tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/skeletons-78483/articlesSkeletons – The Conversation2023-10-24T12:22:19Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2126872023-10-24T12:22:19Z2023-10-24T12:22:19ZHow ‘La Catrina’ became the iconic symbol of Day of the Dead<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552390/original/file-20231005-24-skza08.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=191%2C191%2C5051%2C3450&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A girl dressed as a 'catrina' takes part in the Catrinas Parade in Mexico City to celebrate Day of the Dead.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/girl-dressed-as-catrina-walks-while-taking-part-in-the-news-photo/617638204?adppopup=true">Yuri Cortez/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On April 13, 1944, thousands of people clashed with police on the steps of <a href="https://www.artic.edu/about-us/mission-and-history/history">the Art Institute of Chicago</a>. </p>
<p>The melee was unrelated to U.S. participation in World War II, labor unrest or President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s <a href="https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/fdr-seizes-control-of-montgomery-ward">controversial move to seize control</a> of local Chicago industries. </p>
<p>Rather, a massive, impatient art crowd overwhelmed the museum’s capacity, causing mayhem. That’s how desperately people wanted to see the U.S. premiere of an exhibition titled “Posada: Printmaker to the Mexican People.”</p>
<p>The exhibition featured the prints of <a href="https://www.posada-art-foundation.com/about-posada">José Guadalupe Posada</a>, a Mexican engraver who had died in 1913. On display were his calaveras, the satirical skull and skeleton illustrations he made for Day of the Dead, which he printed on cheap, single-sheet newspapers known as broadsides.</p>
<p>One specific calavera, or skull, attracted more attention than the others. </p>
<p>Known as La Catrina, she was a garish skeleton with a wide, toothy grin and an oversized feathered hat. A large print of her <a href="https://www.artic.edu/exhibitions/8528/gallery-of-art-interpretation-who-is-posada">hung on the museum’s wall</a>. Audiences saw her featured in the museum’s promotional materials. She was even the cover girl of <a href="https://www.artic.edu/exhibitions/8526/the-art-of-jose-guadalupe-posada-lent-by-the-department-of-fine-arts-of-mexico">the exhibition catalog</a>. Back in Mexico she’d been virtually unknown, but the U.S. exhibition made La Catrina an international sensation.</p>
<p>Today, La Catrina is Posada’s most recognizable creation. She’s the icon of <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/top-ten-day-of-dead-mexico">Day of the Dead</a>, Mexico’s annual fiesta in honor of the deceased that takes place annually on Nov. 1 and 2. Her visage is endlessly reproduced during the holiday. Her idolization has made her Mexico’s unofficial national totem, perhaps second only to <a href="https://theconversation.com/warrior-servant-mother-unifier-the-virgin-mary-has-played-many-roles-through-the-centuries-165596">the Virgin of Guadalupe</a>. </p>
<p>While some people might presume it’s always been this way, La Catrina is actually a transcultural icon whose prestige and popularity are equal parts invention and accident.</p>
<h2>A life of obscurity</h2>
<p>When Posada first engraved her <a href="https://www.posada-art-foundation.com/posada-lacatrina">in 1912</a>, she wasn’t even called La Catrina. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552387/original/file-20231005-19-nq4t90.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Peach colored program cover featuring a print of a skeleton wearing a lavish hat." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552387/original/file-20231005-19-nq4t90.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552387/original/file-20231005-19-nq4t90.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=802&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552387/original/file-20231005-19-nq4t90.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=802&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552387/original/file-20231005-19-nq4t90.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=802&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552387/original/file-20231005-19-nq4t90.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1007&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552387/original/file-20231005-19-nq4t90.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1007&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552387/original/file-20231005-19-nq4t90.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1007&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The catalog cover for ‘Posada,’ a 1944 exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago, features what came to be known as La Catrina.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.artic.edu/exhibitions/8526/the-art-of-jose-guadalupe-posada-lent-by-the-department-of-fine-arts-of-mexico">The Art Institute of Chicago</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the original print, she’s Calavera Garbancera, a <a href="https://glasstire.com/2019/11/02/jose-guadalupe-posada-and-diego-rivera-fashion-catrina-from-sellout-to-national-icon-and-back-again/">title used</a> to refer to indigenous peasant women who sold garbanzo beans at the street markets.</p>
<p>Posada illustrated her in ostentatious attire to satirize the way the garbanceras attempted to pass as upper-class by powdering their faces and wearing fashionable French attire. So even from the beginning, La Catrina was transcultural – a rural indigenous woman adopting European customs to survive in Mexico’s urban, mixed-race society.</p>
<p>Like Posada’s other illustrations, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1360573">the 1912 broadside</a> was sold for a penny to primarily poor and working-class men throughout Mexico City and nearby areas. But there was nothing particularly significant about Calavera Garbancera. Like her creator, she remained obscure for many years.</p>
<p>Posada died <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Guadalupe-Mexican-Broadside-Institute-Chicago/dp/0300121377">broke and unknown</a>, but his illustrations <a href="https://www.unmpress.com/9780826319043/posadas-broadsheets/">had an afterlife</a>. His publisher reused them for other broadsides well into the 1920s. Calavera Garbancera got recycled as various other characters, none particularly noteworthy. Meanwhile, nobody really knew who made the calavera broadsides they saw around the capital every Day of the Dead.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555055/original/file-20231020-29-n6mh1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Printed broadsheet featuring text and a drawing of a skeleton wearing a big hat on green paper." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555055/original/file-20231020-29-n6mh1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555055/original/file-20231020-29-n6mh1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=796&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555055/original/file-20231020-29-n6mh1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=796&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555055/original/file-20231020-29-n6mh1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=796&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555055/original/file-20231020-29-n6mh1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1000&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555055/original/file-20231020-29-n6mh1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1000&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555055/original/file-20231020-29-n6mh1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1000&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Revolutionary Calavera,’ by José Guadalupe Posada, printed on a broadside.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/revolutionary-calavera-c-1910-creator-josé-guadalupe-posada-news-photo/1447192444?adppopup=true">Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>That changed in the mid-1920s when Posada’s work drew the attention of French artist Jean Charlot, a leading figure in the <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Mexican_Mural_Renaissance_1920_1925.html?id=_g9ZAAAAMAAJ">Mexican Renaissance</a>, that creative outburst of nationalist murals and artworks that transpired in the aftermath of the Mexican Revolution.</p>
<p>Charlot was enamored of the calavera illustrations he saw around Mexico City, but he didn’t know who created them. He eventually tracked down Posada’s publisher and began researching the engraver. Charlot <a href="https://icaa.mfah.org/s/en/item/779806#?c=&m=&s=&cv=&xywh=-1673%2C0%2C5895%2C3299">published articles</a> about Posada and introduced the artist’s calaveras to other Mexican Renaissance artists and intellectuals. Among the most important were painter <a href="https://www.diegorivera.org/">Diego Rivera</a> and critic <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1956/06/18/archives/frances-toor-66-wrote-on-mexico-author-of-books-on-folkways-and-of.html">Frances Toor</a>.</p>
<h2>From La Garbancera to La Catrina</h2>
<p>Rivera, of course, is arguably the greatest artist in Mexican history. <a href="https://theconversation.com/detroit-1932-when-diego-rivera-and-frida-kahlo-came-to-town-38884">His epic murals</a> remain internationally famous. </p>
<p>Frances Toor, on the other hand, was a modest Jewish intellectual who made her career writing about Mexican culture. In 1925 she started publishing <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/43466157">Mexican Folkways</a>, a popular bilingual magazine distributed in Mexico and the U.S. With Diego Rivera as her art editor, she started using the magazine to promote Posada. In annual October-November issues, Toor and Rivera featured large reprints of Posada’s calaveras. </p>
<p>However, Calavera Garbancera was never among them. She wasn’t important enough to showcase.</p>
<p>In 1930, Toor and Rivera published <a href="https://philamuseum.org/collection/object/343276">the first book</a> of Posada’s engravings, which sold throughout Mexico and the U.S. In it, La Garbancera finally made an appearance. But she had a new name – Calavera Catrina. For reasons unknown, Toor and Rivera chose the honorific, which referred to her as a female dandy. The calavera was forevermore La Catrina.</p>
<p>Her fame, however, didn’t truly arrive until Posada’s riotous debut at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1944. The exhibition was a collaboration between the museum and the Mexican government. It was funded and facilitated by a special White House propaganda agency that used <a href="https://www.academia.edu/29923182/Jos%C3%A9_Guadalupe_Posada_Art_Institute_of_Chicago_1944_pdf?email_work_card=view-paper">cultural diplomacy</a> to fortify solidarity with Latin America during World War II. </p>
<p>This boosterism allowed the Posada exhibition to tour and give La Catrina wider exposure. She was seen and promoted in New York, Philadelphia, Mexico City and elsewhere in Mexico.</p>
<p>Perhaps more important was the exhibition catalog, which featured La Catrina as cover girl. It sold at each tour location. <a href="https://www.artic.edu/institutional-archives">Complimentary copies</a> were also distributed to prominent U.S. and Mexican authors and artists. They started writing about La Catrina and refashioning her in their artworks, popularizing her on both sides of the border.</p>
<h2>La Catrina goes global</h2>
<p>In 1947, Diego Rivera further immortalized La Catrina when he made her the focal point of one of his most famous murals, “<a href="https://www.diegorivera.org/dream-of-a-sunday-afternoon-in-alameda-park.jsp">Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park</a>.” </p>
<p>The mural portrays Mexican history from the Spanish conquest to the Mexican Revolution. La Catrina stands at the literal center of this history, where Rivera painted her holding hands with Posada on one side and a boyhood version of himself on the other.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Painting of an elegantly dressed skeleton holding hands with a boy and a man wearing hats." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552394/original/file-20231005-27-ruxzoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552394/original/file-20231005-27-ruxzoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552394/original/file-20231005-27-ruxzoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552394/original/file-20231005-27-ruxzoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552394/original/file-20231005-27-ruxzoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552394/original/file-20231005-27-ruxzoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552394/original/file-20231005-27-ruxzoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A detail of Diego Rivera’s mural ‘Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park,’ which hangs at the Diego Rivera Mural Museum in Mexico City.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nicksherman/4080802657">Nick Sherman/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Rivera’s fame – and La Catrina’s newfound gravitas – inspired Mexican and Mexican American artists to incorporate her into their works, too. </p>
<p><a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/El_D%C3%ADa_de_Los_Muertos.html?id=BTNQAAAAMAAJ">Folk artists</a> in Mexico began fashioning her into ceramic toys, <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/En_Calavera.html?id=3mJQAAAAMAAJ">papier-mâché figurines</a> and other crafts sold during Day of the Dead. Mexican Americans utilized La Catrina in their murals, paintings and political posters as part of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-chicana-women-artists-have-often-used-the-figure-of-the-virgin-of-guadalupe-for-political-messages-213720">Chicano Movement</a>, which pushed for Mexican American civil rights in the 1960s and 1970s.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Extravagent costume featuring a headdress, skull mask and red and black cloak." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555067/original/file-20231020-19-y4bgms.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555067/original/file-20231020-19-y4bgms.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=882&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555067/original/file-20231020-19-y4bgms.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=882&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555067/original/file-20231020-19-y4bgms.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=882&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555067/original/file-20231020-19-y4bgms.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1108&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555067/original/file-20231020-19-y4bgms.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1108&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555067/original/file-20231020-19-y4bgms.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1108&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Each year, Los Angeles native Christina Sanchez dresses as ‘Catrina Christina’ for Day of the Dead.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mars Sandoval</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>La Catrina’s image is now used to sell anything <a href="https://tee-luv.com/products/victoria-beer-mexican-la-catrina-t-shirt-black">from beer</a> to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/01/us/day-of-the-dead-barbie-cultural-appropriation-trnd/index.html">Barbie dolls</a>. You can order La Catrina costumes from <a href="https://www.walmart.com/c/kp/catrina-costume">Walmart</a> and <a href="https://www.spirithalloween.com/product/adult-la-catrina-day-of-the-dead-trumpet-dress-costume/175819.uts">Spirit Halloween</a> stores.</p>
<p>In fact, La Catrina costume parades and contests are a relatively new Day of the Dead tradition in Mexico and the U.S. Participants span race, ethnicity and nationality. </p>
<p>Some people, such as “<a href="https://shoutoutla.com/meet-christina-sanchez-catrina-christina/">Catrina Christina</a>” in Los Angeles, don a costume each year as a way to honor the dearly departed on Día de los Muertos. Others dress as La Catrina to grow their <a href="https://www.uscannenbergmedia.com/2021/11/02/content-creators-use-their-platforms-to-celebrate-dia-de-los-muertos/">social media following</a>, or impersonate her to make money.</p>
<p>Posada probably never expected his female calavera to become so famous. He merely wanted to use traditional Day of the Dead humor to make fun of the flamboyantly dressed garbanceras he saw hanging around Mexico City’s central plaza. </p>
<p>Today, during Día de los Muertos, that same central plaza is filled with hundreds of La Catrina impersonators who, for a few dollars, will pose for photographs with tourists all too willing to pay for such a “traditional” cultural experience with an “authentic” Day of the Dead icon. </p>
<p>Posada, meanwhile, is likely laughing somewhere in the land of the dead.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212687/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mathew Sandoval does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>An obscure Mexican engraver named José Guadalupe Posada created the satirical skull in the early 1900s and sold it for a penny. But after he died, it took on a life of its own.Mathew Sandoval, Associate Teaching Professor in Culture & Performance, Arizona State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1884562022-10-28T01:11:10Z2022-10-28T01:11:10ZCoffin? Casket? Cremation? How to make your death more environmentally friendly<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491536/original/file-20221025-156-2serq3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=45%2C36%2C6045%2C3387&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We can all agree humans need to reduce their impact on the environment. And while most of us think of this in terms of daily activities – such as eating less meat, or being water-wise – this responsibility actually extends beyond life and into death. </p>
<p>The global population is closing on <a href="https://www.un.org/en/un-chronicle/global-population-will-soon-reach-8-billion-then-what">eight billion</a>, and the amount of land available for human burial is <a href="https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/deal-with-the-dead/">running out</a>, especially in small and densely populated countries. </p>
<p>To minimise environmental impact, human bodies should return to nature as quickly as possible. But the rate of decay in some of the most common traditional disposal methods is very slow. It can take <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-long-it-takes-human-body-decompose-grave-coffin-2019-8">several decades</a> for a body to decompose. </p>
<p>In a one-of-its-kind study, our team analysed <a href="https://irispublishers.com/gjfsm/fulltext/a-taphonomic-examination-of-inhumed-and-entombed-remains-in-parma-cemeteries-italy.ID.000518.php">408 human bodies</a> exhumed from grave pits and stone tombs in the north of Italy to find out what conditions help speed up decay.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488716/original/file-20221007-21261-h17m5t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488716/original/file-20221007-21261-h17m5t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488716/original/file-20221007-21261-h17m5t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488716/original/file-20221007-21261-h17m5t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488716/original/file-20221007-21261-h17m5t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488716/original/file-20221007-21261-h17m5t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488716/original/file-20221007-21261-h17m5t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488716/original/file-20221007-21261-h17m5t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We conducted research on bodies exhumed from the La Villetta cemetery in Parma, Italy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Edda Guareschi</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The environmental cost of traditional burials</h2>
<p>Funeral rituals should respect the dead, bring closure to families and promote the reaching of the afterlife in accordance with people’s beliefs. This looks different for different people. Although the Catholic church has allowed cremation <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/26/world/europe/vatican-bans-scattering-of-human-ashes.html">since 1963</a>, it still prefers burials. Muslims are always supposed to be buried, while most Hindus are cremated.</p>
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</p>
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<p>In Australia, however, the latest census revealed almost 40% of the population identifies as “<a href="https://theconversation.com/no-religion-is-australias-second-largest-religious-group-and-its-having-a-profound-effect-on-our-laws-185697">not religious</a>”. This opens up more avenues for how people’s bodies may be handled after death.</p>
<p>Most traditional burial practices in industrialised countries have several long-lasting harmful <a href="https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/108132/EUR_ICP_EHNA_01_04_01%28A%29.pdf">effects</a> on the environment. Wood and metal fragments in coffins and caskets remain in the ground, leaching harmful chemicals through paint, preservatives and alloys. Chemicals used for embalming also remain in the ground and can <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3315260/">contaminate</a> soil and waterways.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488208/original/file-20221005-26-nf21yo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488208/original/file-20221005-26-nf21yo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488208/original/file-20221005-26-nf21yo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488208/original/file-20221005-26-nf21yo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488208/original/file-20221005-26-nf21yo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488208/original/file-20221005-26-nf21yo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488208/original/file-20221005-26-nf21yo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488208/original/file-20221005-26-nf21yo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Caskets made out of processed materials like metal and wood are bad for the environment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Cremation also has a large <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/is-cremation-environmentally-friendly-heres-the-science">carbon footprint</a>. It requires lots of trees for fuel and produces millions of tons of carbon dioxide each year, as well as toxic volatile compounds.</p>
