Investigating health at Kerma: sacrificial versus nonsacrificial individuals

American Journal of Physical Anthropology
Michele R Buzon, Margaret A Judd

Abstract

This analysis examines heterogeneity in risks by assessing the health status of individuals in two distinct burial contexts from the Nubian site of Kerma: sacrificial (n = 100) and nonsacrificial (n = 190) burial areas dated to the classic Kerma period ( approximately 1750-1500 BC). Indicators of physiological stress that were examined include cribra orbitalia, dental enamel hypoplasia, tibial osteoperiostitis, and femur length. The analysis presented here shows that the people interred in the sacrificial and nonsacrificial burial contexts at Kerma in Upper Nubia had similar health profiles that were comparable with other contemporaneous samples from the region. If sacrificial individuals did not experience the same risk of death as nonsacrificial individuals, it was not evident in the frequencies of nonspecific stress indicators. However, this differential risk of death may be blurred by our inability to examine nonadults for childhood disease. This research demonstrates the complexities involved in understanding the multiple factors that result in heterogeneity in skeletal samples.

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Feb 28, 2007·American Journal of Physical Anthropology·Michele R Buzon, Rebecca Richman

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Citations

Aug 10, 2011·American Journal of Physical Anthropology·Rebecca C Redfern, Sharon N Dewitte
Sep 21, 2010·American Journal of Physical Anthropology·Sharon N DeWitte
Oct 21, 2014·American Journal of Physical Anthropology·Sarah A Schrader
Apr 20, 2018·American Journal of Human Biology : the Official Journal of the Human Biology Council·Margaret A JuddBryan K Hanks
Feb 24, 2021·American Journal of Physical Anthropology·Tracy K Betsinger, Sharon N DeWitte
Nov 7, 2021·The Anatomical Record : Advances in Integrative Anatomy and Evolutionary Biology·Matthew J ZdillaH Wayne Lambert

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