Browsing by Author "Umbelino, Cláudia"
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- A 1000-year-old case of Klinefelter's syndrome diagnosed by integrating morphology, osteology, and geneticsPublication . Roca-Rada, Xavier; Tereso, Sofia; Rohrlach, Adam B.; Brito, Andre; Williams, Matthew P.; Umbelino, Cláudia; Curate, Francisco; Deveson, Ira W.; Souilmi, Yassine; Amorim, Antonio; Carvalho, Pedro C.; Llamas, Bastien; Teixeira, Joao C.The skeleton of a human being buried over 1000 years ago, in the medieval archaeological site of Torre Velha, in north-eastern Portugal, was referred to us for analysis and investigation
- Changes in dental wear magnitude in the last ∼8000 years in southwestern IberiaPublication . Godinho, Ricardo Miguel; Umbelino, Cláudia; Garcia, Susana; Gonçalves, CéliaObjective: This study examines changes in dental wear magnitude in the past -8000 years, i.e., since Mesolithic until the 19th century, in southwestern Iberia. Thus, it encompasses the transition from hunting-gathering to agro-pastoralism, and then to the industrialization of food production and pre-processing. Design: Dental wear magnitude was scored in a total of 191 individuals and 1557 teeth from Mesolithic (individuals=56; teeth=643), Neolithic (individuals=35; teeth=169), Chalcolithic (individuals =35; teeth=221), Modern Age (individuals=17; teeth=209), and Late Modern Age (individuals=48; teeth=315) samples originating in southwestern Iberia (i.e., present central and southern Portugal) and according to the 8 levels ordinal scale of Smith (1984). Results: Results show a general trend for decreased wear magnitude in these two major transitions and during this timespan (although the hunting-gathering - agro-pastoralism transition had larger impact). The only meaningful differences in wear rate were found between the Late Modern Age and all remaining samples. Conclusion: Dental wear generally decreased during this timespan (although wear magnitude was less impacted by the industrialization of food production and pre-processing). Our results are consistent with studies documenting skull morphological gracilization associated with reduced masticatory demands due to the adoption of softer diets.
- Cortical bone loss in a sample of human skeletons from the Muge Shell middensPublication . Umbelino, Cláudia; Curate, Francisco; Perinha, Andreia; Ferreira, Teresa; Cunha, Eugenia; Bicho, NunoThe Muge shell middens of Cabeco da Arruda, Cabeco da Amoreira and Moita do Sebastiao (central Portugal) have been key sites of archaeological research for 150 years, possibly working as residential sites occupied by semi-sedentary communities during the final Mesolithic. The purposes of this article include the biocultural assessment of metacarpal cortical bone fragility and its associations with age at death, sex and osteoporotic fractures in the Portuguese Mesolithic, as well as a diachronic comparison of cortical bone health in Mesolithic (N = 34) and modern reference (N = 219) samples. Cortical bone at the Muge shell middens displays age and sex-specific trajectories of periosteal apposition and endosteal bone loss, most likely associated with hormonal and behavioural/cultural influences. Metacarpal endocortical bone loss seems to increase with age at death in females, with a simultaneous expansion of the diaphysis. The overall pattern of cortical bone health is similar to the pattern observed in a reference skeletal collection, but elderly women from Muge seem to lose less cortical bone than late twentieth century counterparts from Coimbra. Two older males exhibited vertebral compression fractures, but only one is possibly related with bone fragility.
- Identification of Neolithic diet by the morphology of the starch grains of dental calculus found in the Dehesilla cave (Cadiz – South of the Iberian Peninsula)Publication . Coutinho, António Pereira; Moreira, Margarida; Silva, Eduarda; García-Rivero, Daniel; Umbelino, CláudiaThe starch grains present in the dental calculus of four Neolithic individuals of the Dehesilla Cave (Cadiz, South of Spain) were extracted and observed with light microscopy. The variant of the extraction technique used proved to be very effective. A number of Poaceae-Triticeae taxa [wheat (Triticum sp., the main crop, including Triticum aestivum), barley (Hordeum sp.)], Fabaceae-Fabeae-Cicereae and Fagaceae (oaks = Quercus sp., which constitute new data for the area in question) were identified. Some pollen grains and fungal spores were also identified, which helped to provide information on the ecological framework of the crops associated with the archaeological site.
- Mandibular morphology and the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in Westernmost IberiaPublication . Godinho, Ricardo Miguel; Umbelino, Cláudia; Valera, António Carlos; Carvalho, António; Bicho, Nuno; Cascalheira, João; Gonçalves, Célia; Smith, PatriciaNeolithic farming and animal husbandry were first developed in the Near East similar to 10,000 BCE and expanded westwards, reaching westernmost Iberia no later than 5500 BCE. It resulted in major social, cultural, economic and dietary changes. Yet, the impact of this change on human mandibular morphology in Iberia is yet to be assessed, which is regrettable because mandible form is impacted by population history and diet. In this study we used Mesolithic to Chalcolithic Iberian samples to examine the impact of this transition on mandibular morphology. We also compared these samples with a Southern Levantine Chalcolithic population to assess their relationship. Lastly, we assessed dental wear to determine if the morphological differences identified were related to the material properties of the diet. We found differences between samples in mandibular shape but not size, which we attribute to contrasting population histories between Mesolithic and later populations. Some differences in the severity of dental wear were also found between Mesolithic and later Iberian samples, and smaller between the Mesolithic Iberians and southern Levantines. Little relationship was found between wear magnitude and mandibular shape. Altogether, our results show that the Mesolithic-Neolithic Iberian transition resulted in a meaningful change in mandibular morphology, which was likely driven more by population history than by dietary change.