<p>There are several alternatives to traditional burials. These include “water cremation” or “resomation” (where the body is rapidly dissolved), human <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-26/body-composting-a-green-alternative-to-burial-cremation/100486964">composting</a>, mummification, cryonics (freezing and storage), <a href="https://eirene.ca/blog/space-burial-ashes-in-orbit">space burials</a>, and even turning the body into <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/03/world/eco-solutions-capsula-mundi/index.html">trees</a> or the ashes into <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/ashes-to-diamonds-reefs-rockets-how-we-will-memorialize-dead">diamonds</a> or <a href="https://www.andvinyly.com/">record vinyls</a>.</p>
<p>However, many of these alternatives are either illegal, unavailable, costly or not aligned with people’s beliefs. The vast majority choose coffin burials, and all countries accept this method. So the question of sustainable burials comes down to choosing between the many types of <a href="https://australian.museum/about/history/exhibitions/death-the-last-taboo/burial-coffins-and-caskets/?gclid=CjwKCAjwx7GYBhB7EiwA0d8oe-mOKjLns2Gj5mpj-mu_kskmPPCKjhOqUrUAEjC05D4pnSXyBP3xrhoCE9oQAvD_BwE">coffins available</a>. </p>
<h2>What leads to faster decomposition?</h2>
<p>Coffins range from traditional wooden caskets, to cardboard coffins, to natural coffins made from willow, banana leaf or bamboo, which decompose faster. </p>
<p>The most environmentally sustainable choice is one that allows the body to decompose and reduce to a skeleton (or “skeletonise”) quickly – possibly in just a few years.</p>
<p>Our research has presented three key findings on conditions that promote the skeletonisation of human bodies.</p>
<p>First, it has confirmed that bodies disposed in traditionally sealed tombs (where a coffin is placed inside a stone space) can take more than 40 years to skeletonise. </p>
<p>In these sealed tombs, bacteria rapidly consume the oxygen in the stone space where the coffin is placed. This creates a micro-environment that promotes an almost indefinite preservation of the body. </p>
<p>We also found burial grounds with a high percentage of sand and gravel in the soil promote the decomposition and skeletonisation of bodies in less than ten years – even if they are in a coffin. </p>
<p>That’s because this soil composition allows more circulation of air and microfauna, and ample water drainage – all of which are helpful for degrading organic matter. </p>
<p>Finally, our research confirmed previous suspicions about the slow decomposition of entombed bodies. We discovered placing bodies inside stone tombs, or covering them with a stone slab on the ground, helps with the formation of corpse wax (or “<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33596512/">adipocere</a>”).</p>
<p>This substance is the final result of several chemical reactions through which the body’s adipose (fat) tissues turn to a “soapy” substance that’s very resistant to further degradation. Having corpse wax slows down (if not completely arrests) the decomposition process. </p>
<h2>A new, greener option</h2>
<p>In looking for innovative burial solutions, we had the opportunity to experiment with a new type of body disposal in a tomb called an “<a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2673-6756/2/3/37">aerated tomb</a>”.</p>
<p>Over the past 20 years aerated tombs have been developed in some European countries including France, Spain and Italy (where they <a href="https://www.tecnofar-solutions.com/prodotti/sistema-aerato-loculi">have</a> <a href="https://www.argema.net/loculi-aerati/">been</a> <a href="https://www.ala-strutture-cimiteriali.com/loculi-aerati">commercialised</a>). They allow plenty of ventilation, which in turn enables a more hygienic and faster decomposition of bodies compared to traditional tombs.</p>
<p>They have a few notable features:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>an activated carbon filter purifies gases</p></li>
<li><p>fluids are absorbed by two distinct biodegrading biological powders, one placed at the bottom of the coffin and the other in a collecting tray beneath it</p></li>
<li><p>once the body has decomposed, the skeletal remains can be moved to an ossuary (a site where skeletal remains are stored), while the tomb can be dismantled and most of its components potentially recycled.</p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488204/original/file-20221005-26-o8c3fm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An ossuary is full of skeletal remains forming a pillar and lining the walls – with a large white cross in the centre of a back wall." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488204/original/file-20221005-26-o8c3fm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488204/original/file-20221005-26-o8c3fm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488204/original/file-20221005-26-o8c3fm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488204/original/file-20221005-26-o8c3fm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488204/original/file-20221005-26-o8c3fm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488204/original/file-20221005-26-o8c3fm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488204/original/file-20221005-26-o8c3fm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Arguably one of the world’s most famous ossuaries, the Paris Catacombs is an underground labyrinth containing the remains of more than six million people.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Aerated tombs are also cheaper than ordinary tombs and can be built from existing tombs. They would be simple to use in Australia and would comply with public health and hygiene standards.</p>
<p>Most of us don’t spend much time thinking about what will happen to our bodies after we die. Perhaps we should. In the end this may be one of our most important last decisions – the implications of which extend to our precious planet.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/most-americans-today-are-choosing-cremation-heres-why-burials-are-becoming-less-common-186618">Most Americans today are choosing cremation – here's why burials are becoming less common</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188456/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Burial land is running low in certain parts of the world. It’s about time we started to consider the environmental cost of our final resting place.Paola A. Magni, Senior Lecturer in Forensic Science, Murdoch UniversityEdda Guareschi, Adjunct Lecturer in Forensic Sciences, Murdoch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1898552022-09-30T12:28:10Z2022-09-30T12:28:10ZDo multimillion-dollar dinosaur auctions erode trust in science?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485915/original/file-20220921-8022-4e742t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=74%2C0%2C7011%2C4716&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sotheby's sold a 77 million-year-old Gorgosaurus skeleton for over $6 million in July 2022.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/gorgosaurus-skeleton-is-on-display-during-a-press-preview-news-photo/1406957644?adppopup=true">Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Dinosaurs are in the news these days, but it’s not just for groundbreaking discoveries.</p>
<p>More and more paleontologists are ringing alarm bells about high-profile auctions in which dinosaur fossils sell for outrageous sums. The most recent example involves <a href="https://news.artnet.com/market/sothebys-gorgosaurus-skeleton-8-million-2142470">a 77 million-year-old <em>Gorgosaurus</em> skeleton</a> that Sotheby’s sold for over US$6 million in August 2022.</p>
<p>But that’s not even close to the most anyone ever paid for a dinosaur. In May 2022, Christie’s sold a <em>Deinonychus</em> skeleton for <a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/dinosaur-skeleton-christies-2114482">$12.4 million</a>. And a couple of months before that, Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism paid an <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/stan-the-t-rex-found-worlds-most-expensive-fossil-finds-home-in-a-new-museum">eye-popping $31.8 million for Stan</a>, a remarkably complete <em>T. rex</em> from South Dakota’s Hell Creek Formation that’s going to be the centerpiece of the Persian Gulf city’s new natural history museum.</p>
<hr>
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<p>Some scientists are so dismayed they are speaking out. University of Edinburgh paleontologist Steve Brusatte <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-11117517/Furious-paleontologists-blast-auction-houses-letting-super-rich-buy-dinosaur-specimens.html">told the Daily Mail</a> that auction houses turn valuable specimens into “little more than toys for the rich.” Thomas Carr from Carthage College in Wisconsin was <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-11117517/Furious-paleontologists-blast-auction-houses-letting-super-rich-buy-dinosaur-specimens.html">even more forthright</a>, saying, “Greed for money is what drives these auctions.” He also complained that wealthy elites – <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2013/10/nicolas-cage-leonardo-dicaprio-dinosaur-skull">including actors Nicholas Cage and Leonardo DiCaprio</a> – are competing to acquire the best specimens in a game of juvenile one-upmanship, describing them as “thieves of time.”</p>
<p>Most commenters trace the booming market for dinosaurs <a href="https://www.fieldmuseum.org/blog/sue-t-rex">back to Sue, the largest and most complete <em>T. rex</em> ever found</a>. After the FBI confiscated it from <a href="https://www.bhigr.com/">the same group of fossil hunters</a> who found Stan, the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago acquired it – with financial backing from Disney and McDonald’s – for over $8 million in 1997. </p>
<p>But as I document in my recent book, “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Assembling-Dinosaur-Hunters-Tycoons-Spectacle/dp/067473758X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=rieppel+assembling+the+dinosaur&qid=1662586515&sprefix=rieppel+ass%2Caps%2C61&sr=8-1">Assembling the Dinosaur</a>,” the commercial specimen trade is as old as the science of paleontology itself. And its history shows the debate over whether dinosaurs ought to be bought and sold involves much deeper questions about the long-standing but hotly contested relationship between science and capitalism.</p>
<h2>Two sides of the debate</h2>
<p>Paleontologists have good reason to oppose the commercial sale of valuable fossils. Science is fundamentally a community enterprise, and if specimens aren’t available for public examination, paleontologists have no way to assess whether new findings are true. What if a particularly outlandish theory is based on a fraudulent specimen?</p>
<p>This happens more often than you’d think. <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/35001723">In the late 1990s</a> a private collector purchased what appeared to be a feathered dinosaur at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. National Geographic subsequently reported on it to great fanfare, claiming it was a “missing link” between dinosaurs and modern birds. When scientists grew suspicious, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/420285a">they found</a> that the so-called “<em>Archaeoraptor</em>” fossil combined pieces of several distinct specimens to make a chimerical creature that never existed.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Rex_Appeal.html?id=o5TuAAAAMAAJ">commercial fossil hunters</a> make a compelling point, too. Most fossils first come to light through the natural process of erosion. Eventually, however, erosion also destroys the specimen itself – and there simply aren’t enough scientists to find every fossil before it is lost. Hence, the argument goes, commercial collectors should be celebrated for saving specimens by digging them up.</p>
<h2>Wealthy philanthropists distance themselves</h2>
<p>Both sides of the argument make a compelling point. But as the fiasco around “<em>Archaeoraptor</em>” reveals, it’s worth asking whether financial incentives erode trust.</p>
<p>Dinosaurs first came to the attention of geologists during the 19th century. In fact, these gigantic lizards did not acquire their name until the comparative anatomist Richard Owen invented <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=mSTs2oyhdS0C&vq=dinosauria&pg=PA190#v=onepage&q&f=false">the biological category “Dinosauria”</a> in 1842. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Portrait of man with white beard wearing a suit seated in a chair." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486846/original/file-20220927-14-pwsm69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486846/original/file-20220927-14-pwsm69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=797&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486846/original/file-20220927-14-pwsm69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=797&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486846/original/file-20220927-14-pwsm69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=797&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486846/original/file-20220927-14-pwsm69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1001&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486846/original/file-20220927-14-pwsm69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1001&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486846/original/file-20220927-14-pwsm69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1001&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie had a dinosaur species, <em>Diplodocus carnegii</em>, named after him.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Carnegie#/media/File:Andrew_Carnegie,_by_Theodore_Marceau.jpg">Library of Congress</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At that time, scientists <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0306312715570650">did not treat dinosaurs any differently</a> from other valuables that could be dug out of the ground, such as gold, silver and coal. Museums purchased most of their fossils from commercial collectors, often using funds donated by wealthy industrialists like Andrew Carnegie, who even had a dinosaur named after him: <em><a href="https://upittpress.org/books/9780822966524/">Diplodocus carnegii</a></em>.</p>
<p>That started to change at the very end of the 19th century, when there was a concerted effort to decommodify dinosaur bones, and museums began to distance themselves from the commercial specimen trade. </p>
<p>One impetus came from museums’ wealthy benefactors, <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/9780230115569">who sought to demarcate</a> their charitable activities from the unsavory world of commerce. Philanthropists like Carnegie and J.P. Morgan gave money to cultural institutions because they wanted to signal their refined taste, their appreciation for learning and their republican virtues – not to enter into a business transaction.</p>
<p>Moreover, <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674979857">the first Gilded Age resembled the present</a> in that it, too, saw a sharp increase in economic inequality. This led to widespread class conflict, which could be <a href="https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1339-when-workers-shot-back">remarkably violent and bloody</a>. Afraid that incendiary labor leaders would bring the industrial economy to its knees, wealthy elites began <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Gospel_of_Wealth_and_Other_Timely_Es/q5ALvRp61wgC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PR3&printsec=frontcover">using public displays of conspicuous generosity</a> to demonstrate that American capitalism could yield public goods in addition to profits. </p>
<p>For all these reasons, it was essential for their philanthropic activities to be seen as selfless acts of genuine altruism, utterly divorced from the cutthroat competition of the marketplace.</p>
<h2>Scientists take control</h2>
<p>At the same time, paleontologists <a href="https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/3181/scientists-and-swindlers">embraced the language of “pure science”</a> to claim they produced knowledge for its own sake – not financial gain.</p>
<p>By arguing that their work was free from the corrupting influence of money, scientists made themselves <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo3626633.html">more trustworthy</a>.</p>
<p>Ironically, scientists found they could attract more funds by claiming to be completely uninterested in money, fashioning themselves into ideal recipients for the philanthropic largesse of wealthy elites. But that further necessitated a clear demarcation between the the culture of capitalism and the practice of science, which entailed a reluctance to acquire specimens via purchase.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Old photograph of three men working on an excavation site." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486848/original/file-20220927-14-5t5l3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486848/original/file-20220927-14-5t5l3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486848/original/file-20220927-14-5t5l3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486848/original/file-20220927-14-5t5l3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486848/original/file-20220927-14-5t5l3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486848/original/file-20220927-14-5t5l3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486848/original/file-20220927-14-5t5l3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">At the turn of the 20th century, museums started funding excavations to unearth dinosaur bones.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://museum.wales/media/48597/thumb_1024/bone-cabin-quarry-1898-PublicDomain.jpg">Museum Wales</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As scientists began shunning the commercial specimen trade, museums set about using the generous donations of wealthy philanthropists to mount increasingly ambitious expeditions that allowed scientists to collect fossils themselves.</p>
<h2>Dinosaurs in the New Gilded Age</h2>
<p>But their ability to control the private market for dinosaur bones did not last forever. With the United States in the middle of what some call a <a href="https://www.vox.com/first-person/2019/4/1/18286084/gilded-age-income-inequality-robber-baron">New Gilded Age</a>, it has come roaring back. </p>
<p>Today, the most spectacular dinosaur fossils often hail from the Jehol formation of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature01420">northeastern China</a>. And more often than not, they are purchased from local farmers who supplement their incomes by hunting for fossils on the side. </p>
<p>As a result, the question of whether commercial incentives erode trust is back with a vengeance. Li Chun, a professor at Beijing’s prestigious Institute for Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, <a href="http://doi.org/10.1126/science.330.6012.1740">estimates that</a> more than 80% of all marine reptiles on display in Chinese museums have been deceptively altered to some degree, often to increase their value.</p>
<p>The age-old worry about whether the profit motive threatens to undermine the values of science is real. But it is hardly unique to paleontology. </p>
<p>The spectacular <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/549478/bad-blood-by-john-carreyrou/">implosion of Theranos</a>, a tech startup that secured more than $700 million in venture capital based on false promises of having developed a better way to conduct blood tests, is just just a particularly high-profile example of commercial deceit paired with scientific misconduct. So much scientific research is now being paid for by people who have a commercial stake in the knowledge produced – and you can see the ramifications in everything from <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/exxon-knew-about-climate-change-almost-40-years-ago/">Exxon’s decision to hide its early research on climate change</a> to Moderna’s recent move to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/26/business/moderna-covid-vaccine-lawsuit.html">begin enforcing its patent</a> on the mRNA technology behind the most effective COVID-19 vaccines. </p>
<p>Is it any wonder that <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2022/02/15/americans-trust-in-scientists-other-groups-declines/">so many people have lost trust in science</a>?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189855/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lukas Rieppel has received funding from the National Science Foundation and the Mellon Foundation, among others.</span></em></p>Derided as ‘toys for the rich,’ the specimens being bought and sold raise broader questions about the relationship between science and capitalism.Lukas Rieppel, Associate Professor of History, Brown UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1797742022-03-24T14:25:09Z2022-03-24T14:25:09ZScience and race in South Africa: lessons from ‘old bones in boxes’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453535/original/file-20220322-302-1hjvrou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Anatomist and anthropologist Matthew Drennan in his anthropology laboratory at the University of Cape Town in 1931.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cape Argus, 27 August 1931</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The discipline of physical anthropology has a dark, often fraught past. It was misused to justify slavery and even genocide. In this edited extract from the introduction of his new book, <a href="https://witspress.co.za/catalogue/bones-and-bodies/">Bones and Bodies: How South African Scientists Studied Race</a> (Wits University Press, 2022), Alan G. Morris examines the discipline’s South African history. He points out that modern academics struggle to find ways <a href="https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/108710">to balance the roles of sociology and genetics</a> in their research – and that understanding how scientists previously understood the relationship between social and physical characteristics will guide them in navigating this tricky balance.</em> </p>
