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The date and significance of the megalithic jar sites of central Laos are comparatively poorly understood features of the Southeast Asian archaeological landscape. First explored systematically in the 1930s, only limited research on these sites has been undertaken since. This article presents the recent excavations at Ban Ang—or site 1—a megalithic jar site of nearly 400 jars, located in Xieng Khouang Province. The results confirm the findings of earlier research, but additionally reveal a range of mortuary practices, high rates of infant and child mortality, and new evidence dating these interments to the ninth to thirteenth centuries AD.

Stable isotope analyses for paleodiet investigations require good preservation of bone protein, the collagen, to obtain reliable stable isotope values. Burial environments cause diagenetic alterations to collagen, especially in the leaching of the organic bone content. The survival of bone protein may be assessed by the weight % collagen, % carbon and % nitrogen yields, but these values are achieved only after destructive chemical processing. A non-destructive method of determining whether bone is suitably preserved would be desirable, as it would be less costly than chemical processing, and would also preserve skeletal collections. Raman analysis is one such potential non-destructive screening method. In previous applications, Raman spectroscopy has been used to test both the alteration of the mineral portion of bone, as well as to indicate the relative amount of organic material within the bone structure. However, there has been no research to test the relationship between the Raman spectroscopic results and the survival of bone protein. We use a set of 41 bone samples from the prehistoric archaeological site of Ban Non Wat, Northeast Thailand, to assess if Raman spectroscopy analysis of the organic-phosphate ratio has a significant correlation with the weight % collagen, and carbon and nitrogen yields obtained by isotopic analysis. The correlation coefficients are highly statistically significant in all cases (r = 0.716 for collagen, r = 0.630 for carbon and r = 0.706 for nitrogen, p≤0.001 for all) with approximately or close to half of the variation in each explained by variation in the organic-phosphate ratio (51.2% for collagen, 39.6% for carbon, and 49.8% for nitrogen). Although the Raman screening method cannot directly quantify the extent of collagen survival, it could be of use in the selection of bone most likely to have viable protein required for reliable results from stable isotope analysis.

Recently, the value of the study of children and childhood from archaeological contexts has become more recognized. Childhood is both a biological and a social phenomenon. However, because of specialization in research fields within anthropology, subadults from the archaeological record are usually studied from the biological perspective (bioarchaeology) or, more predominantly, the social perspective (social archaeology), with little research that incorporates both approaches. These polarized approaches to childhood and age highlight the dualistic way in which \"biological\" and \"social\" aspects of the body are viewed. Some recent literature criticizes bioarchaeological approaches, and calls for the incorporation of childhood social theory, including social age categories, into subadult health analysis. However, few studies have explicitly addressed the practicalities or theoretical issues that need to be considered when attempting this. This paper critically examines these issues, including terminology used for defining subadulthood and age divisions within it, and approaches to identify \"social age\" in past populations. The important contribution that bioarchaeology can make to the study of social aspects of childhood is outlined. Recent theoretical approaches for understanding the body offer exciting opportunities to incorporate skeletal remains into research, and develop a more biologically and socially integrated understanding of childhood and age.

As we enter the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the scientific community has met the SARS-CoV-2 virus with efficient and effective responses in epidemiology, molecular biology, genetics, vaccine development, and new treatment options. Yet the toll of the virus on public health has been uneven globally and within nations to an extent that has led STEM professionals to inevitably conclude that a truly effective response requires insights and mobilization from across the social sciences and humanities. It is hard to express how much the pandemic has impacted almost every aspect of life in human communities and how it has laid bare longstanding social problems, like social inequalities. The pandemic has also illuminated the extent of more recent pernicious social forces, such as disaster capitalism, and provides an ominous window into how some governments and societies will meet challenges such as climate change. This introduction presents six commissioned articles that demonstrate the power of an anthropological approach to the biocultural and evolutionary aspects of pandemic and epidemic diseases in the past. In this article, we also frame a path for bioarchaeologists to contribute to incredibly important questions and debates about the global pandemic by situating the articles into holistic theoretical approaches.

The Eastern Zhou (770–221 BCE) was an important period of social transformation in ancient China. The development of class- and gender-based stratification of this period had profound effects on human diet. We aim to examine the relationships among diet, class, and sex (as a proxy for gender) during this period through comparative investigations of noble individuals and sacrificial human companions. We analyzed the stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values of bone collagen of 61 human (26 nobles and 35 sacrificial companions) and 32 faunal samples from the Dahan (大韩) cemetery (an Eastern Zhou archaeological site). There are statistically significant class-based dietary differences, with the nobles consuming more socially valued foods (high protein food and millets) compared with sacrificial companions, which is also supported by paleopathological evidence. Sex-based differences were specific to class, with no significant dietary differences found in the nobles, whereas males may have had better diets than females in the lower classes. Our dietary analysis suggests that some sacrificial companions may have benefited from the resources of their noble masters, however, most sacrificial companions had a poorer diet. In addition, one noble individual possibly experienced social mobility in his lifetime, as shown by the discrepancy in his burial treatment and his long-term diet. This cemetery-wide study of dietary differences between nobles and sacrificial companions allows for novel insight into the intersection of class, gender, and diet during the Eastern Zhou period.

