Interdisciplinary analysis of the cemetery 'Kudachurt 14'

Katharina Fuchs obtained her doctoral degree as a scholar of the Graduate School ‘Human Development in Landscapes’ in 2018 at Kiel University. Being an archaeologist and physical anthropologist by training, she has a strong interest in interdisciplinary research with a special focus on health and disease in past populations.Besides working with human remains from different archaeological contexts and geographic regions, she gained experience as the scientific coordinator of the Collaborative Research Centre 1266 ‘Scales of Transformation: Socio-environmental interactions in Prehistoric and Archaic Societies’ . Recently, she joined the team of the Ancient DNA Laboratory at the Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology at Kiel University, and is research associate for Human Osteology and aDNA in the scope of the Johanna-Mestorf Academy.

• PART I: BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH 1. Introduction1.1. Environmental and archaeological background1.1.1. Topography and environment1.1.2. The North Caucasian Bronze Age: Cultures and chronology1.1.3. Climatic conditions1.2. State of the art1.2.1. Burial practices: Socio-ritual indicators1.2.2. Human Remains: Osteology and palaeopathology1.2.3. Stable isotope analyses: Palaeodietary reconstructions2. Questions of research and methodological approach2.1. The cemetery ‘Kudachurt 14’ (chapter 3)2.2. Burial practice: Social indicators (chapter 4)2.3. Human Remains: Demography and oral health (chapter 5)2.4. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes: Palaeodietary reconstruction (chapter 6)2.5. Interdisciplinary synthesis: Burial practice, human osteology and stable isotopes (chapter 7)2.6. Basic approach and terminology 3. The cemetery of Kudachurt 143.1. Location and environmental aspect3.2. Excavation and subsequent work3.2.1. Excavation techniques and on-site documentation3.2.2. Findings: Inventory, preparation and current state3.3. Cemetery plan3.4. Findings and chronology3.4.1. Relative chronology and typological classification3.4.1.1. Kudachurt 14 and typological significance3.4.1.2. Comparison of sites and finds3.4.2. Radiocarbon dating and stratigraphy3.4.2.1. Radiocarbon dating3.4.2.2. Stratigraphic structures3.4.2.3. Radiocarbon dating and stratigraphic structures3.4.3. Summary: Chronology and typological classification3.5. Kudachurt 14 and the MBA-LBA transition in the Northern Caucasus PART II: DISCIPLINARY ANALYSES: BURIAL PRACTICE, HUMAN REMAINS AND ISOTOPES 4. Burial practice: Social indicators4.1. Characteristics of burial practice4.1.1. Spatial distribution4.1.2. Elements of grave construction4.1.3. Inhumations and burial types4.1.4. Goods for the dead: Burial items4.1.5. Data quality groups4.2. Results 1: Basis of data and single characteristics4.2.1. Elements of grave construction4.2.1.1. Construction elements4.2.1.2. Construction elements and dimensions4.2.1.3. Dromos structures4.2.1.4. Spatial distribution4.2.1.5. Summary elements of grave construction4.2.2. Inhumation and burial types4.2.2.1. Skeletal in situ-preservation4.2.2.2. MNIC, MNIG and burial type4.2.2.3. Signs of re-access4.2.2.4. Body treatment4.2.2.5. Presence of ochre4.2.3. Burial items4.2.3.1. Cemetery and data quality4.2.3.2. Cemetery and burial item criteria4.2.3.3. Graves and burial item criteria4.2.3.4. Grave assemblages and burial item criteria4.2.3.5. Functional classes and spatial distribution4.2.3.6. Assemblage variation: CPI and CRI4.2.3.7. Evaluation: significance of CPI and CRI4.2.3.8. Assemblage compositions: Correspondence analyses4.2.3.9. Summary burial item analyses4.3. Results 2: Social proxies of burial practice4.3.1. Construction elements, burial types and MNIG4.3.2. Construction elements and burial item characteristics4.3.3. Burial item criteria: burial types and individuals4.3.3.1. Data basis and clearing4.3.3.2. Frequencies per burial type and individual4.3.4. Burial item criteria: Assemblage functional character and burial type4.3.5. Burial item criteria: Assemblage compositions and burial type4.3.6. Burial item criteria: Assemblage functional character and individuals4.3.6.1. Single burials4.3.6.2. Double