<p>The aphorism first spoken by the American philosopher <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/santayana/">George Santayana</a> (and paraphrased by Winston Churchill) is especially true for physical anthropology: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The subject’s past is not a pleasant one. Physical anthropology is the branch of anthropology that considers the structure and evolution of the human body. It has been used to <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33372273/">justify slavery</a>, condemn criminals by <a href="https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1062&context=histsp">their appearance</a> and <a href="https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.4159/harvard.9780674736160.c8/pdf">limit immigration</a> according to racial origin. In Nazi Germany it was used <a href="https://www.ushmm.org/collections/bibliography/nazi-racial-science">to commit genocide</a>. </p>
<p>Over the years, South African physical anthropologists have written a great deal about the peoples of southern Africa. Those of us in this field need to ask if these publications have contributed to the country’s own social heresies. That, of course, will be the task of historians. But we need to be aware that the old problems continue to surface all over the world. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453537/original/file-20220322-28-1tyvud6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453537/original/file-20220322-28-1tyvud6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453537/original/file-20220322-28-1tyvud6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453537/original/file-20220322-28-1tyvud6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453537/original/file-20220322-28-1tyvud6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1136&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453537/original/file-20220322-28-1tyvud6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1136&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453537/original/file-20220322-28-1tyvud6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1136&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/voices/the-real-problem-with-charles-murray-and-the-bell-curve/">Publications</a> in the 1990s tried to resurrect <a href="https://www.psychology.uwo.ca/people/faculty/remembrance/rushton.html">biological racism</a> by stratifying levels of intelligence by race. These are aberrations that have triggered heated responses from professional physical anthropologists. But in the eyes of the public such ideas do have legitimacy. </p>
<p>In the South African context, despite having vanquished the apartheid dragon, we need to understand exactly how much of the racist underpinnings of the policy have become internalised and are still part of us.</p>
<h2>Anatomists and anthropologists</h2>
<p><a href="https://journals.openedition.org/primatologie/2708">Anthropological discoveries</a> in South Africa over the past century have been of exceptional importance in terms of our understanding of human evolution. These discoveries have also influenced society in ways that have not always been positive. </p>
<p>Anatomists in the medical schools have most influenced our understanding of human structure and variation. Their racial classifications and descriptions of the peoples of southern Africa have flowed into and still affect medical specialities, including surgery, gynaecology, forensics, genetics and epidemiology/public health. </p>
<p>The same anatomists who have dabbled in physical anthropology have also taught racial variation to generations of undergraduate and postgraduate medical students. My choice of the word “dabbled” is intentional. None of these scholars were trained in the discipline of anthropology. Yet generations of researchers in medical, natural and social sciences have used the subject’s classifications and categories.</p>
<p>My training and my career are overwhelmingly in physical anthropology, not history. My <a href="https://digitalcollections.lib.uct.ac.za/osteological-analysis-protohistoric-populations-northern-cape-and-western-orange-free-state-south-0">doctoral thesis</a> examined a series of archaeologically derived human skeletons from the late seventeenth to the early nineteenth century. They were excavated from locations along the historical border of what was then South Africa’s Northern Cape Colony. </p>
<p>To make sense of the skeletal variation seen in the archaeological skeletons, I needed to find modern skeletons from related populations for comparison. It became obvious that the skeletons accessioned in many museum and medical school collections were not identified on the basis of known self-defined ethnicity. They were lodged there as racial types determined by the collections’ accumulators and managers. </p>
<p>Many of the skeletons of people who had been known in life were labelled according to a strict racial typology. Racial identity was based on appearance, not the culture nor the community from which he or she originated. This opened the world of skeleton collecting to me and brought a context to the old bones in the boxes. Something that had started as a search for ethnically identified skeletons grew into a much larger project looking at the origins of the collections themselves. </p>
<p>It became apparent just how involved the physical anthropologists were as collectors and how ingrained their method of typology had become in the collection and description of “specimens” and in their publications.</p>
<h2>Anthropological vignettes</h2>
<p>I joined the Department of Anatomy at the University of Cape Town in 1981. I took on the unofficial role of department historian, especially with respect to things anthropological. This included storing boxes of old correspondence, lantern slides and old articles. Sorting through these had to wait until my retirement approached in 2014. Retiring gave me the opportunity to begin to put more than 30 years of <a href="https://scholar.google.co.za/citations?user=VY15b7QAAAAJ&hl=en">my research</a> together. It was also a chance to try to organise the historical material stored in the boxes in my office and around the department. </p>
<p>The organisation of the collection provided the opportunity for me to tackle a final historical task: writing a single volume that would encompass this wealth of unpublished material.</p>
<p><a href="https://witspress.co.za/catalogue/bones-and-bodies/">Bones and Bodies: How South African Scientists Studied Race</a> is the outcome. This book consists of eight anthropological vignettes. Each examines specific researchers or topics that had a special impact on South African physical anthropology.</p>
<p>The first chapters focus on the early researchers in South Africa’s museums and newly opened medical schools. <a href="https://unsm-ento.unl.edu/workers/LPeringuey.htm">Louis Péringuey</a> and <a href="https://www.s2a3.org.za/bio/Biograph_final.php?serial=937">Frederick FitzSimons</a> began the collection of human skeletons that would be used to describe the prehistoric peoples of South Africa. <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335291745_The_anatomical_and_anthropological_wayfaring_of_Matthew_Robertson_Drennan_1885-1965">Matthew Drennan</a> and <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/raymond-arthur-dart">Raymond Dart</a> provided the professional anatomical expertise which would define the “age of typology”. It saw both living and ancient peoples placed in distinct racial categories. </p>
<p>The break with the rigid racial hierarchies came about in the 1950s and 1960s. This, under the leadership of Ronald Singer in Cape Town and Phillip Tobias in Johannesburg. The arrival of the “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23736836">new physical anthropology</a>” on South African shores is intimately connected with these two researchers. It created a new dynamic in scientific approach exactly at the time when the policy of apartheid was being implemented. </p>
<p>The last two chapters look at the implementation of apartheid and how the creation of racial types in the first half of the 20th century not only misdirected archaeology but also gave legitimacy to <a href="https://www.apartheidmuseum.org/exhibitions/race-classification">apartheid’s classification system</a>. Scientists themselves seemed to be unaware that their lack of comment on the absurdity of apartheid was a statement in itself.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179774/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alan G Morris does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Scientists themselves seemed to be unaware that their lack of comment on the absurdity of apartheid was a statement in itself.Alan G Morris, Professor of Biological Anthropology, University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1705262022-02-21T13:15:52Z2022-02-21T13:15:52ZWhy do humans have bones instead of cartilage like sharks?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436158/original/file-20211207-25-1um6iea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1639%2C893&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cartilage makes this scalloped hammerhead shark's body flexible.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/nPi6YE">NOAA NMFS</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/curious-kids-us-74795">Curious Kids</a> is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">curiouskidsus@theconversation.com</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Why do humans have bones instead of cartilage like sharks? – Natalya N., age 12, Aliso Viejo, California</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>First, let’s talk about the difference between bone and cartilage. They both are materials that can make up a skeleton, but they are quite different. </p>
<p>Bone doesn’t bend. It is very strong, but it’s also brittle and can break with too much pressure. Cartilage is strong, but it is squishier and can bend. </p>
<p>Human skeletons are made of bone, but we also have cartilage in our ears and noses and as padding in our joints. In fact, <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/how-many-bones-does-a-baby-have#bone-composition-at-birth">much of our skeleton is cartilage when we are babies</a>, but as we grow it is replaced by bone. </p>
<p>Cartilage is too rubbery to support the weight of a person. If our skeletons were made of cartilage, we would collapse under the weight of gravity. Our bodies need the unbending strength of bone to support their weight on land.</p>
<p>In the water, however, sharks’ cartilaginous skeletons have helped them survive and thrive. Since cartilage is lighter than bone, sharks don’t have to work as hard to swim. This is very important, because they sink if they stop swimming. If they had heavier skeletons, they would have to work harder and spend more energy just to keep moving. </p>
<p>Cartilage is strong but flexible, so it helps sharks be fast and maneuverable swimmers. That helps them catch prey and avoid predators. And sharks do have predators. Many large sharks, like <a href="https://www.sharks.org/great-hammerhead-shark-sphyrna-mokarran">great hammerheads</a>, love to eat smaller sharks. And <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/great-white-sharks-are-completely-terrified-orcas-180972009/">orcas, or killer whales, will eat large white sharks</a>. Some sharks, like <a href="https://www.sharks.org/lemon-shark-negaprion-brevirostris">lemon sharks</a>, will even eat smaller members of their own species.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oz6zOyZpYTY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Rays are members of the shark family and also have skeletons made of cartilage. Their flexible winglike fins enable them to “fly” through the water – and, sometimes, to leap into the air.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The benefits of bone</h2>
<p>There are currently around 1,000 species of fish with cartilage for skeletons, and more than 28,000 fish species with mostly bony skeletons. Since bone doesn’t bend and can be very strong, it can help muscles work better by providing unbending support. So having bones opens up more possibilities for how a body is put together and how it can be moved through the water.</p>
<p>For example, there are lots of different shapes of bony fish. Many of them use the <a href="https://fishionary.fisheries.org/pectoral-fins/">pectoral fins on their sides</a> to move around, instead of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqErSOEjHe4&t=21099s">propelling themselves with their tails like sharks</a>. That enables them to move forward and backward, which is very handy for moving in and out of tight spots, like nooks in a coral reef.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438231/original/file-20211217-19-128ac8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Gray model of a fish head with gaping jaws and large front teeth" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438231/original/file-20211217-19-128ac8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438231/original/file-20211217-19-128ac8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438231/original/file-20211217-19-128ac8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438231/original/file-20211217-19-128ac8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438231/original/file-20211217-19-128ac8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438231/original/file-20211217-19-128ac8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438231/original/file-20211217-19-128ac8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A model of a fossil placoderm skull that was found in what is now northeast Ohio.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/U9Jihc">James St. John/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>More than 400 million years ago, an ancient group of fish called the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/placoderm">placoderms</a> were the first fish to develop jaws. This was important because it helped them become impressive predators. </p>
<p>Placoderms had amazing bony plates that protected their heads and parts of their bodies, but the rest of their skeletons were made of cartilage. That’s one reason we find fossils of their head and jaw plates but not the rest of their skeleton. Cartilage rarely fossilizes.</p>
<h2>Our fishy family tree</h2>
<p>Placoderms are probably the ancestors of two major groups of fish – modern sharks and rays, with skeletons made of cartilage, and bony fish. Both groups have survived for hundreds of millions of years. But it was bony fish that <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/crossopterygia">gave rise to amphibians</a> – the first creatures that left the sea and developed limbs and lungs that enabled them to live on land.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436162/original/file-20211207-149721-owxl3r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Graphic showing vertebrate evolution starting with jawed fish" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436162/original/file-20211207-149721-owxl3r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436162/original/file-20211207-149721-owxl3r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=233&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436162/original/file-20211207-149721-owxl3r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=233&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436162/original/file-20211207-149721-owxl3r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=233&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436162/original/file-20211207-149721-owxl3r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436162/original/file-20211207-149721-owxl3r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436162/original/file-20211207-149721-owxl3r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Vertebrates on land, including humans, evolved from bony fish starting more than 400 million years ago.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2021.01.046">Dr. Guojie Zhang</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Those amphibians with their bony skeletons <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/reptile/Evolution-and-paleontology">gave rise to reptiles</a>, and <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/meet-the-ancient-reptile-that-gave-rise-to-mammals/">from reptiles came birds and mammals</a> – eventually including humans. That means we can trace our bones all the way back to ancient fish. Today there are about 60,000 species on Earth with skeletons of bone swimming, living on land or flying through the air.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com</a>. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.</em></p>
<p><em>And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you’re wondering, too. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170526/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Heithaus receives funding from the National Science Foundation, Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, and Shark Conservation Fund. </span></em></p>Hard and strong, or bendy and flexible? A cartilaginous skeleton provides advantages in the ocean, but wouldn’t stand up to life on land.Michael Heithaus, Executive Dean of the College of Arts, Sciences & Education and Professor of Biological Sciences, Florida International UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1749632022-02-07T19:08:45Z2022-02-07T19:08:45ZHow centuries-old bones from Australia’s historic shipwrecks can help us solve crimes<p>Rivers, lakes and the sea frequently host scenes of death and crime. When a body is pulled from a watery grave – due to, for instance, drowning, floods, tsunamis, shipwrecks, air crashes or murder – specialist investigative techniques are used to piece together what may have happened. </p>
<p>This discipline, known as aquatic forensics, brings together knowledge from underwater archaeology, anthropology, marine biology and marine science. But it is still in its infancy and there’s much left to learn.</p>
<p>The investigation of a body recovered from the water is challenging enough, with so much evidence washed (or eaten!) away, and the chemistry of decomposition so profoundly affected by water. But when only the bones or the teeth of a victim are found, the mystery becomes nearly impossible to solve.</p>
<p>To help bridge this knowledge gap, we’ve spent years studying archaeological bones collected from historical shipwrecks that have rested on the seabed for centuries. We’re searching for ways to use recovered bones and teeth to better understand time spent in the sea, and the overall journey of the mortal remains.</p>
<p>Our findings may one day assist forensic investigations on more recent bones, such as when complete or partial skeletons (human or non-human) are recovered from oceans, lakes or rivers – or are just beached on the shore.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/crime-wont-stop-because-of-covid-so-how-should-we-protect-crime-scene-investigators-174870">Crime won't stop because of COVID. So how should we protect crime scene investigators?</a>
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<h2>Reconstructing the chain of events</h2>
<p>The study of bones and teeth help investigators learn about the person’s sex and age, and potentially identify a specific individual by studying dental restorations and DNA. In the best case scenario, a facial reconstruction will be be possible. However, sometime we can only determine if it’s not a human bone after all but rather that of an animal.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443973/original/file-20220202-21-15htshi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Artefacts recovered from the site of the Dutch vessel Vergulde Draeck include piles of silver coins." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443973/original/file-20220202-21-15htshi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443973/original/file-20220202-21-15htshi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=818&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443973/original/file-20220202-21-15htshi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=818&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443973/original/file-20220202-21-15htshi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=818&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443973/original/file-20220202-21-15htshi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1028&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443973/original/file-20220202-21-15htshi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1028&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443973/original/file-20220202-21-15htshi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1028&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Artefacts recovered from the site of the Dutch vessel Vergulde Draeck include piles of silver coins.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/heritage/photodb/imagesearch.pl?proc=detail;barcode_no=dig005114">Western Australian Museum</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But special characteristics of bones and teeth and the organisms connected to them can help investigators reconstruct the chain of events that occurred after death and before the recovery. This reconstruction is the object of taphonomy research.</p>
<p>Taphonomy is a scientific term coined in 1940 to describe the processes through which organic remains, such as bone and teeth, are transformed over time and pass from the biosphere (the world of life) to the lithosphere (the world of rocks and dust).</p>
<h2>Shipwreck bones</h2>
<p>Our team has been analysing sheep, pig and cow bones discovered in decayed wooden barrels during underwater archaeological excavations of historical shipwrecks off the coast of Western Australia.</p>
<p>The bones and the teeth of this study are part of the collections of the <a href="https://visit.museum.wa.gov.au/shipwrecks">WA Shipwrecks Museum</a>. </p>
<p>They belong to the underwater archaeological sites of:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the <a href="https://museum.wa.gov.au/research/research-projects/archaeology/batavia-shipwreck-study-batavia-ships-hull-remains">Batavia</a>, a Dutch East India Company ship wrecked in 1629</p></li>
<li><p>the <a href="https://www.museum.wa.gov.au/maritime-archaeology-db/roaring-40s/vergulde-draeck">Vergulde Draeck</a> a Dutch East India Company ship wrecked in in 1656 </p></li>
<li><p>the <a href="https://www.museum.wa.gov.au/maritime-archaeology-db/wrecks/id-806">Zeewijk</a>, a Dutch East India Company ship wrecked in 1727, and</p></li>
