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I'm a PhD student researching the role of the archaeological dead in contemporary British society. Think of this as a scrapbook of all the interesting links, snippets of information and random bits and bobs I come across pertaining to death, dying and the dead. Enjoy?!

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    Battered Skulls Reveal Violence Among Stone Age Women

    Stone Age farmers lived through routine violence, and women weren’t spared from its toll, a new study finds.

    The analysis discovered that up to 1 in 6 skulls exhumed in Scandinavia from the late Stone Age — between about 6,000 and 3,700 years ago — had nasty head injuries. And contrary to findings from mass gravesites of the period, women were equally likely to be victims of deadly blows, according to the study published in the February issue of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.

    nationalpost: Wounds from the battlefield: What Richard III’s remains revealed about war-scarred kingFor centuries, the location of King Richard III’s body has been unknown. Records say he was buried by the Franciscan monks of Grey Friars at their church in Leicester, 160 kilometres north of London. The church was closed and dismantled after King Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in 1538, and its location eventually was forgotten.Then, last September, archaeologists searching for Richard dug up the skeleton of an adult male who appeared to have died in battle.Bone specialist Jo Appleby said the 10 injuries to the body were inflicted by weapons like swords, daggers and halberds and were consistent with accounts of Richard being struck down in battle — his helmet knocked from his head — before his body was stripped naked and flung over the back of a horse in disgrace.She said some scars, including a knife wound to the buttock, bore the hallmarks of “humiliation injuries” inflicted after death.

    nationalpost:

    Wounds from the battlefield: What Richard III’s remains revealed about war-scarred king
    For centuries, the location of King Richard III’s body has been unknown. Records say he was buried by the Franciscan monks of Grey Friars at their church in Leicester, 160 kilometres north of London. The church was closed and dismantled after King Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in 1538, and its location eventually was forgotten.

    Then, last September, archaeologists searching for Richard dug up the skeleton of an adult male who appeared to have died in battle.

    Bone specialist Jo Appleby said the 10 injuries to the body were inflicted by weapons like swords, daggers and halberds and were consistent with accounts of Richard being struck down in battle — his helmet knocked from his head — before his body was stripped naked and flung over the back of a horse in disgrace.

    She said some scars, including a knife wound to the buttock, bore the hallmarks of “humiliation injuries” inflicted after death.

    (via ladykrampus)

    Reading Bones to Identify Genocide Victims

    forensicanth:

    Rachel Nuwer, has written about the practical use of skeletal material in identifying genocide victims. The piece was published on The New York Times’ At War blog.

    The article describes some of the work of Dr Eric Stover, director of the Human Rights Centre at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr Stover has worked in Guatemala, Iraq, Rwanda and other locations in the wake of suspected genocide.

    The author can be followed on Twitter @RacheNuwer or RachelNuwer.com.

    (Source: )

    How Skulls Speak New 3-D software is helping scientists identify the sex and ancestral origins of human remains with greater speed and precision Like the detectives on the CBS drama Cold Case, anthropologist Ann H. Ross of North Carolina State University spends many of her days thinking about unsolved crimes. Her most recent work has aimed at developing software that helps forensic scientists determine the sex and ancestry of modern ­human skulls. Typically forensic scientists measure remains with sliding rulers called calipers. Doing so results in two-dimensional measurements. Ross’s software, called 3D-ID and developed with a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, relies on three-dimensional measurements that scientists take with a digitizer—a computer and stylus. “The stylus allows you to place the coordinates in real space, so you get a better idea of the actual biological form of whatever you’re measuring,” Ross says.  In a paper published earlier this year Ross and her colleagues found that women’s skulls had grown closer in size to male skulls since the 16th century in a Spanish sample—a finding that likely translates to other population groups. Unlike older forensic software, 3D-ID lets scientists remove the size component in their analysis and look only at shape for a more accurate reading. The photographs at the right show some of the features that 3D-ID uses to determine if a skull belongs to a man or a woman. Nuchal CrestThis area, where the muscles from the back of the neck attach to the base of the skull, is smooth and rounded in women. Because males have thicker neck muscles than females—and are generally more muscle-marked—this area is more prominent. It is typically rugged and has a hook. JawA female jaw is often smaller than a man’s and is either pointed or rounded. Males typically have a broad, square jaw. ForeheadWomen’s foreheads are more vertical than men’s, which gives them a childlike appearance, Ross says. Men tend to have sloping foreheads. Brow An area called the supraorbital margin, which is just above the eye and roughly follows the brow line, is thin and pointy in women. “If you place your thumb below the outer edge of a woman’s eyebrow, you’ll feel that it’s sharp,” Ross says. Women also have either a small or nonexistent brow ridge. Men, in contrast, have a rounded supraorbital margin, and their brow ridge is more pronounced than women’s. Great stuff via Scientific American!

    How Skulls Speak

    New 3-D software is helping scientists identify the sex and ancestral origins of human remains with greater speed and precision

    Like the detectives on the CBS drama Cold Case, anthropologist Ann H. Ross of North Carolina State University spends many of her days thinking about unsolved crimes. Her most recent work has aimed at developing software that helps forensic scientists determine the sex and ancestry of modern ­human skulls.

    Typically forensic scientists measure remains with sliding rulers called calipers. Doing so results in two-dimensional measurements. Ross’s software, called 3D-ID and developed with a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, relies on three-dimensional measurements that scientists take with a digitizer—a computer and stylus. “The stylus allows you to place the coordinates in real space, so you get a better idea of the actual biological form of whatever you’re measuring,” Ross says. 

    In a paper published earlier this year Ross and her colleagues found that women’s skulls had grown closer in size to male skulls since the 16th century in a Spanish sample—a finding that likely translates to other population groups. Unlike older forensic software, 3D-ID lets scientists remove the size component in their analysis and look only at shape for a more accurate reading. The photographs at the right show some of the features that 3D-ID uses to determine if a skull belongs to a man or a woman.

    Nuchal Crest
    This area, where the muscles from the back of the neck attach to the base of the skull, is smooth and rounded in women. Because males have thicker neck muscles than females—and are generally more muscle-marked—this area is more prominent. It is typically rugged and has a hook.

    Jaw
    A female jaw is often smaller than a man’s and is either pointed or rounded. Males typically have a broad, square jaw.

    Forehead
    Women’s foreheads are more vertical than men’s, which gives them a childlike appearance, Ross says. Men tend to have sloping foreheads.

    Brow 
    An area called the supraorbital margin, which is just above the eye and roughly follows the brow line, is thin and pointy in women. “If you place your thumb below the outer edge of a woman’s eyebrow, you’ll feel that it’s sharp,” Ross says. Women also have either a small or nonexistent brow ridge. Men, in contrast, have a rounded supraorbital margin, and their brow ridge is more pronounced than women’s.

    Great stuff via Scientific American!

    Britsh Association for Bioarchaeology and Osteoarchaeology (BABAO)

    This association aims to draw together all areas of analysis of human remains and the study of human bioarchaeology. It is aimed at all individuals, at any level and membership is warmly welcomed from private individuals as well as those in units, universities, museums, and local societies.

    For more info, click here…