BACKGROUND Nitrogen isotope analysis of bone collagen has been used to reconstruct the breastfeeding practices of archaeological human populations. However, weaning ages have been estimated subjectively because of a lack of both information on subadult bone collagen turnover rates and appropriate analytical models. METHODOLOGY Temporal changes in human subadult bone collagen turnover rates we...

Gasification of biomass ultimately generates at least one solid byproduct in which the inorganic constituents of the biomass are concentrated. Given the potential for utilization, or issues with disposal, facile methods are needed for determining the compositions of the fly ashes from recently-available gasifier-based bioenergy systems. Proton induced x-ray emission spectroscopy (PIXE) and indu...

OBJECTIVES Recent biomedical research suggests that, in modern human populations, individuals may vary in their inherent tendency toward bone formation at skeletal and extra-skeletal locations. However, the nature of this phenomenon is incompletely understood, and the extent to which it might apply to past populations is unclear. It is hypothesized that if there is inter-individual variation in...

The uptake and accumulation of metals occurs in the kidney, which is a key site for interaction between metal nephrotoxicants. The uptake/accumulation and interaction of CdCl2, HgCl2, K2Cr2O7, and NaAsO2 was examined in precision-cut rabbit renal cortical slices. Slices were incubated with 10(-6) to 10(-3) M of a single metal toxicant or combinations of metal toxicants for 12 hr in DME-F12 medi...

Controlling for body size and composition, the authors examined the association between estrogen therapy and bonemineral density in older African-American andCaucasian women. In 1992–1998, 443 African-American and 989 Caucasian women aged 45–87 years were assessed for medication use, laboratory variables, behavioral characteristics, and bone mineral density. The mean age was 61.3 (95% confidenc...

Bone quality, a contributor to bone strength, is determined by structural and mechanical properties, which may be analyzed by gross and/or microscopic methods. Variables that contribute to bone quality, such as porosity, can provide insight into the health and lifestyles of people in prehistory. This study tests the ability of microcomputed tomography (µCT) to capture and characterize cortical ...

Interpretation of archaeological sites with predominantly freshwater fish and reptile remains has been impeded by lack of documentation of how humans process such vertebrates, of bone modifications resulting from such handling, and of physical characteristics of sites produced by these activities. We report on 19 contemporary foraging camps on the shore of Lake Turkana, Kenya, with the creation...

Prehistoric bone material from Gotland Island situated in the centre of the Baltic Sea (Figure 1) is remarkably well preserved due to the island’s limestone substrate. Archaeological research and excavation has been ongoing on the island since the beginning of last century (Wennersten 1907; Nihlén 1927; Stenberger et al. 1943), and the use of traditional farming methods has spared many prehisto...

From the cultural-geographical perspective, the Qom plain is part of the cultural area of ​​the Central Plateau of Iran. Archaeologically, this region had many contacts with other areas of the Central Plateau such as the plains of Kāshān, Sāveh, Qazvin, and Rey. It also had relations with the synchronous centers in the northeast, northwest, central Zāgros, and Khuzestān plain. This is due to it...

The article presents the results of analysis new data on elemental composition non-ferrous metal products territory certain archaeological sites in Northern and Central Belarus. author distinguishes two main stages metalworking region: X–XIII centuries XIV–XVIII centuries. It is noted that period characterized by a significant predominance copper-zinc alloys with average high concentrations zin...