<li><p>the <a href="https://museum.wa.gov.au/research/collections/maritime-archaeology/maritime-shipwrecks/rapid">Rapid</a>, an America-China trader wrecked in 1811.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The first three were wrecked while sailing towards Jakarta, following what was known as the <a href="https://museum.wa.gov.au/about/latest-news/problem-longitude-relation-discovery-australia">Brouwer Route</a>, whereas Rapid was sailing from Boston to Canton (now Guangzhou).</p>
<p>The wrecks were located between the 1960s and 1970s – some accidentally and some after long research – by recreational divers and underwater archaeologists. The wrecks contained many other artefacts, including piles of silver coins.</p>
<p>Our research has been looking at bones submerged in seawater and/or surrounded by marine sediment for anywhere between 169 and 347 years. The work is ongoing but, so far, we’ve:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/oa.3072">identified special chemical clues</a> or “geochemical fingerprints” of a process known as diagenesis (meaning the changes that occur on skeletal material over time)</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/oa.3013">reported</a> new insights into how marine single-celled organisms called foraminifera affect the dissolving spaces inside submerged bone. These microorganisms, largely used for ecological and paleontological studies, can provide a treasure trove of information for investigators trying to work out how much time has passed since death.</p></li>
<li><p>built a better understanding of how <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25538026/">bioerosion by bacteria and coloniser animals such as barnacles</a> affects bones underwater.</p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444444/original/file-20220203-19-mbe8ic.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Here's a bone sample with tiny microfossils in it. These microorganisms can provide a treasure trove of information for investigators." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444444/original/file-20220203-19-mbe8ic.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444444/original/file-20220203-19-mbe8ic.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444444/original/file-20220203-19-mbe8ic.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444444/original/file-20220203-19-mbe8ic.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444444/original/file-20220203-19-mbe8ic.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444444/original/file-20220203-19-mbe8ic.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444444/original/file-20220203-19-mbe8ic.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Here’s a bone sample with tiny microfossils in it. These microorganisms can provide a treasure trove of information for investigators.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Edda Guareschi</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Bones can be found in the sea after a long time only if they have been contained and protected by hard structures, such as the hull of a ship or the cabin of an aircraft. Otherwise, marine animals will attack, scatter and fragment them. Other animals will use them as a shelter.</p>
<p>After a long time within the remnants of a wreck, bones can become enclosed in concretions formed by iron objects that were aboard the ship. As time passes, the chemical elements of the bones change, with the addition of chemical elements normally absent in living bone. </p>
<p>The combination of everything added and removed from bones during their long rest underwater can help investigators reconstruct the events after death. </p>
<p>This knowledge can be <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7771557/Human-skull-skeleton-dredged-depths-Thames-belonged-18th-century-convict.html">crucial</a> in forensic investigations.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444161/original/file-20220202-19-61jsgi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444161/original/file-20220202-19-61jsgi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444161/original/file-20220202-19-61jsgi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444161/original/file-20220202-19-61jsgi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444161/original/file-20220202-19-61jsgi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444161/original/file-20220202-19-61jsgi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444161/original/file-20220202-19-61jsgi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444161/original/file-20220202-19-61jsgi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An example of a bone enclosed in a marine concretion, from Rapid (1811).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/174963/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Edda Guareschi is Visiting Researcher at the WA Shipwrecks Museum.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paola A. Magni does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We’re searching for ways to use recovered bones and teeth to better understand time spent in the sea, and the overall journey of the mortal remains.Paola A. Magni, Senior Lecturer in Forensic Science, Murdoch UniversityEdda Guareschi, Adjunct Lecturer in Forensic Sciences, Murdoch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1702392021-11-03T09:25:11Z2021-11-03T09:25:11ZForensic science is unlocking the mysteries of fatal lightning strikes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428469/original/file-20211026-27-1weocut.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lightning storm over Johannesburg, South Africa.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dr Carina Schumann, Johannesburg Lightning Research Lab, University of the Witwatersrand.</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Lightning is one of the most powerful sources of energy in the natural environment. As anyone who has spent time in Johannesburg during the South African summer will attest, there is nothing as spectacular as a Highveld thunderstorm at the end of a long, hot day: the scent of <a href="https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/learn-about/weather/types-of-weather/rain/petrichor">petrichor</a>, torrents of cooling rain, booms of thunder and great spears of lightning across the sky.</p>
<p>These storms are awe inspiring – but also dangerous to people, animals and the built environment. <a href="https://journals.sajs.aosis.co.za/index.php/sajs/article/view/740/1074">African countries</a>, among them Zambia and Uganda, have some of the highest lightning fatality rates in the world. In South Africa, more than <a href="https://journals.lww.com/amjforensicmedicine/Abstract/2005/03000/Lightning_Fatalities_on_the_South_African.11.aspx">250 people are killed by lightning annually</a>. </p>
<p>The exact number of deaths isn’t clear, due to under reporting, but estimates from <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-77563-0">28 countries</a> suggest there are up to 24,000 lightning fatalities annually worldwide.</p>
<p>Deaths can’t always be definitely attributed to lightning because, while its marks are easy to spot on the skin or in the organs, nobody was sure how to identify its marks on skeletonised remains. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fEtI2pbtrNo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Lightning storm over Johannesburg, South Africa. Video produced by Patrick Randolph-Quinney (Northumbria University and the University of the Witwatersrand).</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our research changes this. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsisyn.2021.100206">Our study</a>, published in the journal Forensic Science International: Synergy, represents collaboration between specialists in forensic anthropology, histology, lightning physics, and micro-focus X-ray computed tomography from the universities of the <a href="https://www.wits.ac.za/news/latest-news/research-news/">Witwatersrand</a> in South Africa, <a href="https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/academic-departments/applied-sciences/research/">Northumbria</a> in the UK, and the <a href="https://www.necsa.co.za/">Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa</a>.</p>
<p>This work can help forensic teams understand whether people or animals were the victims of fatal lightning strikes, based solely on an analysis of their skeletons. This may allow an attribution of accidental death in cases where cause is not apparent, and allow experts to build a more complete picture of the true incidence of lightning fatalities.</p>
<h2>Cause and effect</h2>
<p>When a lightning death is suspected, forensic pathologists determine cause of death by looking for signs of lightning trauma in the deceased’s skin and internal organs. </p>
<p>When a body is struck, fatally or not, the immense electrical current can cause cardiac and respiratory arrest, as well as neurological damage. Ear drums may rupture; bones may fracture, and there will be severe electrical burns at entry and exit sites, particularly on the soles of the feet. Lightning can also produce unique markers in the skin, termed <a href="https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/what-does-it-look-when-person-gets-struck-lightning/">Lichtenberg figures</a>. These are branching or fern-like patterns caused by electrical damage to superficial blood vessels in the skin.</p>
<p>However, when a skeletonised body is recovered, soft tissues are absent; lightning cannot confidently be attributed as the cause of death. </p>
<p>Our research started with a simple question of cause and effect: does lightning leave recognisable traumatic traces or characteristic lesions when passing through the skeleton? If we discovered unidentified human remains in the South African bush, could we determine whether they were the victim of a fatal lightning strike?</p>
<p>We then generated artificial lightning in the laboratory applied directly to human bone samples extracted from donated bodies who had died of natural causes. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ecOSDOPc_Y4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Artificial lightning produced in the lab passing through a block of human bone. Video produced by Patrick Randolph-Quinney (Northumbria University and the University of the Witwatersrand).</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.wits.ac.za/eie/research-groups/johannesburg-lightning-research-lab--wits/">Lightning physicists</a> set up a high-current impulse generator in our lab at the <a href="https://www.wits.ac.za/anatomicalsciences/">Wits Medical School</a> which could deliver up to 15,000 amps to the bone in a few micro seconds.</p>
<p>Generating such high impulse currents allowed us to mimic the effect of lightning passing through the skeleton. Natural lightning can often have significantly higher current levels, but this experimental setup gave us much greater control than trying to somehow place human tissue in the path of a natural lightning strike.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428293/original/file-20211025-27-pf3epl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428293/original/file-20211025-27-pf3epl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428293/original/file-20211025-27-pf3epl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=301&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428293/original/file-20211025-27-pf3epl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=301&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428293/original/file-20211025-27-pf3epl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=301&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428293/original/file-20211025-27-pf3epl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428293/original/file-20211025-27-pf3epl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428293/original/file-20211025-27-pf3epl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Experimental lightning trauma in action. Left image shows bone before current is applied. Middle image is a high-speed capture of the passage of current. Right image is the bone following current passage, with effects of barotrauma showing the splitting apart of bone tissue by internal pressure wave.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nicholas Bacci, School of Anatomical Sciences and Hugh Hunt, Johannesburg Lightning Research Laboratory, University of the Witwatersrand.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Imaging lightning damage</h2>
<p>Once the current was applied, we cut the bone into thin slices and imaged it using optical microscopy and micro-CT. By looking at the bone at a cellular level we saw there was a pattern of damage uniquely caused by short duration lightning current passing through its cells. </p>
<p>This damage took the form of cracks radiating out from the centre of canals in the bone, or jumping irregularly between clusters of cells. The overall pattern of damage looked very different when compared to other high energy trauma, such as that caused by burning in fire. </p>
<p>We saw the same pattern of trauma in animals killed by natural lightning. We compared the human results with bone from a <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6973330">wild giraffe</a> that was known to have been struck; the pattern of damage was identical even though the micro-structure of human bone is very different from giraffe bone. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429184/original/file-20211028-28-x5cu0y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429184/original/file-20211028-28-x5cu0y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1304&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429184/original/file-20211028-28-x5cu0y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1304&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429184/original/file-20211028-28-x5cu0y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1304&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429184/original/file-20211028-28-x5cu0y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1638&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429184/original/file-20211028-28-x5cu0y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1638&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429184/original/file-20211028-28-x5cu0y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1638&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Patterns of micro-trauma and micro-factures caused by the passage of experimentally induced current in human bone (middle) and a known case of fatal natural lightning strike in a juvenile giraffe (bottom). A control sample of human bone (undamaged) is seen in the top panel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Patrick Randolph-Quinney, Forensic Science Research Group, Northumbria University and Tanya Augustine & Nicholas Bacci, School of Anatomical Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The smoking gun</h2>
<p>So, what was the specific mechanism that caused these micro-fractures to form? We think there are two options which, alone or in combination, would produce this damage. </p>
<p>Firstly, the current itself produces a high-pressure shock wave when travelling through the bone. Lightning specialists term this barotrauma: the passage of electrical energy literally blows bone cells apart. </p>
<p>Secondly, bone behaves strangely when placed in an electric field. This is termed a <a href="https://inflammregen.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s41232-018-0059-8">piezoelectric</a> effect. Collagen, the organic part of bone, is arranged as fibres or fibrils. These fibrils rearrange themselves when a current is applied, causing stress to build up in the mineralised and crystallised component of bone, in turn leading to deformation and cracking.</p>
<p>Both of these mechanisms would cause fractures to form. This unique pattern of micro-trauma was the smoking gun we were looking for. </p>
<p>Our research offers a new tool to study lightning fatality in real-world forensic cases. At a time when global climate change <a href="https://environmentjournal.online/articles/the-future-is-not-forecast-how-lightning-is-affected-by-climate-change/">may be driving increases</a> in the number and severity of thunderstorms and lightning strikes, this tool may sadly have to be called upon regularly in death investigation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170239/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicholas Bacci received funding from the FRC, University of the Witwatersrand and the JJJ Smieszek fellowship, School of Anatomical Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tanya Augustine has received funding from the National Research Foundation, Carnegie Corporation Transformation Programme at Wits and the University of the Witwatersrand.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Patrick Randolph-Quinney does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>This tool can identify cause of death by fatal lightning strike in skeletonised remains.Patrick Randolph-Quinney, Associate Professor of Forensic Science, Northumbria University, NewcastleNicholas Bacci, Lecturer, School of Anatomical Sciences, University of the WitwatersrandTanya Nadine Augustine, Senior Lecturer, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1633382021-07-07T19:51:10Z2021-07-07T19:51:10ZAncient skulls show Anglo-Saxon identity was more cultural than genetic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409737/original/file-20210705-21-fuxj7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C34%2C4601%2C2552&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An Anglo-Saxon burial mound in Taplow Court, England.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Scholars have long been fascinated by <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Anglo-Saxon-England">the Anglo-Saxon period of British history</a>, which spans approximately 600 years, from the end of Roman rule in around AD 410 to the start of the Norman conquest in 1066. Unfortunately, because very few contemporary documents are available, a number of important questions about the early part of the period remain unanswered. One of these is: “Who were the Anglo-Saxons?”</p>
<p>There is general agreement that their origins can be traced to a migration of Germanic-speaking people from mainland northwest Europe that began in the early fifth century. But the number of individuals who settled in the British Isles and the nature of their relationship with the pre-existing inhabitants, especially the Romano-British, <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Anglo-Saxons/Marc-Morris/9781643133126">is still unclear</a>.</p>
<h2>Conflicting evidence</h2>
<p>Uncertainty persists because two of the main lines of evidence contradict each other. Historical documents such as Gildas’ <a href="https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/gildas-the-ruin-of-britain#"><em>The Ruin of Britain</em></a>, Bede’s <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ecclesiastical-History-of-the-English-People"><em>The Ecclesiastical History of the English People</em></a> and <a href="http://www.bl.uk/learning/timeline/item126532.html"><em>The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle</em></a> suggest not only that the incomers were numerous, but also that they more or less completely replaced the Romano-British, killing some and pushing the rest to the peripheries.</p>
<p>This picture is not supported by the results of isotopic analyses. Isotopes are different forms of a chemical element that can be distinguished by their atomic masses and physical properties. Isotopic analysis can help determine where an individual grew up.</p>
<p>When isotopes of strontium and oxygen extracted from Anglo-Saxon skeletons have been compared, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2013.10.025">they have pointed to only a few of the individuals having grown up in mainland Europe</a>. This has been interpreted as evidence that the Romano-British were not replaced. Rather, they adopted a new language and set of values, beliefs and cultural practices from a relatively small number of incomers.</p>
<p>Frustratingly, genetic studies have not been able to clarify the debate. They have returned such a wide range of estimates of the percentage of mainland European ancestry in England that they can support either hypothesis.</p>
<h2>A new line of evidence</h2>
<p>Recently, we published a study in which we used a new line of evidence to investigate the issue: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0252477">the three-dimensional (3D) shape of the base of the skull, which bioarchaeologists usually call the cranial base or basicranium</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.a.20395">Previous research</a> has shown that when the basicranium is analysed in 3D, its shape can be used to track relationships among human populations in a similar way to DNA. We reasoned that collecting such data from Anglo-Saxon skulls and comparing them to similar data from the two potential source regions might shed light on the composition of the Anglo-Saxon population.</p>
<p>Our Anglo-Saxon sample comprised 89 individuals from five cemeteries in the English counties of Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Kent. Three of the cemeteries date to the Early Anglo-Saxon Period (AD 410-660), while the other two date to the Middle Anglo-Saxon Period (AD 660-889). We also collected data on 101 pre-Medieval skeletons from two sites in southern England and 46 individuals from various sites in Denmark that date to the Iron Age (800 BC-AD 399).</p>
<p>To obtain the landmark data, we employed a technique called photogrammetry. We imported 200 photos of each of the 236 skulls (minus the lower jaw) into a software program to create a high-resolution 3D model of each skull. We then used another software program to collect the 3D coordinates of a series of landmarks on the cranial base of each individual.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409739/original/file-20210705-126484-xcr73h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Three images of a skull from different perspectives" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409739/original/file-20210705-126484-xcr73h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409739/original/file-20210705-126484-xcr73h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409739/original/file-20210705-126484-xcr73h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409739/original/file-20210705-126484-xcr73h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409739/original/file-20210705-126484-xcr73h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409739/original/file-20210705-126484-xcr73h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409739/original/file-20210705-126484-xcr73h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Location of the landmarks used in the present study.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Kimberly Plomp)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Indications of mixed ancestry</h2>
