A Multi-Method Approach to Re-associating Fragmented and Commingled Human Remains

Abstract

The fragmentation and commingling of ancient human remains, particularly those from disturbed contexts, poses great difficulties to the applicability of bioarcheological and forensic anthropological methods. Depending on the extent of fragmentation, human remains from disturbed contexts are often approached similarly to faunal assemblages. Anderson (1964), for example, states that fragmented and commingled human remains are typically analysed as sets of skeletal elements and not as groups of elements representing an individual, limiting the research that can be done with them (as cited by Glencross, 2014). As a part of the Baikal Archaeology Project, this thesis seeks to extend and develop existing bioarchaeological, forensic anthropological, and zooarchaeological methods to identify discrete individuals from the destroyed remains from the Early Neolithic cemetery Moty-Novaia Shamanka, situated in the Cis-Baikal region of Siberia, Russia. It asks, how can we further develop and apply existing methods to salvage information from highly disturbed and fragmented human remains in order to better understand the context of MNS and reconstruct the individuality of those interred within it? By testing initial hypotheses generated from qualitative pair matches with osteometric and spatial data, this thesis argues that individualization is possible beyond estimates of a minimum number of individuals, even in cases of high levels of fragmentation such as Moty-Novaia Shamanka. The methodological approach of this thesis challenges our perception of the informative value of fragmented and commingled human remains and provides an example of how other studies could approach individualization in situations where most context has been lost. Through this approach I was able to identify five discrete individuals from 1245 human bone fragments and make eight associations of multiple fragments form the same individual. Together, these groupings represented at least seven people. Throughout this process 16.23% of fragments were able to refit into 74 conjoins of two or more pieces. These results contribute to the greater understanding of hunter-gatherers in the Cis-Baikal region during the Middle Holocene by salvaging information from Moty-Novaia Shamanka, a site that has not yet been studied and could potentially contribute to key questions surrounding the culture history of the region.