burials4.3.6.3. Collective burials4.3.6.4. Bodily treatment4.3.6.5. Interim result: Individual equipment4.4. Chronological aspects4.5. Discussion and evaluation: Burial practice and social indicators4.5.1. Grave constructions: Proxies for effort or practicability?4.5.2. Regularities of bodily treatment?4.5.3. Burial item criteria: Cemetery4.5.4. Funeral equipment groups: Commonalities or inequalities?4.5.5. Social implications of burial practice4.6. Conclusions 5. Human remains: Demography and oral health5.1. Functional data from human remains5.2. Significance of biological sex and age-at-death5.3. Dental pathology and oral health5.4. Investigative parameters and methods5.4.1. Anatomical terminology5.4.2. Preparatory work and recording approach5.4.3. Age-at-death5.4.4. Biological sex5.4.5. Categories of oral health5.4.5.1. Dental calculus5.4.5.2. Periodontal disease5.4.5.3. Periapical lesions5.4.5.4. Antemortem tooth loss5.4.5.5. Dental wear: Masticatory and extramasticatory traits5.4.5.6. Carious lesions5.4.5.7. Enamel hypoplasia5.5. Material: Graves, individuals and dentitions5.6. Results 1: Data basis, demography and categories of oral health5.6.1. Data basis: skeletal and dental preservation5.6.2. Demography: Age-at-death and biological sex5.6.2.1. Cemetery (IOC)5.6.2.2. Graves and spatial distribution (IOG)5.6.3. Categories of oral health5.6.3.1. Dental calculus5.6.3.2. Periodontal disease5.6.3.3. Periapical lesions5.6.3.4. Antemortem and perimortem tooth loss5.6.3.5. Dental wear: Masticatory and extramasticatory traits5.6.3.6. Interrelations of dental wear: Individual dentitions5.6.3.7. Carious lesions5.6.3.8. AMTL calibration: Caries and dental wear5.6.3.9. Extramasticatory traits: Occupational habits or hygienic measures?5.6.3.10. Enamel hypoplasia5.6.4. Summary oral health: Results 15.7. Results 2: Statuses of oral health and burial contexts5.7.1. Correlation of oral health categories: Inter-individual comparison5.7.2. Statuses of oral health, burial contexts and spatial distribution5.8. Chronological aspects5.9. Discussion and evaluation: Demography and oral health5.9.1. Demographic and palaeopathological implications5.9.2. Dietary implications5.9.3. Occupational habits5.9.4. Social implications 6. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes: Palaeodietary reconstruction6.1. Principles of stable isotope analyses6.1.1. Basic concept and terminology6.1.2. Stable C and N isotopes from bone collagen6.1.3. Stable C and N isotopes in palaeodietary reconstructions6.1.3.1. Food webs6.1.3.2. δ13C6.1.3.3. δ15N6.2. Recent research on subsistence and diet in the North Caucasian Bronze Age6.3. The significance of Kudachurt 146.4. Working hypotheses6.5. Material and methods6.5.1. Sample selection6.5.2. Methods6.6. Results6.6.1. Collagen quality6.6.2. Animal values6.6.3. Human values6.6.4. Animal and human values6.7. Discussion and evaluation6.8. Chronological aspects6.9. Context of current C and N isotope research in the North Caucasian Bronze Age6.10. Conclusion: Trends and limits of dietary reconstructions at Kudachurt 14 PART III: INTERDISCIPLINAR SYNTHESIS AND CONCLUSION 7. Interdisciplinary synthesis: Burial practice, human remains, and stable isotopes7.1. Cemetery: Age, sex and funeral equipment7.2. Individual contexts: Burial practice, social inequality and demography7.3. Grave contexts: Social inequality, demography, oral health and diet 8. Conclusions8.1. Research questions and answers8.1.1. The cemetery Kudachurt 14 (chapter 3)8.1.2. Burial practice: Social indicators (chapter 4)8.1.3. Human Remains: Demography and oral health (chapter 5)8.1.4. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes: Palaeodietary reconstruction (chapter 6)8.1.5. Interdisciplinary synthesis: Burial practice, human osteology and stable isotopes (chapter 7)8.2. Evaluation and research prospects 9. Short summary 10. Kurzzusammenfassung 11. краткая информация 12. References 13. Tables, figures and abbreviations13.1. List of tables13.2. List of figures and copyrights13.3. Abbreviations PART IV: ONLINE DATA: CATALOGUE AND APPENDIX 14. Appendix14.1. Isotope tables14.1. Recording schemes 15. Grave catalogue 16. Item plate catalogue 17. Database