<p>Once we had collected the data, we used a set of statistical techniques called geometric morphometrics (GM) to identify similarities and differences in shape among the four groups: Early Anglo-Saxons, Middle Anglo-Saxons, Pre-Medieval British and Pre-Medieval Danish. </p>
<p>Developed in the 1980s, GM has long been an important tool in the study of human evolution, but it has only recently been embraced by bioarchaeologists. GM allows patterns of shape variation to be investigated within a well-understood statistical framework and yields easily interpreted numerical and visual results. In our GM analyses, Anglo-Saxon skulls that shared more similarities with the pre-Medieval British skeletons were considered to have local ancestry, while those that were more similar to the Danish skeletons were deemed to have mainland European ancestry.</p>
<p>The results we obtained suggested a substantial difference between the Early Anglo-Saxon Period sample and the Middle Anglo-Saxon Period. We found that between 66 and 75 per cent of the Early Anglo-Saxon individuals were of mainland European ancestry, while between 25 and 30 per cent were of local ancestry. In contrast, we found that 50 to 70 per cent of the Middle Anglo-Saxon Period individuals were of local ancestry, while 30 to 50 per cent were of mainland European ancestry.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409738/original/file-20210705-126293-y4pmep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A researcher holding a camera takes a photo of a skull — a skeleton and a bookcase in the background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409738/original/file-20210705-126293-y4pmep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409738/original/file-20210705-126293-y4pmep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409738/original/file-20210705-126293-y4pmep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409738/original/file-20210705-126293-y4pmep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409738/original/file-20210705-126293-y4pmep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1009&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409738/original/file-20210705-126293-y4pmep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1009&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409738/original/file-20210705-126293-y4pmep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1009&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One of the authors, Kimberly Plomp, photographing a skull to demonstrate the initial stage of photogrammetry.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Kimberly Plomp)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While our estimates of the percentage of Anglo-Saxons who had mainland European ancestry fall comfortably within the range of estimates derived from genetic data, they contradict the picture painted by both the historical documents and the isotopic evidence. Specifically, our estimates suggest that there was greater persistence of the Romano-British population than the historical documents claim, and a larger number of immigrants than the isotope evidence has been taken to indicate.</p>
<p>We think these discrepancies can be explained relatively easily. It seems likely that the mismatch between our results and the historical documents relates to the fact that the documents were written long after — in some cases, several hundred years after — the migration, and therefore are of questionable accuracy, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2006.3627">which a number of scholars have argued</a>.</p>
<p>We suspect the difference between our results and the isotopes may be the consequence of a misunderstanding. While strontium and oxygen isotopes are informative about where an individual grew up, they don’t tell us about a person’s ancestry. Hence, it is feasible that some, if not all, of the individuals with local isotopic signatures were second-generation immigrants — that is, their parents originated in mainland Europe but they themselves were born and raised in the British Isles.</p>
<h2>Language and culture, not genetics</h2>
<p>There are several potential explanations for the change in composition of the Anglo-Saxon population between the Early Anglo-Saxon Period and the Middle Anglo-Saxon Period, but we think the most likely is that there was an increase in the number of local people adopting an Anglo-Saxon identity through time.</p>
<p>This could have been because being Anglo-Saxon was perceived as higher status than being Romano-British. Alternatively, it could simply have been a consequence of people randomly copying one another. This process, which is known as “cultural drift,” has been <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2003.0045">shown to be able to account for a number of cultural patterns in recent history</a>.</p>
<p>Regardless of the cause of the change in composition, it is clear from our results that being an Anglo-Saxon was more a matter of language and culture than genetics. </p>
<p>Interestingly, this echoes results obtained in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2688-8">the largest ancient DNA study of Vikings published to date</a>. In this study, a number of individuals who were buried as Vikings were found to be of local ancestry, which suggests that being a Viking was also a linguistic and cultural phenomenon rather than a genetic one.</p>
<p>The Anglo-Saxons and Vikings are often viewed in racial terms, with common biological descent deemed to be a key aspect of both groups. However, the results of our study and the Viking DNA one indicate that shared descent was not a requirement for membership of either group. </p>
<p>Instead, it appears that the Anglo-Saxons were a group of individuals of diverse ancestries who shared a common language and culture. The same holds for the Vikings. The Anglo-Saxons and Vikings were, in other words, strikingly similar to the multiracial societies of contemporary northern Europe.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163338/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Collard receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Canada Research Chairs Program, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the British Columbia Knowledge Development Fund, and Simon Fraser University.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kimberly Plomp receives funding from the European Union’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
program, the Wenner Gren Foundation, and MITACS. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Keith Dobney does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New analysis of Anglo-Saxon skulls suggests that being an Anglo-Saxon was a matter of language and culture, and not genetics.Mark Collard, Canada Research Chair in Human Evolutionary Studies, and Professor of Archaeology, Simon Fraser UniversityKeith Dobney, Chair professor, Archaeology, University of SydneyKimberly Plomp, Postdoctoral Researcher, Human Evolutionary Studies, Simon Fraser UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1590412021-04-16T20:16:33Z2021-04-16T20:16:33ZHow many ‘Tyrannosaurus rex’ walked the Earth?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395507/original/file-20210416-21-215xck.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2269%2C1437&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">_Tyrannosaurus rex_ spanned all of ancient North America, and about 20,000 lived at once.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/illustration/tyrannosaurus-rex-dinosaur-royalty-free-illustration/99311107?adppopup=true">Roger Harris/Science Photo Library vie Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>During 2.4 million years of existence on Earth, a total of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abc8300">2.5 billion <em>Tyrannosaurus rex</em> ever lived</a>, and 20,000 individual animals would have been alive at any moment, according to a new calculation method we <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abc8300">described in a paper published on April 15, 2021</a> in the journal Science.</p>
<p>To estimate population, our team of <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=5CGShQUAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">paleontologists</a> and <a href="https://ib.berkeley.edu/labs/marshall/people.php">scientists</a> had to combine the extraordinarily comprehensive existing research on <em>T. rex</em> with an ecological principle that connects <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/290699a0">population density to body size</a>.</p>
<p>From microscopic growth patterns in bones, researchers inferred that <em>T. rex</em> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0708903105">first mated at around 15 years old</a>. With growth records, scientists can also generate survivorship curves – an estimate of a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1125721"><em>T. rex</em>‘s chances of living to a given age</a>. Using these two numbers, our team estimated that <em>T. rex</em> generations took 19 years. Finally, <em>T. rex</em> existed as a species for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0188426">1.2 to 3.6 million years</a>. With all of this information, we calculate that <em>T. rex</em> existed for 66,000 to 188,000 generations. </p>
<p>From the fossil record alone, we had generated a <em>T. rex</em> turnover rate. If our team could estimate the number of individuals in each generation, we would know how many <em>T. rex</em> ever lived. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395516/original/file-20210416-13-n5nimm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A drawing of one elephant on the left next to dozens of rabbits on the right." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395516/original/file-20210416-13-n5nimm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395516/original/file-20210416-13-n5nimm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=345&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395516/original/file-20210416-13-n5nimm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=345&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395516/original/file-20210416-13-n5nimm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=345&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395516/original/file-20210416-13-n5nimm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395516/original/file-20210416-13-n5nimm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395516/original/file-20210416-13-n5nimm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Damouth’s law connects body mass to population density.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sara Volz</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In ecology, there is a well-established relationship between body mass and population density called <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/290699a0">Damuth’s law</a>. Larger animals need more space to survive – one square mile of grassland can support a lot more bunnies than elephants. This relationship is also dependent on metabolism – animals that burn more energy require more space.</p>
<p>Paleontologists have come up with a range of good <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12638">estimates of <em>T. rex</em>’s body mass</a> and have also estimated <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0904000106">its metabolism</a> – slower than mammals but somewhat faster than a large modern lizard, the Komodo dragon. With Damuth’s law, we then estimated that the ancient world held about one <em>T. rex</em> every 42.4 square miles (109.9 square km). That’s about two individuals in the entire area of Washington, D.C.</p>
<p>Now we had all the pieces we needed. Multiplying the population density by the area in which <em>T. rex</em> lived gives us an estimate of 20,000 individuals per generation.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395198/original/file-20210415-17-2ziwwa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Thousands of drawn T. rex showing only a small number turning into fossils." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395198/original/file-20210415-17-2ziwwa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395198/original/file-20210415-17-2ziwwa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395198/original/file-20210415-17-2ziwwa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395198/original/file-20210415-17-2ziwwa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395198/original/file-20210415-17-2ziwwa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395198/original/file-20210415-17-2ziwwa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395198/original/file-20210415-17-2ziwwa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Knowing the total number of <em>T. rex</em> that ever lived unlocks other pieces of knowledge – like the fraction that turn into fossils and were found.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Franz Anthony</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Once we figured out the average population size, we were able to calculate the fossilization rate for <em>T. rex</em> – the chance that a single skeleton would survive to be discovered by humans 66 million years later. The answer: about 1 in 80 million. That is, for every 80 million adult <em>T. rex</em>, there is only one clearly identifiable specimen in a museum. </p>
<p>This number highlights how <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/35000558">incomplete the fossil record is</a> and allows researchers to ask how rare a species could be without disappearing entirely from the fossil record.</p>
<p>Beyond calculating the <em>T. rex</em> fossilization rate, our new method could be used to calculate population size for other extinct species.</p>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>Estimates about extinct animals always include some amount of uncertainty. Our estimate of <em>T. rex</em> population density ranges from one individual for every 2.7 square miles (7 square km) to one for every 665.7 square miles (1,724 square km). But surprisingly, the largest source of this uncertainty comes from Damuth’s law. There is a lot of variation in modern animals. For example, Arctic foxes and Tasmanian devils have similar body mass, but devils have six times the population density.</p>
<p>Further study of living animals could tighten up our estimates on <em>T. rex</em>.</p>
<p>We also don’t know fossilization rates of other long extinct dinosaurs. If we have many fossils of one species, does that mean they were more common than <em>T. rex</em>, or do we simply recover their fossils more often? </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395500/original/file-20210416-19-jbcpr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A skeleton of T. rex." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395500/original/file-20210416-19-jbcpr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395500/original/file-20210416-19-jbcpr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395500/original/file-20210416-19-jbcpr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395500/original/file-20210416-19-jbcpr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395500/original/file-20210416-19-jbcpr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395500/original/file-20210416-19-jbcpr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395500/original/file-20210416-19-jbcpr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The huge amount of research that has been done on <em>T. rex</em> played an important role in making this calculation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FMNH_SUE_Trex.jpg#/media/File:FMNH_SUE_Trex.jpg">Evolutionnumber9/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>This study might lead to other hidden facts about <em>T. rex</em> biology and ecology. </p>
<p>For instance, we might be able to learn whether <em>T. rex</em> populations fluctuated up and down with <em>Triceratops</em> – similar to <a href="https://isleroyalewolf.org/data/data/home.html">wolf and moose predator and prey relationships today</a>. However, most other dinosaurs <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0016574">do not yet have the incredibly rich data</a> from decades of careful fieldwork that allowed our team to tally up <em>T. rex</em>. </p>
<p>If scientists want to apply this powerful technique to other extinct animals, we’ve got some more digging to do.</p>
<iframe src="https://embed.acast.com/60087127b9687759d637bade/60781590fbe1eb33d652507a?cover=true&ga=false" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay" width="100%" height="110"></iframe>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/dinosaurs-from-giant-reptiles-to-warm-blooded-feathered-creatures-how-our-understanding-of-what-they-looked-like-has-changed-podcast-158905">The Conversation Weekly podcast</a> digs into new research shedding light on the real size and feathery appearance of dinosaurs.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159041/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Using the incredible wealth of fossil data and a modern ecological theory, researchers estimated population density for the extinct apex predator.Ashley Poust, Research Associate in Paleontology, University of California, BerkeleyDaniel Varajão de Latorre, Ph.D. Student in Paleontology, University of California, BerkeleyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1571012021-03-29T18:41:07Z2021-03-29T18:41:07ZGodzilla vs. Kong: A functional morphologist uses science to pick a winner<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392328/original/file-20210329-23-c1eknf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=41%2C0%2C746%2C444&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Hollywood has picked a winner, but what does the science say?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.warnerbros.com/movies/godzilla-vs-kong#gallery">Courtesy of Warner Bros Entertainment</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The 2021 film <a href="https://www.imdb.com/video/vi576962841?playlistId=tt5034838">“Godzilla vs. Kong”</a> pits the two most iconic movie monsters of all time against each other. And fans are now picking sides.</p>
<p>Even the most fantastical creatures have some basis in scientific reality, so the natural world is a good place to look to better understand movie monsters. <a href="https://www.formorphology.com/">I study</a> functional morphology – how skeletal and tissue traits allow animals to move – and evolution in extinct animals. I am also a huge fan of monster movies. Ultimately, this is a fight between a giant reptile and a giant primate, and there are relative biological advantages and disadvantages that each would have. The research I do on morphology and biomechanics can tell us a lot about this battle and might help you decide – #TeamGodzilla or #TeamKong? </p>
<h2>Larger than life</h2>
<p>First it’s important to acknowledge that both Kong and Godzilla are definitely far beyond the realms of biological possibility. This is due to sheer size and the laws of physics. Their hearts couldn’t pump blood to their heads, they would have temperature regulation problems and it would take too long for nerve signals from the brain to reach distant parts of the body – <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/godzilla-king-of-the-monsters-movie-size-too-big-2019-5">to name just a few issues</a>.</p>
<p>However, let’s assume that somehow Godzilla and Kong are able to overcome these size limitations – perhaps because of their radiation exposure they have distinctive mutations and characteristics. Based on how they look on the big screen, let’s explore the observable differences that might prove useful in a fight.</p>
<h2>Kong: the best of ape and human</h2>
<p>At first glance, Kong is a colossal primate - but he’s not simply a giant gorilla. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391533/original/file-20210324-17-9g6tvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An upright human skeleton next to a gorilla skeleton on all fours." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391533/original/file-20210324-17-9g6tvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391533/original/file-20210324-17-9g6tvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391533/original/file-20210324-17-9g6tvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391533/original/file-20210324-17-9g6tvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391533/original/file-20210324-17-9g6tvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391533/original/file-20210324-17-9g6tvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391533/original/file-20210324-17-9g6tvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kong has a mix of both gorilla and humanlike physical traits.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Search&limit=100&offset=0&ns0=1&ns6=1&ns12=1&ns14=1&ns100=1&ns106=1&search=gorilla+skeleton+human+filetype%3Abitmap&advancedSearch-current={%22fields%22:{%22filetype%22:%22bitmap%22}}#/media/File:Human_(Homo_sapiens)_and_Gorilla_(Gorilla_gorilla).jpg">Cliff/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One of the most striking things about Kong is his upright, bipedal stance – he mostly walks on two legs, unlike any other living nonhuman apes. This ability could suggest close evolutionary relationship to the only living upright ape, humans – or his upright stance could be the result of <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/convergent_evolution.htm">convergent evolution</a>. Either way, like us, Kong has thick muscular legs geared toward walking and running, and large free arms with grasping hands, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2012.04.001">enabling him to use tools</a>. </p>
