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- Ethics and applications of isotope analysis in archaeologyPublication . Stantis, Chris; Schaefer, Benjamin J.; Correia, Maria Ana; Alaica, Aleksa K.; Huffer, Damien; Plomp, Esther; Di Giusto, Marina; Chidimuro, Blessing; Rose, Alice K.; Nayak, Ayushi; Kendall, Ellen J.This synthesis explores specific ethical questions that commonly arise in isotopic analysis. For more than four decades, isotope analysis has been employed in archeological studies to explore past human and animal dietary habits, mobility patterns, and the environment in which a human or animal inhabited during life. These analyses require consideration of ethical issues. While theoretical concepts are discussed, we focus on practical aspects: working with descendant communities and other rights holders, choosing methods, creating and sharing data, and working mindfully within academia. These layers of respect and care should surround our science. This paper is relevant for specialists in isotope analysis as well as those incorporating these methods into larger projects. By covering the whole of the research process, from design to output management, we appeal broadly to archaeology and provide actionable solutions that build on the discussions in the general field.
- Surface texture analyses complement scale sensitive fractal analyses in an in vivo human dental microwear studyPublication . Correia, Maria Ana; Foley, Robert; Lahr, Marta MirazónThe study of dental microwear, the microscopic patterns left on teeth from interactions with food, has become instrumental in examining the diets of past societies. This approach gained prominence with the advent of dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA), an automated method that minimises observer error. Nevertheless, interpreting microwear patterns remains challenging due to limited knowledge about which foods and processing methods produce specific markings. Given the subtle variations in human diets compared to other species, there is a pressing need for more comprehensive in vivo data on microwear production. In this study, we improved our understanding of DMTA by employing multivariate analyses to combine parameters from surface texture analyses (STA) with the more common parameters derived from scale sensitive fractal analyses (SSFA). We collected dental impressions from five Kenyan communities: El Molo, Turkana (Kerio), Luhya (Webuye), Luhya (Port Victoria), and Luo (Port Victoria), representing a range of subsistence strategies - fishing, pastoralism, and agriculture. Regrettably, the presence of oral biofilm - a bacterial layer covering teeth in living individuals - often hampers the accurate moulding of dental microwear in vivo. . Despite the constraint imposed by the presence of biofilm, which limited our sample to only 37 usable surfaces, we found that while SSFA variables failed to distinguish between populations, combining them with STA parameters in multivariate analyses successfully differentiated the El Molo from the other populations, as well as the groups from Port Victoria. Our findings suggest that this approach offers a more comprehensive understanding of microwear variation. To ensure the continued relevance of dental microwear studies in understanding the diets of past societies, we must improve our understanding of the relationship between dental microwear patterns and the complex, mixed diets of humans, and overcome the current limitations of the technique. Consistently incorporating ISO 25178 in our analyses represents a promising avenue for achieving this objective.
- Arqueologia e antropologia forense em contextos de violência políticaPublication . Correia, Maria AnaA Arqueologia e Antropologia Forense têm-se tornado mais relevantes em casos de significância médico-legal e humanitária, em grande parte impulsionadas pelo seu papel crucial em investigações de violência política do século passado. Este texto revê estes temas e seu enquadramento geral nas Ciências Forenses e Ciências Sociais. Para tal, é feito um breve histórico do desenvolvimento da Arqueologia e Antropologia Forense no mundo e apresentados casos emblemáticos de aplicação delas em contextos de violência política, com destaque para o Brasil. Por fim, são discutidos os desenvolvimentos mais recentes na área, sublinhando como a Arqueologia e a Antropologia Forense podem contribuir para o estudo de formas diversas de violência política.