Entheseal Changes in Bronze and Early Iron Age Mongolia

Summary

Extensive bioarchaeological research has addressed questions about stress, pathology, and activity in agricultural and semi-agricultural populations throughout the archaeological record, yet comparable studies pertaining to nomadic pastoral and semi-pastoral groups are relatively rare. During the Bronze Age in the Eurasian Steppes, archaeological evidence suggests a transition of lifeways from semi-sedentary agricultural to nomadic pastoralist. Entheseal analyses in bioarchaeology introduce an exciting avenue to ask new questions about the physical effects these lifeways have on those who practice them. This study aims to investigate the extent of entheseal changes among Bronze and Early Iron Age populations in Mongolia as both sedentary and pastoral groups were contemporaneous. Entheses of the upper and lower limbs were scored for 54 individuals dating from the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age. Scores between and within the two periods were compared and entheseal differences between sexes, age, body size, and site location were analyzed. The goal of this study is to answer if there are differences between the two periods and which factors influence the differences.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22261