<p>Humanity’s bipedal, upright posture is unique in the animal kingdom and provides a slew of biomechanical abilities that Kong might share. For example, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9416">human torsos are highly flexible</a> and particularly good at rotation. This feature – in addition to our loose shoulder girdle – makes <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-humans-became-the-best-throwers-on-the-planet-131189">humans the best throwers</a> in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2007.0107">the animal kingdom</a>. Throwing is helpful in a fight, and Kong could probably <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12267">throw with the best of them</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391559/original/file-20210324-21-1j1ifks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A gorilla skull showing the tall saggital crest on top." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391559/original/file-20210324-21-1j1ifks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391559/original/file-20210324-21-1j1ifks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=618&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391559/original/file-20210324-21-1j1ifks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=618&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391559/original/file-20210324-21-1j1ifks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=618&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391559/original/file-20210324-21-1j1ifks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391559/original/file-20210324-21-1j1ifks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391559/original/file-20210324-21-1j1ifks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The tall ridge of bone on top of a gorilla’s skull helps it bite with incredible force.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gorilla_Male_perspective_5.jpg#/media/File:Gorilla_Male_perspective_5.jpg">Didier Descouens/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Kong is also, of course, massive. He absolutely dwarfs the largest known primate, an extinct orangutan relative called <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.23150"><em>Gigantopithecus</em></a> that was a bit bigger than modern gorillas.</p>
<p>Kong does have many gorillalike attributes as well, including long muscular arms, a short snout with large canine teeth, and a tall sagittal crest – a ridge of bone on his head that would be the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/joa.12609">anchor point for some exceptionally strong jaw muscles</a>.</p>
<p>Strong, agile, comfortable on land and with the unparalleled ability to use tools and throw, Kong would be a brutal force in a fight.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391527/original/file-20210324-23-wyux78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A comparison between an upright Godzilla and a horizontal Godzilla." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391527/original/file-20210324-23-wyux78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391527/original/file-20210324-23-wyux78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=651&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391527/original/file-20210324-23-wyux78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=651&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391527/original/file-20210324-23-wyux78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=651&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391527/original/file-20210324-23-wyux78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=818&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391527/original/file-20210324-23-wyux78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=818&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391527/original/file-20210324-23-wyux78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=818&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Godzilla’s upright posture is unique among lizards and dinosaurs. Figure depicts what he’d look like with a dinosaur posture.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Godzilla_Compare.jpg#/media/File:Godzilla_Compare.jpg">Kenneth Carpenter/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Godzilla: An aquatic lizard to be reckoned with</h2>
<p>Godzilla appears to be a giant, semiaquatic reptile. Like Kong, Godzilla has the traits of a few different species.</p>
<p>Recent Godzilla movies show him decently mobile on land, but seemingly much more comfortable in the water despite his lack of overt aquatic features. Interestingly, Godzilla is depicted with gills on his neck – a trait that land vertebrates lost after <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icm055">they emerged from the sea about 370 million years ago</a>. Given Godzilla’s terrestrial features, it’s likely that his species has land-dwelling reptile ancestors and reevolved a mostly aquatic lifestyle – kind of like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2005.0406">sea turtles</a> or sea snakes, which can actually <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0300-9629(75)90387-4">absorb oxygen through their skin</a> in water. Godzilla may have uniquely reevolved gills.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391846/original/file-20210325-19-1p3dr3u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An image of a Tyrannosaurus rex showing large tail muscles connecting to the upper leg and hip." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391846/original/file-20210325-19-1p3dr3u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391846/original/file-20210325-19-1p3dr3u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=240&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391846/original/file-20210325-19-1p3dr3u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=240&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391846/original/file-20210325-19-1p3dr3u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=240&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391846/original/file-20210325-19-1p3dr3u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391846/original/file-20210325-19-1p3dr3u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391846/original/file-20210325-19-1p3dr3u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dinosaurs like <em>Tyrannosaurus rex</em> had huge muscles that connect their powerful tails to their hips and upper legs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.skeletaldrawing.com/">Dr. Scott Hartman</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Godzilla’s tail is what really separates him from Kong. It is massive, and anchored and moved by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.21290">huge muscles attached to his legs, hips and lower back</a>. Dinosaurs like <em>Tyrannosaurus rex</em> stood horizontally and used their tails for balance and to help them walk and run. Godzilla, in contrast, stands vertically and keeps his tail low to the ground, probably for a different type of balance. This vertical posture is unique for a two-legged reptile and more <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2014.0381">resembles a standing kangaroo</a>. Godzilla stands on two muscular, pillarlike legs similar to those of a sauropod dinosaur. These would provide stability and help support his gargantuan mass but would also bolster the strength of his tail.</p>
<p>In addition to his powerful tail, Godzilla carries three rows of sharp spikes going down his back, thick scaly skin, a relatively small head full of carnivorous teeth and free arms with grasping hands, all built onto a muscular body. Taken together, Godzilla is a terrifying and intimidating adversary.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391561/original/file-20210324-19-jhyqtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Godzilla shooting King Kong with his atomic breath from the 1962 film 'King Kong vs. Godzilla' " src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391561/original/file-20210324-19-jhyqtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391561/original/file-20210324-19-jhyqtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=859&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391561/original/file-20210324-19-jhyqtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=859&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391561/original/file-20210324-19-jhyqtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=859&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391561/original/file-20210324-19-jhyqtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1079&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391561/original/file-20210324-19-jhyqtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1079&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391561/original/file-20210324-19-jhyqtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1079&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kong is faster and could use tools, but Godzilla is stronger and has armored skin.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/gameraboy/48298898271/in/photostream/">Tim Simpson/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Ready, fight!</h2>
<p>So now that we’ve looked a little closer at how Godzilla and Kong are built, let’s imagine who might emerge victorious in battle.</p>
<p>Though Kong is a little bit smaller than Godzilla, both are more or less comparably massive in size and neither has a clear advantage here. So what about their fighting abilities? </p>
<p>Godzilla would likely favor his robust tail for both offense and defense – much like modern-day large lizards that <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2017.2299">use their strong tails as whips</a>. Scale up that strength to Godzilla’s size, and that tail becomes a lethal weapon – which he <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO_utO644sk&ab_channel=Gigan2004">has used before</a>.</p>
<p>However, Kong is more comfortable on land, faster and more agile, can use his strong legs to jump, and possesses much stronger arms than Godzilla – Kong probably packs a walloping punch. And as an ape, Kong would also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0030380">likely use tools to some degree</a> and might even capitalize on his throwing ability.</p>
<p>Both would have a gnarly bite, with Kong likely getting a slight advantage. However, Godzilla’s bite is by no means weak, and all of his teeth are flesh-piercing, similar to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmbbm.2019.05.025">crocodile</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1666/0094-8373-35.4.525">monitor lizard</a> teeth.</p>
<p>On defense, Godzilla has the edge, with thick scaly skin and sharp spikes. He might even act like a porcupine, turning his back to a rapidly approaching threat. However, Kong’s superior agility on land should be able to offer him some protection as well.</p>
<p>I will admit I am #TeamGodzilla, but it’s very close. I may give a slight edge to Kong in broad terrestrial battle ability, but Godzilla’s general mass, defense and tail would be hard to overpower. And lest we forget, the tipping point for Godzilla is that he has atomic breath! Until researchers find evidence of a dinosaur or animal with something like that, though, I will have to reserve my scientific judgment. </p>
<p>Regardless of who emerges victorious, this battle will be one for the ages, and I am excited as both a scientist and monster movie fan.</p>
<p><em>This article has been updated to use more inclusive language</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157101/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kiersten Formoso receives funding from the National Science Foundation, Paleontological Society, and Evolving Earth Foundation. </span></em></p>Hollywood loves a good monster battle, and where better to turn for inspiration than the animal kingdom? Traits from real animals can provide clues about the fighting prowess of Kong and Godzilla.Kiersten Formoso, PhD Student in Vertebrate Paleontology, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1488472020-10-28T18:52:33Z2020-10-28T18:52:33ZLife after death: How insects rise from the dead and transform corpses into skeletons<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/366218/original/file-20201028-15-1w2f8fi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=461%2C197%2C10423%2C4841&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The process of turning a newly dead animal into a bony skeleton relies on an explosion of life that ushers in decomposition.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s that time of the year when skeletons, skulls and bones have found their way onto cookies, porches and storefront windows. </p>
<p>While skeletons are universally considered symbols of death, the process of turning a newly dead animal into a bony skeleton relies on an explosion of life that ushers in the process of decomposition. Much of this transformative process is performed by wriggling, scuttling, scurrying insects.</p>
<p>Through decades of careful observation and experimentation, entomologists have described a five-stage model of decomposition. This model explains how insects, in close collaboration with microorganisms, transform a warm body into a pile of bones while simultaneously recycling carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous and numerous other nutrients <a href="https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00442-012-2460-3.pdf">so that other living things may grow and thrive</a>.</p>
<h2>It begins with a corpse</h2>
<p>The first stage of decomposition (termed “the fresh stage”) occurs between the moment of death and the first signs of bloat. Within this period there are no outward signs of physical change, but bacteria already living within the carcass begin to digest tissues within the body. </p>
<p>Insects start arriving in the minutes to hours after the animal has died. Most insects colonizing during this initial period are flies from the <em>Calliphoridae</em> (blowflies), <em>Muscidae</em> (house flies) and <em>Sarcophagidae</em> (flesh flies) families. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365825/original/file-20201027-23-24ihq2.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365825/original/file-20201027-23-24ihq2.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=171&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365825/original/file-20201027-23-24ihq2.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=171&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365825/original/file-20201027-23-24ihq2.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=171&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365825/original/file-20201027-23-24ihq2.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=214&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365825/original/file-20201027-23-24ihq2.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=214&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365825/original/file-20201027-23-24ihq2.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=214&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A selection of carrion-feeding flies that appear during the fresh stage of decomposition. A blowfly (left), a house fly (centre), a flesh fly (right).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Kallerna/Wikimedia Commons; USDAgov/Flickr; Muhammad_Mahdi_Karim/Wikimedia Commons)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These early flies seek out prime real estate to deposit their eggs. This is generally limited to the animal’s natural cavities (e.g. nostrils or mouth), or within any external injuries (e.g. abrasions). The moisture levels and soft tissue within these areas makes an ideal nursery habitat for young maggots to develop.</p>
<h2>Bloat, maggots and methane</h2>
<p>Bloat comes next. In this second stage of decomposition, the lack of oxygen within the body begins to favour anaerobic microbes. These bacteria thrive in the absence of oxygen within the body. </p>
<p>As the bacteria begin expelling gases like hydrogen sulphide and methane, the abdomen begins to swell. The carcass begins to darken and smells foul. Because carcasses are an uncommon and short-lived source of nutrients, numerous insects may detect and travel to a carcass <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0006-3207(98)00035-4">from kilometres away</a>. </p>
<p>During the bloating stage, fly eggs hatch and large quantities of maggots begin to feed on the flesh. At this point, beetles join in on the feeding frenzy. Some beetles, such as carrion beetles, will feed on the nutrient-rich flesh of the carcass. Predaceous beetles, such as rove beetles and clown beetles, arrive to feed on the maggots.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365846/original/file-20201027-17-1qjn6sn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365846/original/file-20201027-17-1qjn6sn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365846/original/file-20201027-17-1qjn6sn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365846/original/file-20201027-17-1qjn6sn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365846/original/file-20201027-17-1qjn6sn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365846/original/file-20201027-17-1qjn6sn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365846/original/file-20201027-17-1qjn6sn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A carrion beetle always sports Halloween-appropriate colours.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(ricosz/flickr)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Maggots work their magic</h2>
<p>The third stage is known as “active decay.” This stage begins when the carcass starts to slowly deflate, a process akin to a tire pierced by a nail. Larval insects gnaw small holes into the body cavities, allowing gases to escape. </p>
<p>Tissues begin to liquefy, giving the carcass a wet appearance, followed by the release of a putrid odour. By the end of the active decay stage, maggots concentrate their feeding within the chest cavity of the animal. Soon beetles dominate, with huge huge numbers of rove beetles and clown beetles arriving to chow down on the maggots. </p>
<p>Once most of the flesh has been eaten away, the carcass enters the stage of advanced decay. The putrid odour of the carcass begins to subside and most maggots leave the carcass to pupate in the underlying soil. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/366112/original/file-20201028-19-wmruoe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/366112/original/file-20201028-19-wmruoe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366112/original/file-20201028-19-wmruoe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366112/original/file-20201028-19-wmruoe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366112/original/file-20201028-19-wmruoe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366112/original/file-20201028-19-wmruoe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366112/original/file-20201028-19-wmruoe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A rove beetle (Creophilus maxillosus) consuming a large maggot atop deer carcass.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Allan Sander/Bugguide.net)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Next, adult dermestid beetles arrive at the carcass and begin laying eggs. Dermestid beetles — small round beetles covered in tiny scales — are scavengers that feed on a variety of dry materials: fur, feathers, dead plants, even carpets! If they’re not familiar to you, perhaps you haven’t looked closely enough — a 2016 survey of arthropods in homes <a href="https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1582">detected dermestid beetles in 100 per cent of households</a>. </p>
<h2>Dermestid beetles finish the job</h2>
<p>The final stage of decomposition is known as dry decay. Very few adult flies are attracted to the carcass at this stage. During dry decay, the carcass is reduced to bones, cartilage, dried skin and hair. By this stage there is little odour at all.</p>
<p>Larval dermestid beetles continue to clean the skeleton, leaving behind remains that look very similar to a disassembled skeleton. Dermestid beetles are so effective in cleaning bones, in fact, that they are regularly used by museums when preparing skeletons <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYHXgHTEKvU">for collection and display</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365953/original/file-20201027-13-1qxxe9e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365953/original/file-20201027-13-1qxxe9e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=298&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365953/original/file-20201027-13-1qxxe9e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=298&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365953/original/file-20201027-13-1qxxe9e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=298&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365953/original/file-20201027-13-1qxxe9e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365953/original/file-20201027-13-1qxxe9e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365953/original/file-20201027-13-1qxxe9e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dermestid beetles cleaning an animal skull at the Minnesota Zoo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(guppiecat/flickr)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The little things that run the world</h2>
<p>While witnessing this beastly undertaking is not for those with squeamish stomachs, decomposition of animal remains is a fundamental process that cycles nutrients within ecosystems. </p>
<p>Nutrients like carbon (the basis of all life on Earth), phosphorous and nitrogen, which all living things need to grow, are in limited supply in ecosystems. They must be constantly reused and recycled to ensure the continuation of life. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365843/original/file-20201027-17-17x8l41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365843/original/file-20201027-17-17x8l41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365843/original/file-20201027-17-17x8l41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365843/original/file-20201027-17-17x8l41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365843/original/file-20201027-17-17x8l41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365843/original/file-20201027-17-17x8l41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365843/original/file-20201027-17-17x8l41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The remains of a deer carcass poking through a carpet of fallen leaves.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(lydz/flickr)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Following decomposition, the soil beneath the cadaver will contain a high concentration of nutrients <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-009-9274-0">relative to the surrounding ecosystem</a>.</p>
<p>However, the nutrients released into the environment don’t all stay in soil and plants. Nutrients and energy contained within the dead animal (whether a mouse, raccoon or crow) are repurposed and repackaged into living, breathing insects. </p>
