Demography, Health, and Diet of the Hellenistic to Early Christian Burial Samples from Ayioi Omoloyites Neighborhood in Lefkosia, Cyprus

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The primary goal of the Ayioi Omoloyites Bioarchaeological Project is to document and interpret the commingled human remains recovered from three Hellenistic to Early Christian rock-cut tombs located south-southwest of the old city walls of Lefkosia, Cyprus. Laboratory research over the past four years has focused on the inventory, assessment, and contextualization of the remains. In 2017 and 2018, the osteological inventories of two of the three tombs (Tomb 47 and 48) were completed and nearly three-quarters of Tomb 49 was documented. Altogether, 7277 skeletal elements have been examined from the three tombs. Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI) estimates based on zonal scores and demographic parameters both suggest varied uses of the tombs. Radiocarbon dates, in combination with stable isotope assays from select elements, provide evidence of the later use of Tomb 49 as an early Christian ossuary and suggest a diverse diet and a potentially a varied residential history of these early Lefkosians. Issues of health, diet, injury, infection, and social interaction are explored in relation to the demographic, isotopic, palaeopathological, and archaeological record of early Lefkosia. These results are also contextualized within the broader Cypriot Hellenistic to Early Christian experience.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25982