- Mesolithic and chalcolithic mandibular morphology: using geometric morphometrics to reconstruct incomplete specimens and analyse morphologyPublication . Godinho, Ricardo Miguel; Umbelino, Cláudia; Gonçalves, CéliaHuman skeletal remains are routinely used to examine cultural and biological aspects of past populations. Yet, archaeological specimens are frequently fragmented/incomplete and so excluded from analyses. This leads to decreased sample sizes and to potentially biased results. Digital methods are now frequently used to restore/estimate the original morphology of fragmented/incomplete specimens. Such methods include 3D digitisation and Geometric Morphometrics (GM). The latter is also a solidly established method now to examine morphology. In this study, we use GM-based methods to estimate the original morphology of incomplete Mesolithic and Chalcolithic mandibles originating from present Portugal and perform ensuing morphological analyses. Because mandibular morphology is known to relate to population history and diet, we hypothesised the two samples would differ. Thirty-seven specimens (12 complete and 25 incomplete) were CT-scanned and landmarked. Originally complete specimens were used as reference to estimate the location of absent anatomical landmarks in incomplete specimens. As predicted, our results show shape differences between the two samples which are likely due to the compounded effect of contrasting population histories and diets.
- Metacarpal cortical bone loss and osteoporotic fractures in the Coimbra Identified Skeletal CollectionPublication . Curate, Francisco; Perinha, Andreia; Silva, Ana Maria; Cunha, Eugenia; Umbelino, Cláudia; Nogueira, CatarinaThere has been considerable progress in recent years in our understanding of the patterns of cortical bone loss in the second metacarpal in archeological skeletal samples. Nevertheless, cortical data from reference skeletal collections are insufficient, and the possible connection of metacarpal cortical parameters with osteoporotic fractures has not been thoroughly addressed. As such, this article aims to identify and explain sex-specific and age-associated metacarpal cortical bone loss in a large sample (N = 302
- Morphological study of the bony labyrinth of the last hunter‐gatherers in Portugal: insights from the Moita do Sebastião shell middenPublication . Arbona, Marina Pujol; Umbelino, Cláudia; Coutinho‐Nogueira, DanyThe bony labyrinth is often studied in paleoanthropology for the taxonomic identification of hominins with a special focus on the differentiation between Neanderthals and modern humans. Although the variability of Pleistocene populations is now well studied, the variability of Early and Middle Holocene modern human hunter-gatherers is still poorly known. Thus, this study focuses on the analysis of the bony labyrinth morphology of nine Late Mesolithic individuals from Moita do Sebasti & atilde;o in the Tagus Valley (Portugal). The results show a significant intra-site variability in the Middle Holocene sample, confirming previous studies on the variability of early modern humans. The analysis also revealed morphological differences in the inner ear structures between European individuals associated with an Upper Paleolithic context (Gravettian) from the V & eacute;z & egrave;re Valley and the Mesolithic individuals from Moita do Sebasti & atilde;o. Interestingly, the only Late Pleistocene individual from Portugal shows some similarities with the Middle Holocene ones, posing the possibility of an eventual local biological continuity.
- Outros sabores do passado: um novo olhar sobre as comunidades humanas mesolíticas de Muge e do Sado através de análises químicas dos ossosPublication . Umbelino, Cláudia; Pérez-Pérez, Alejandro; Cunha, Eugénia; Hipólito, Carla; Freitas, Maria do Carmo; Cabral, João PeixotoCom outros sabores do passado procurou-se aportar um novo olhar sobre as comunidades humanas de Muge e do Sado que ocuparam o território português no Mesolítico final, mais concretamente, entrever o seu modo de subsistência e a adaptação ao meio ambiente sob uma perspectiva diferente, sustentada na análise das paleodietas. Os ossos ao requererem nutrientes, ao longo da vida de um indivíduo, constituem uma ferramenta única na apreciação do regime alimentar, uma vez que neles ficam cativos os sinais relativos à composição elementar e isotópica diferencial dos distintos grupos de alimentos ingeridos (Price, 1989). Mediante a realização de análises químicas, estes podem ser perscrutados, facultando pistas válidas na destrinça das proporções dos principais recursos alimentares, de origem vegetal, animal e marinha, incluídos na dieta das populações do passado.
- Resilience, replacement and acculturation in the Mesolithic/Neolithic transition: The case of Muge, central PortugalPublication . Bicho, Nuno; Cascalheira, João; Gonçalves, Célia; Umbelino, Cláudia; García-Rivero, Daniel; André, LinoEvidence for the first Neolithic population in central Portugal dates to as early as c. 7600 cal BP. These first farmers were exogenous groups arriving to the Atlantic coast from the Mediterranean Sea. For a few centuries there seems to have occurred an overlap in the region between the Mesolithic Muge huntergatherers and the regional early Neolithic populations. While the trajectory of these first farmers seems to be well established, the fate of the Mesolithic populations is unknown and in generally assumed as resulting in extinction. The recent results from research in the Muge Mesolithic shellmounds (Tagus valley) with the new recovery of various loci with Neolithic occupations including human burials, human DNA, and Strontium analyses seem to indicate evidence of cultural and genetic integration between the Mesolithic and Neolithic populations. This paper will focus on the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in Portuguese Estremadura and examines the hypothesis that human resilience promoted the cultural and biological integration of the Mesolithic groups into the new exogenous Neolithic communities in central Portugal. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.