<p>When these insects complete feeding on a carcass, they disperse into the wider environment where they continue to be productive members of ecosystems. These very same insects help <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.2934">pollinate our crops</a> (including pumpkins), fill the bellies of insect-eating animals (<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2011.05040.x">such as bats</a>) and are crucial to the decomposition of other dead organisms (like rats, toadstools and snakes). </p>
<p>If you happen to stumble across animal bones this Halloween season, or any other time of the year — take a moment to consider the beastly drama that made this discovery possible.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/148847/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Manning receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p>Nutrients and energy contained within dead animals are repurposed and repackaged into living, breathing insects.Paul Manning, Postdoctoral Researcher, Faculty of Agriculture, Dalhousie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1384082020-06-15T12:23:50Z2020-06-15T12:23:50ZWhat the archaeological record reveals about epidemics throughout history – and the human response to them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341667/original/file-20200614-153862-12o8vrv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=121%2C23%2C3619%2C2594&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Dead men do tell tales through their physical remains.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Italy-Uffizi-Ancient-Cemetery/49b445301cb148e29d0654254d397c18/2/0">AP Photo/Francesco Bellini</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The previous pandemics to which people often compare COVID-19 – the <a href="https://theconversation.com/compare-the-flu-pandemic-of-1918-and-covid-19-with-caution-the-past-is-not-a-prediction-138895">influenza pandemic of 1918</a>, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-and-the-black-death-spread-of-misinformation-and-xenophobia-shows-we-havent-learned-from-our-past-132802">Black Death bubonic plague</a> (1342-1353), the <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/04/06/pandemics-and-the-shape-of-human-history">Justinian plague</a> (541-542) – don’t seem that long ago to archaeologists. We’re used to thinking about people who lived many centuries or even millennia ago. Evidence found directly on skeletons shows that infectious diseases have been with us since our beginnings as a species.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=HtKKK9AAAAAJ&hl=en">Bioarchaeologists</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=pW_XmM4AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">like</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=MtpPBa4AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">us</a> analyze skeletons to reveal more about how infectious diseases originated and spread in ancient times.</p>
<p>How did aspects of early people’s social behavior allow diseases to flourish? How did people try to care for the sick? How did individuals and entire societies modify behaviors to protect themselves and others?</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1515/anre-2016-0001">Knowing these things</a> might help scientists understand why COVID-19 has wreaked such global devastation and what needs to be put in place before the next pandemic.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338844/original/file-20200601-95024-11z243w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338844/original/file-20200601-95024-11z243w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338844/original/file-20200601-95024-11z243w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338844/original/file-20200601-95024-11z243w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338844/original/file-20200601-95024-11z243w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338844/original/file-20200601-95024-11z243w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338844/original/file-20200601-95024-11z243w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338844/original/file-20200601-95024-11z243w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">These round lesions are pathognomonic signs of syphilis.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Charlotte Roberts</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Clues about illnesses long ago</h2>
<p>How can bioarchaeologists possibly know these things, especially for early cultures that left no written record? Even in literate societies, <a href="https://southburnett.com.au/news2/2019/11/13/researchers-uncover-hidden-toll/">poorer and marginalized segments</a> were rarely written about.</p>
<p>In most archaeological settings, all that remains of our ancestors is the skeleton. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341261/original/file-20200611-80750-47wdov.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341261/original/file-20200611-80750-47wdov.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341261/original/file-20200611-80750-47wdov.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341261/original/file-20200611-80750-47wdov.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341261/original/file-20200611-80750-47wdov.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341261/original/file-20200611-80750-47wdov.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341261/original/file-20200611-80750-47wdov.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341261/original/file-20200611-80750-47wdov.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tuberculosis leaves telltale markings in the spine.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Charlotte Roberts</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For some infectious diseases, like <a href="https://www.dur.ac.uk/archaeology/research/projects/all/?mode=project&id=1036">syphilis</a>, <a href="https://www.dur.ac.uk/archaeology/research/projects/all/?mode=project&id=353">tuberculosis</a> and <a href="https://www.dur.ac.uk/archaeology/research/projects/all/?mode=project&id=279">leprosy</a>, the location, characteristics and distribution of marks on a skeleton’s bones can serve as distinctive “<a href="https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=6386">pathognomonic</a>” indicators of the infection.</p>
<p>Most skeletal signs of disease are non-specific, though, meaning bioarchaeologists today can tell an individual was sick, but not with what disease. Some diseases never affect the skeleton at all, including plague and viral infections like HIV and COVID-19. And diseases that kill quickly don’t have enough time to leave a mark on victims’ bones.</p>
<p>To uncover evidence of specific diseases beyond obvious bone changes, bioarchaeologists use a variety of methods, often with the help of other specialists, like geneticists or parasitologists. For instance, analyzing soil collected in a grave from around a person’s pelvis can reveal the remains of <a href="https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2019.61">intestinal parasites</a>, such as tapeworms and round worms. Genetic analyses can also identify the <a href="https://www.dur.ac.uk/archaeology/research/projects/all/?mode=project&id=667">DNA of infectious pathogens</a> still clinging to ancient bones and teeth.</p>
<p>Bioarchaeologists can also estimate age at death based on how developed a youngster’s teeth and bones are, or how much an adult’s skeleton has degenerated over its lifespan. Then demographers help us draw age profiles for populations that died in epidemics. Most infectious diseases disproportionately affect those with the weakest immune systems, usually the very young and very old.</p>
<p>For instance, the Black Death was indiscriminate; <a href="https://www.americanscientist.org/article/the-bright-side-of-the-black-death">14th-century burial pits</a> contain the typical age distributions found in cemeteries we know were not for Black Death victims. In contrast, the 1918 flu pandemic was unusual in that it <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0069586">hit hardest those with the most robust immune systems</a>, that is, healthy young adults. COVID-19 today is also leaving a recognizable profile of those most likely to die from the disease, targeting <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-05-07/comparing-coronavirus-deaths-by-age-with-flu-driving-fatalities">older and vulnerable people</a> and <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/racial-ethnic-minorities.html">particular ethnic groups</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341585/original/file-20200613-153827-mjcx87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341585/original/file-20200613-153827-mjcx87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341585/original/file-20200613-153827-mjcx87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341585/original/file-20200613-153827-mjcx87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341585/original/file-20200613-153827-mjcx87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341585/original/file-20200613-153827-mjcx87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=768&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341585/original/file-20200613-153827-mjcx87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=768&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341585/original/file-20200613-153827-mjcx87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=768&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ground penetrating radar shows mass graves from the small Aboriginal settlement of Cherbourg in Australia, where 490 out of 500 people were struck down by the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic, with about 90 deaths.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kelsey Lowe</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We can find out what infections were around in the past through our ancestors’ remains, but what does this tell us about the bigger picture of the origin and evolution of infections? Archaeological clues can help researchers reconstruct aspects of socioeconomic organization, environment and technology. And we can study how variations in these risk factors caused diseases to vary across time, in different areas of the world and even among people living in the same societies.</p>
<h2>How infectious disease got its first foothold</h2>
<p>Human biology affects culture in complex ways. Culture influences biology, too, although it can be hard for our bodies to keep up with rapid cultural changes. For example, in the 20th century, highly processed fast food replaced a more balanced and healthy diet for many. Because the human body evolved and was <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/mismatch-9780192806833?cc=us&lang=en&">designed for a different world</a>, this dietary switch resulted in a rise in diseases like diabetes, heart disease and obesity.</p>
<p>From a paleoepidemiological perspective, the most significant event in our species’ history was the adoption of farming. <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/world-history-beginnings/birth-agriculture-neolithic-revolution/v/how-did-agriculture-grow">Agriculture arose independently</a> in several places around the world beginning around 12,000 years ago.</p>
<p>Prior to this change, people lived as hunter-gatherers, with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2016.02.003">dogs as their only animal companions</a>. They were very active and had a well balanced, varied diet that was high in protein and fiber and low in calories and fat. These small groups experienced <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2018.07.010">parasites</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpp.2017.01.004">bacterial infections</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/18/science/first-boomerang-victim-australia.html">injuries</a> while hunting wild animals and occasionally fighting with one another. They also had to deal with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2018.03.019">dental problems</a>, including extreme wear, plaque and periodontal disease.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341497/original/file-20200612-153832-7gh3c9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341497/original/file-20200612-153832-7gh3c9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341497/original/file-20200612-153832-7gh3c9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1387&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341497/original/file-20200612-153832-7gh3c9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341497/original/file-20200612-153832-7gh3c9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1387&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341497/original/file-20200612-153832-7gh3c9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1744&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341497/original/file-20200612-153832-7gh3c9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1744&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341497/original/file-20200612-153832-7gh3c9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1744&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A healed fracture of the lower leg bones from a person buried in Roman Winchester, England.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Charlotte Roberts</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One thing hunter-gatherers didn’t need to worry much about, however, was virulent infectious diseases that could move quickly from person to person throughout a large geographic region. Pathogens like the influenza virus were not able to effectively spread or even be maintained by small, mobile, and socially isolated populations.</p>
<p>The advent of agriculture resulted in larger, sedentary populations of people living in close proximity. New diseases could flourish in this new environment. The transition to agriculture was characterized by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1208880">high childhood mortality</a>, in which approximately 30% or more of children died before the age of 5.</p>
<p>And for the first time in an evolutionary history spanning millions of years, different species of mammals and birds became intimate neighbors. Once people began to live with newly domesticated animals, they were brought into the life cycle of a new group of diseases – called <a href="https://www.who.int/topics/zoonoses/en/">zoonoses</a> – that previously had been limited to wild animals but could now jump into human beings.</p>
<p>Add to all this the stresses of poor sanitation and a deficient diet, as well as increased connections between distant communities through migration and trade especially between urban communities, and <a href="https://boydellandbrewer.com/urban-bodies-communal-health-in-late-medieval-english-towns-and-cities.html">epidemics of infectious disease</a> were able to take hold for the first time.</p>
<h2>Globalization of disease</h2>
<p>Later events in human history also resulted in major epidemiological transitions related to disease.</p>
<p>For more than 10,000 years, the people of Europe, the Middle East and Asia evolved along with particular zoonoses in their local environments. The animals people were in contact with varied from place to place. As people lived alongside particular animal species over long periods of time, a symbiosis could develop – as well as immune resistance to local zoonoses.</p>
<p>At the beginning of modern history, people from European empires also began traveling across the globe, taking with them a suite of “Old World” diseases that were devastating for groups who hadn’t evolved alongside them. Indigenous populations in <a href="https://australianstogether.org.au/discover/australian-history/colonisation/">Australia</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.16-0169">the Pacific</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/06/how-europeans-brought-sickness-new-world">the Americas</a> had no biological familiarity with these new pathogens. Without immunity, one epidemic after another ravaged these groups. Mortality estimates range between 60-90%.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341336/original/file-20200611-80778-1qo67z2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341336/original/file-20200611-80778-1qo67z2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341336/original/file-20200611-80778-1qo67z2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=753&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341336/original/file-20200611-80778-1qo67z2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=753&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341336/original/file-20200611-80778-1qo67z2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=753&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341336/original/file-20200611-80778-1qo67z2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=947&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341336/original/file-20200611-80778-1qo67z2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=947&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341336/original/file-20200611-80778-1qo67z2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=947&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This skull of a person who lived more than 2,600 years ago in Peru shows evidence of a surgery, maybe to treat a head wound.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The study of disease in skeletons, mummies and other remains of past people has played a critical role in reconstructing the origin and evolution of pandemics, but this work also provides evidence of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/18/science/ancient-bones-that-tell-a-story-of-compassion.html">compassion and care</a>, including medical interventions such as <a href="https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/hole-in-the-head-trepanation/">trepanation</a>, <a href="https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/13-000-year-old-fillings-prove-ancient-dentistry-was-brutal">dentistry</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/severed-limbs-and-wooden-feet-how-the-ancients-invented-prosthetics-77741">amputation and prostheses</a>,
<a href="https://www.history.com/news/ancient-medicines-from-shipwreck-shed-light-on-life-in-antiquity">herbal remedies</a> and <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinakillgrove/2018/02/28/largest-collection-of-ancient-surgical-tools-was-found-here-not-at-pompeii/#5241f662317f">surgical instruments</a>.</p>
<p>Other evidence shows that people have often done their best to protect others, as well as themselves, from disease. Perhaps one of the most famous examples is the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-derbyshire-51904810">English village of Eyam</a>, which made a self-sacrificing decision to isolate itself to prevent further spread of a plague from London in 1665.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338847/original/file-20200601-95009-1t6jb06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338847/original/file-20200601-95009-1t6jb06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338847/original/file-20200601-95009-1t6jb06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338847/original/file-20200601-95009-1t6jb06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338847/original/file-20200601-95009-1t6jb06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338847/original/file-20200601-95009-1t6jb06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338847/original/file-20200601-95009-1t6jb06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338847/original/file-20200601-95009-1t6jb06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A tuberculosis sanatorium in São Paulo, Brazil, in the late 1800s.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://wellcomecollection.org/works/ydhjdjb4">Wellcome Collection</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In other eras, people with tuberculosis were placed in sanatoria, people with leprosy were admitted to specialized hospitals or segregated on islands or into remote areas, and urban dwellers fled cities when plagues came.</p>
<p>The archaeological and historical record are reminders that people have lived with infectious disease for millennia. Pathogens have helped shape civilization, and humans have been resilient in the face of such crises.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/138408/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Westaway receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charlotte Roberts and Gabriel D. Wrobel do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>People have lived with infectious disease throughout the millennia, with culture and biology influencing each other. Archaeologists decode the stories told by bones and what accompanies them.Charlotte Roberts, Professor of Archaeology, Durham UniversityGabriel D. Wrobel, Professor of Anthropology, Michigan State UniversityMichael Westaway, Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Archaeology, School of Social Science, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1278442019-12-02T14:11:21Z2019-12-02T14:11:21ZHow art and technology helped bring faces of the dead to life<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304076/original/file-20191127-112499-1cv5azx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Je'nine May/UCT</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Facial reconstruction is best known as a forensic tool that can help identify human remains and reconnect them with families for burial or memorialisation. The technique has a potent claim on our imaginations.</p>
<p>These images are usually produced when other identification methods have failed. It’s usually a last resort with very high stakes. This is perhaps why, when forensic depictions lead to recognition in spite of their own technical limitations, it can feel like a miracle, providing an essential, often long-awaited, piece of an investigative puzzle.</p>
<p>Facial reconstruction becomes most culturally visible when it is applied to <a href="http://archaeologicalmuseum.jhu.edu/the-collection/object-stories/who-am-i-remembering-the-dead-through-facial-reconstruction/the-facial-reconstruction-process/">archaeological research</a>. Depicting past people enables viewers to imagine them as individuals rather than specimens. The facial image becomes a powerful and complex medium, fostering connections between historical events and personal lifeways, and re-establishing a degree of personhood. </p>
<p>This research is facilitated by advances in imaging technologies, and benefits from interdisciplinary input. In turn, it creates new opportunities for the retrieval of previously unknown or suppressed knowledge that reshapes our understanding of the past.</p>
