21:27-48

Waldron, T 1987 “The relative survival of the human skeleton: implications for palaeopathology”. In: A Boddington, AN Garland and RC Janaway (eds), Death, decay and reconstruction: Approaches to Archaeology and Forensic Science. Manchester University Press,pp 55-64

Willey, P., and LM Snyder 1989 “Canid modification of human remains: implications for time-since-death estimations”. Journal of Forensic Sciences 34(4):894-901

Human Origins - Catalyst, 21st Feb 2008

For those of you who missed Catalyst last week (or don't live in Australia) here is the link for the story "Human Origins"


It can also be viewed here for Windows Media or here for Real Player

Topping things off...

This week has been, to make an understatement, pretty amazing. Less than 3 hours after starting my new job I recieved a scholarship offer for my PhD, to start in February. After a rollercoaster last few months and being told I wouldn't be offered a scholarship this year this was a bolt out of the blue.

My research is on taphonomic processes on human tissues and at some point (hopefully on the weekend) I will put some links and references on here.

The Hobbit

For those of you interested in The Hobbit (Homo floresiensis) there is yet another study proposing microcephalic osteodysplastic primordial dwarfism type II.

"In the study, released by the journal Science, an international team of researchers led by Anita Rauch of the Institute of Human Genetics in Erlangen, Germany, examined a number of individuals with a condition known as microcephalic osteodysplastic primordial dwarfism type II — or MOPD II for short. What they found was that a key mutation in chromosome 21 likely led to the condition — a finding that represents a first-of-its-kind genetic explanation for this type of dwarfism."

Some links for The Hobbit online (I make no guarantee regarding the quality of their content):

Hobbit-Like Human Ancestor Found in Asia

Homo floresiensis - Wikipedia

Scientists Scuttle Claims that the "Hobbit" Fossil from Flores, Indonesia, is a New Hominid

Homo floresiensis: the Hobbit

Flores hobbit was sick human: scientists

Homo Floresiensis: the Hobbits of Flores Island

Flores Man - Hobbit (more links from About.com)

Searches for the Hobbit in Journals:

Science/AAAS

Journal of Human Evolution

Journals via Wiley InterScience

Journals via SpringerLink


Some links for MOPD II:

Hall, JG, C Flora, CI Scott Jr, RM Pauli and KI Tanaka (2004) "Majewski Osteodysplastic Primordial Dwarfism Type II (MOPD II): Natural History and Clinical Findings". American Journal of Medical Genetics. 130A:55-72.

PrimordialDwarfism.com

A new era

At least, it will be for me.

Having finally finished my degree I start working next week as a research assistant. I am excited and slightly nervous, and keep thinking "don't stuff this up!"

I know everything will be well, and am really looking forward to putting all the hard slog of the last 10 years (yes, it took me an awfully long time to finish!) into practice.