Scherer visit

Bones for Halloween! We're talking about human osteology on Monday. Andrew Scherer will be giving us a basic overview and presenting some of his own work, which focuses on the Maya. He's given us an article to read that is very technical but also very full of interesting stuff. That it is difficult gives you more scope for asking questions! Post 'em here before Monday class. The article is on the Readings page.

Posted at Oct 29/2011 01:25PM:
Brian Smith: Given that parasites seem to increase the rates of porotic hyperostosis, how significantly do you think that they affected your results? Is it possible to undertake further studies to determine what sociopolitical issues are responsible for the dietary changes during the Chacalhaaz phase? Will further studies of the "prestige foods" be undertaken to supplement this project?

Posted at Oct 29/2011 07:32PM:
Connor Hilton: Is it possible to use these methods for animals? Are any tests run to see what animals ate - such as if they also ate primarily maze?

Posted at Oct 30/2011 12:17AM:
Tanya Olson:1) If some of the marine sources had fish that were sources of porotic hyperostosis, wouldn't the bodies of people from marine places such as the Belizean sites also show high levels of porotic hyperostosis?2) Why did the elites of some sites have more maize-based diets, while the elites of other sites had relatively the same diets as the commoners? Was there no diet specifically for the "wealthy," i.e., some foods were not seen as more luxurious than others?

Laurel Mattos: While many of the hypothesis seem well supported solely with osteological evidence, it seems that others are mor assumptions. Do you believe it is hard to explore possible confounding variables that might produce the same results when only looking at bones as evidence? Similarily, what disciplines do you most often rely upon to give supporting evidence to theories developed from bones?

Ann Ford: You mention in your article that the sample size was small, precluding analysis of some questions. Are research questions ever affected by sample size, or does it frame the project before beginning? Can osteology still answer the same questions on skeletons today that it could for an ancient skeleton? Has our modern-day lifestyle homogenized our skeletons (i.e. through most people working on computers regardless of occupation and having a wide range of food available)?

Posted at Oct 30/2011 06:15PM:
Donald Bennett: What were your expectation going into this research? Do you think a larger sample size would lead to evidence that shows differences in diet based on status? What other methods can be used to examine diet of ancient people?

Posted at Oct 30/2011 07:05PM:
David Storch: 1) Are there quantitative laboratory methods other than isotope ratio analysis that could be applied to a study of this kind, or does direct inspection of skeletal material by an expert remain the best tool? 2) What methods are used to assess the degree of bias caused by differential preservation? 3) How do bioarchaeologists attempt to control contamination or damage to specimens after they are removed from their primary context?

Posted at Oct 30/2011 08:39PM:
julia carrellas: Because dental caries accumulate with age, and only adults are used, what is the average age? What is the youngest age that has been studied?

Posted at Oct 30/2011 09:41PM:
Andrew Waters: What types of further data could help explain Chacalhaaz phase dietary changes? How was Zooarchaeological data gathered for the site? What is the Pee Dee Belemnite that δ13C was calibrated to?

Posted at Oct 31/2011 12:40PM:
Siri Olson: You say that more paleoecological data is needed to understand the changes. What do you propose? If bones are needed to collect more data, how will you face the problem the scarcity of bone samples and limited availability? Is there more data you can extract from the bones and teeth you already have?

{NKeeling}: Did changes in diet appear to change aspects of social and family life in these civilizations?

Joe Mello: is this project in a stagnant state because of the difficulty to find test subjects? Or are you actively pursuing a greater sample size?

Jordan Murphy: What problems do you usually encounter with preserving ancient organic remains?

Harry Caulfield: What types of research have you done other than this dietary testing, or are diets your specialty?

Kate Logue: You mention several times that “sample sizes are too small to permit statistical testing,” how big of a sample would you need in order to do statistical testing? How does the information you can get out of a study change based on the sample size (say one individual vs. a dozen vs. a hundred and etc.)? How does the sample size change your approach to the individual bones?

Ned Horton: How do patterns of porotic hyperostosis at Piedras Negras compare with those at other places with high-carbohydrate diets, perhaps on another continent such as Western Europe or Asia?

Adam Bouché: What kind of experts were used to evaluate this site? (ex. Molecular Biologists) Did you yourself study biology during your archaeological training?

Alex Salter: In documenting dental caries, how do you determine whether tooth loss or damage was acquired antemortem or postmortem?