<p>What has become known as the <a href="https://www.news.uct.ac.za/features/sutherland/">Sutherland Reburial project</a> offers a unique opportunity to reflect on the objectives of recreating faces from skulls. The project involved creating facial depictions based on <a href="https://theconversation.com/skeletons-and-closets-how-one-university-reburied-the-dead-126607">human remains unethically acquired</a> by the <a href="https://www.uct.ac.za/">University of Cape Town</a> in the 1920s. </p>
<p>The project has become a platform to ventilate the unfinished business of human remains discovered from <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/khoikhoi">South Africa’s unpleasant past</a>. It has also set a precedent for repatriation and restitution initiatives. The most critical is the involvement of direct descendants with links to the farm where the majority of these remains were exhumed, and their specific request to “see the faces” of their ancestors. Giving us their permission with their instruction, they collaborated in producing scientific knowledge for the benefit of the source community in Sutherland.</p>
<p>The project has also demonstrated how science, art and technology converge in contemporary facial reconstruction and depiction.</p>
<h2>How it’s done</h2>
<p>At the start of May 2019, the project was undertaken by <a href="https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/research/centres-and-institutes/institute-of-art-and-technology/expertise/face-lab">Face Lab</a>, recognised as an international leader in craniofacial research and analysis, with an entirely digital workflow. </p>
<p>Facial reconstruction interprets the details of the skull to recreate face shape through modelling of facial soft tissues, estimating the shape and size of facial features and using methods developed over a century of scientific and artistic collaboration. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304425/original/file-20191129-95250-l5foxz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304425/original/file-20191129-95250-l5foxz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304425/original/file-20191129-95250-l5foxz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304425/original/file-20191129-95250-l5foxz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304425/original/file-20191129-95250-l5foxz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304425/original/file-20191129-95250-l5foxz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304425/original/file-20191129-95250-l5foxz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304425/original/file-20191129-95250-l5foxz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The human remains do not have to be handled by Face Lab, who work on scans of the remains.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Face Lab, Liverpool John Moores University</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s12024-006-0007-9.pdf">Current methods</a> have shown that shape can be accurately recreated with less than 2mm of error for approximately 70% of the facial surface.</p>
<p>The surface details of a face, known here as “texture”, are a matter of interpretation. Eye and hair colour, skin tone, wrinkles, scars and other marks, and some aspects of the ear cannot be reliably predicted from the skull alone. <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1004224">Genetic phenotyping</a> is making some advances here, but not without <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/19/nyregion/dna-phenotyping-new-york-police.html">significant controversy</a>.</p>
<p>Yet these details are essential for creating a plausible face, so we must make a reasonable attempt, restricted by what can be justified by the available data. </p>
<p>In Face Lab, we refer to the final result as a “depiction” to distinguish between the process of recreating face shape – informed by anatomical standards that apply across all populations – and the highly interpretive process of adding surface details. The final depiction should employ visual strategies known to optimise recognition, but also infer ambiguity where necessary. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304424/original/file-20191129-95272-cnvu6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304424/original/file-20191129-95272-cnvu6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304424/original/file-20191129-95272-cnvu6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304424/original/file-20191129-95272-cnvu6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304424/original/file-20191129-95272-cnvu6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304424/original/file-20191129-95272-cnvu6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304424/original/file-20191129-95272-cnvu6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304424/original/file-20191129-95272-cnvu6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some of the many faces reconstructed during projects at Face Lab.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Face Lab, Liverpool John Moores University </span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our job is therefore to predict the “most likely” in-life appearance of an individual by attending as closely as possible to the specific, not the average. Producing the right sort of face, with the features in a certain proportional and spatial relationship to each other, determined by a skull’s own architecture, is what narrows the search for an unidentified victim in a forensic context. </p>
<p>Refining individualising detail – a gap between the upper teeth, prominent ears, a crooked nose or asymmetric eyes – increases the chances of successful recognition.</p>
<h2>In the lab</h2>
<p>Face Lab worked with 3D digital models of the Sutherland skulls produced from CT scans, which provided excellent surface detail along with internal information that refined feature prediction and allowed estimation of missing jawbones (mandibles). This was necessary for three individuals in this group. </p>
<p>Where bony fragments were missing or damaged, reassembly was a necessary first step. The more bone is absent, the more qualified the final result.</p>
<p>Face Lab employs a 3D modelling programme with a haptic (touch-sensitive) interface. This process non-destructively mimics a manual sculpting process, enabling optimal preservation of fragile or damaged bone by building up the soft tissues of the face in virtual clay. Rendering the various layers transparent to view the underlying skeletal structure at any time during the process enables continual evaluation.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304426/original/file-20191129-95207-ta9e52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304426/original/file-20191129-95207-ta9e52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304426/original/file-20191129-95207-ta9e52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=594&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304426/original/file-20191129-95207-ta9e52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=594&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304426/original/file-20191129-95207-ta9e52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=594&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304426/original/file-20191129-95207-ta9e52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=746&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304426/original/file-20191129-95207-ta9e52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=746&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304426/original/file-20191129-95207-ta9e52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=746&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A reconstruction of a woman called Saartje in the Sutherland Reburials Project.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Face Lab LJMU/UCT</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304427/original/file-20191129-95215-1uzzgng.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304427/original/file-20191129-95215-1uzzgng.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304427/original/file-20191129-95215-1uzzgng.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304427/original/file-20191129-95215-1uzzgng.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304427/original/file-20191129-95215-1uzzgng.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304427/original/file-20191129-95215-1uzzgng.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=757&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304427/original/file-20191129-95215-1uzzgng.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=757&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304427/original/file-20191129-95215-1uzzgng.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=757&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A reconstruction of the face of Cornelius Abraham in the Sutherland Reburials Project.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Face Lab LJMU/UCT</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Extensive visual research guided our final presentation choices for the Sutherland faces. This was supported by information from within the team, including ancient DNA which confirmed biological sex in some cases, as well as kinship and geographical origins. </p>
<p>We chose to present these people as they most likely would have appeared at their approximate age at death. The environment in which they lived and their likely lifestyle – harsh weather, basic diet and physical labour – would have affected their appearance. Older adults would have likely had more heavily wrinkled skin than contemporary people of the same chronological age.</p>
<p>Clothing was suggested based on contemporaneous archival photographs taken in the same broad geographical area. Adding a sepia tint introduced an element of colour in keeping with 19th century photographic techniques and visually situates them in the period in which the majority lived. </p>
<p>They are historical interpretations produced with forensic fealty.</p>
<h2>Unnerving reality</h2>
<p>Presenting the images to the families evoked complex emotions, from intense curiosity to guarded apprehension. The level of realism was clearly unnerving, but ultimately compelling. </p>
<p>The faces were ciphers for a process of recognition that was about being seen and heard. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304423/original/file-20191129-95242-1p4tptq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304423/original/file-20191129-95242-1p4tptq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304423/original/file-20191129-95242-1p4tptq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304423/original/file-20191129-95242-1p4tptq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304423/original/file-20191129-95242-1p4tptq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304423/original/file-20191129-95242-1p4tptq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304423/original/file-20191129-95242-1p4tptq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304423/original/file-20191129-95242-1p4tptq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Showing the families the facial reconstructions of their ancestors previously buried on Kruisrivier farm in Sutherland.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Je'nine May/UCT</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In a place where indigenous histories are conspicuously absent, the Sutherland families believe that having these stories brought to life in a tangible and dignified way fosters meaningful connections between the past and present, and for future generations.</p>
<p>Local heritage practices in South Africa have not taken advantage of what these techniques can deliver. The Sutherland Project is one model of what opening up institutional processes and analyses to those affected by historical crimes might look like. </p>
<p>Informed by how humanitarian values might contribute to historical redress initiatives, the Sutherland project poses ethical questions that have specific local expression but are globally relevant. </p>
<p>The biographies this process was able to reconstruct, embodied in these eight faces, are highly specific. But they stand for the experiences of many others over many decades, who have been lost to history, but from whom we have a great deal left to learn.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127844/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathryn Smith receives support for her doctoral research from the National Research Foundation. The Sutherland Reburial project was supported by the National Geographic Society.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Caroline Wilkinson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Through science, art and technology, we are able to reconstruct the faces of the dead based on their remains. The researcher who did this work for descendants in Sutherland explains the process.Kathryn Smith, Visual/forensic artist, PhD researcher, Liverpool John Moores UniversityCaroline Wilkinson, Professor at School of Art and Design, Liverpool John Moores UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1266072019-11-11T14:10:29Z2019-11-11T14:10:29ZSkeletons and closets: How one university reburied the dead<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300866/original/file-20191108-194675-mnznvi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">SutherlandReburials Jannetje</span> </figcaption></figure><p><em>This story begins with an archive audit at the University of Cape Town’s department of human biology. The audit reveals the remains of 11 human skeletons that had been unethically obtained and used for study many decades earlier. It becomes a stock-taking and place-making moment in the life of the department. A multi-disciplinary team of academics sets about rehumanising the San and Khoi remains, consulting with their ancestors – both past and present – and restoring dignity to the bones. Called the <a href="http://www.news.uct.ac.za/features/sutherland/">Sutherland Reburials Project</a>, the process enabled the university to attempt to provide an ethical model of redress and social justice through science. We asked the project’s Dr Victoria Gibbon to tell us more…</em></p>
<p><strong>How did you rediscover the skeletons and their attendant ethical dilemma?</strong></p>
<p>Globally, the historical unethical procurement and use of skeletal remains is something that haunts biological anthropology. In 2017, there were several South African initiatives to drive a process to distinguish between ethical and unethical procurement of human remains in universities and museums – and to discuss restitution. I returned to the University of Cape Town (UCT) and examined the Human Skeletal Repository records. Unfortunately, I found 11 individuals with known names or dates of deaths or which were known to the donor in life. The research suggested these remains should not be at the university.</p>
<p>Fast forward to 2018 after a lengthy process of figuring out a way forward. With the university’s Office of Inclusivity and Change we have embarked on the initial phase of the restitution project. Of the 11 unethically procured sets of remains, nine are from the town of Sutherland in the Northern Cape. We decided to start there. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sutherland in the Northern Cape, where the skeletal remains were from.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Je'nine May/UCT</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The records indicate that in the 1920s a farm owner dug up remains from the worker burial ground on a Kruisrivier farm and brought them to UCT. The records further indicate that some of these individuals had been hunter-gatherers who were captured and forced into labour on the farm. They state one was possibly murdered, others were elderly, and some died of illness.</p>
<p>My focus was to return them to their resting place because the way these people were brought to the university was wrong. I never imagined to what extent the Sutherland families would bring me on a journey with them to share knowledge from the past.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300869/original/file-20191108-194646-cclowz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300869/original/file-20191108-194646-cclowz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300869/original/file-20191108-194646-cclowz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300869/original/file-20191108-194646-cclowz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300869/original/file-20191108-194646-cclowz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300869/original/file-20191108-194646-cclowz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300869/original/file-20191108-194646-cclowz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300869/original/file-20191108-194646-cclowz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A visit to the farm in Sutherland where the remains had originally been buried.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Je'nine May/UCT</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>What was it that made this so particular in terms of a model to seek redress?</strong></p>
<p>I have reflected on why this process was so unique and positive. What did we do differently? My feeling is there are three key aspects which shifted power and blame. When I informed my seniors, the immediate response was to place a moratorium on access. To physically seal and remove these individuals from the repository and place the power to study and unseal in the hands of the families. </p>
<p>The second moment was when I was introduced to Deputy Vice Chancellor of Transformation Professor Loretta Feris. An environmental lawyer, she has a passion for social justice, and agreed to lead the project. Through her UCT publicly took responsibility for the injustice in 1920 and committed to addressing it through a meaningful process of restitution. </p>
<p>The third key was the inclusion of a public participation advisor, Doreen Februarie. She went into the community to locate relevant stakeholders and lay the foundation for the community engagement. She built trust for the start of our conversation. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A visit by the UCT academics to Sutherland for one of a series of community engagements to find a way forward for the bones.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Je'nine May/UCT</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>How was life breathed back into the stories of the bones?</strong></p>
<p>When we informed the community of descendants of the remains, it was painful and raised a lot of questions. They asked for as much information as possible. On behalf of the families I compiled an interdisciplinary team to answer the questions the families had asked. It was agreed that this would encompass the history (Professor Nigel Penn) and archaeology (Professor Simon Hall) of the original cemetery. Of the remains, it would include biological reports (myself and Dr Tinashe Mutsvangwa), stable isotope analysis (Professor Judith Sealy), DNA analyses (Dr Stephan Schiffels and PhD student Joscha Gertzinger) and facial reconstruction (Prof Caroline Wilkinson and PhD student Kathryn Smith). </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Project member Kathryn Smith showing family the reconstructed facial images.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Je'nine May/UCT</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>How did the facial reconstructions enrich the project?</strong></p>
<p>The incredible scientific information has provided a story for each of these people’s lives. Facial reconstruction has brought them to life for all of us. They are a stark reminder that people of the past are people just like you and I. This is obvious of course, but to see them with your own eyes brings a humanity to the story that was unexpected. These nine individuals are more than just individuals, they are representatives of what life was like for San and Khoi people in Sutherland in the 1800s. Life was hard physically and emotionally. We see characters in these people, we see perseverance, resolve and strength of character. They shared a life experience as labourers on Kruisrivier farm. Three individuals have evidence of squatting facets, a sitting position that was culturally and symbolically important for San people – and also for burying their dead in a way that was culturally significant. These two pieces of evidence alone are a statement. The farmer could take their freedom and force them to work but could not take their spirit and culture. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An ancestral blessing ceremony was part of the restorative justice process.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Je'nine May/UCT</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>There were ceremonies to engage with the ancestors and try to find spiritual restitution as well?</strong></p>
<p>The process of restitution will continue to be a journey. The families visited the gravesite that the individuals were removed from. I provided a biological report on a visit to the community. A blessing ceremony was held at UCT in partnership with traditional leaders. The families also viewed the remains in private, then invited some of us in to ask questions. This moment was important for closure and understanding. Traditional leaders from Cape Town have gone into the community in a knowledge-sharing exercise. I have been involved in community outreach and done educational scientific outreach in the local schools. </p>
<p>During each visit to Sutherland we came to know the families better and understand their desire for knowledge. A quick look at the <a href="https://www.tripadvisor.co.za/Tourism-g1601473-Sutherland_Northern_Cape-Vacations.html">tourism industry in Sutherland</a> today speaks to colonial history, to space and to <a href="http://www.karoohoogland.gov.za/sutherland-tourist-attractions/">star gazing</a>. Where is the deep historical recognition for San and Khoi people in this area? It is missing. The Sutherland families and communities want their history to be acknowledged and preserved for their children. These nine individuals have brought us together and provided a platform of opportunity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126607/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Victoria Gibbon does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When the University of Cape Town discovered skeletons in its archive that had been unethically obtained and used, they set about restoring justice to the bones and the community they came from.Victoria Gibbon, Associate Professor in Biological Anthropology, Division of Clinical Anatomy and Biological Anthropology, University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.