Fetal and infant skeletal remains in anatomical collections remain an underutilized yet important source of information on the interactions of gender, class, and religion during pregnancy and infant loss. The W. D. Trotter Anatomy Museum at the University of Otago in New Zealand, founded in the nineteenth century, houses more than 2,000 models and anatomical “specimens,” with many of the skeletal remains lacking provenience information. This research aimed to both provide an inventory of the fetal and infant skeletal remains and identify through archival analysis the social context of those whose remains were obtained by the museum. An osteological analysis was carried out to assess the minimum number of individuals (MNI), estimate age-at-death, and provide evidencefor pathology and dissection. The results are interpreted in the context of the archival accession data and historical information at the time to provide the social context in which these people lived and therefore information that may be related to their deaths and acquisition of their bodies by the university. Most of the infants within the collection died around the time of full-termbirth, and some individuals have evidence for developmental pathology, birth trauma, and/or postmortem dissection. The historical context and legislation around body donation suggests structural inequality played a role in the acquisition of these infants’ remains from mothers (primarily poor and/or unmarried women) and that these remains went through a process of commodification and objectification and were retained as developmental teaching “specimens” and examples of pathology.

Food is a biological imperative as well as a core material that humans use in socializing ourselves, and the things we choose to consume are infused with cultural meanings. Children, especially very young children, have little agency in subsistence decisions, and therefore the foods that caretakers feed to children may hold profound information about cultural value systems and reveal social processes and idealized identities. Here we focus on relationships between food, sex, and gender in early life by studying the childhood diets of 57 Eastern Zhou period individuals from the Central Plains region of China (771–221 BCE). Using stable isotope analysis of incremental dentin samples, we create detailed dietary histories of childhood years. From very early in life, the average δ15N value for boys is notably higher than the average for girls, indicating slightly more protein consumption for most males, and this continues across childhood. Foods such as meat and millet were highly valued in ancient China and, whether intentional or not, become associated with aspects of sex and gender through preferential feeding to male children. These isotopic data reveal a key aspect of the socializing processes of children across generational interactions with caretakers, with food communicating information about social worth and gender, which becomes embodied in the developing child.

The foods used to supplement or replace breast milk in infants’ diets in prehistoric times aren’t fully understood. The finding that ancient feeding vessels from Europe had residues of animal milk offers a clue. Pottery vessels shed light on early approaches used to feed infants. Selection of Late Bronze/Early Iron Age feeding vessels Credit: Katharina Rebay-Salisbury,

Furthermore, the type of food infants are fed, and when during their development they are given food in addition to breast milk, has a strong relationship to infant health and survival11. Human breast milk is a perfect baby food, containing carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, digestive enzymes and hormones12. [...]research on the remains ofpeople in European prehistoric cemetery sites should be undertaken to explore the effects of the introduction of animal milk as an infant food.

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered the adoption of online education across all sectors worldwide, which was particularly challenging for disciplines that rely on hands-on learning such as bioarchaeology. Although the impacts of this rapid transition have been well investigated in fields such as anatomy and forensic anthropology, there has been little research into its effects within bioarchaeology. We address this deficit by investigating two common perceptions around online learning from a bioarchaeological perspective: (1) online techniques are inadequate for teaching practical skills, and (2) online learning environments lack a sense of community, thereby negatively affecting learner experiences. To gauge learner perceptions around online practical education in this field, we conducted a qualitative survey of participants in a bioarchaeology masterclass series. Results suggest that students perceive online learning to be as effective for practical training as in-person alternatives and that online learning may engender a sense of community when offered using a collaborative, interactive approach. Based on our results we provide several key recommendations for online education in bioarchaeology, including an active emphasis on social engagement and relationship building, culturally appropriate teaching, and the use of resources to encourage flexibility in learning. A Thai-language abstract is available as Supplemental Text 1. La pandemia de COVID-19 desencadenó la rápida implementación de la educación en línea en todo el mundo, en diversas disciplinas, y ha sido particularmente desafiante para aquellas que dependen de la enseñanza práctica, como la bioarqueología. Si bien los impactos de esta rápida transición han sido bien investigados en campos como la anatomía y la antropología forense, ha habido poca investigación sobre sus efectos en el campo de la bioarqueología. Este artículo aborda este déficit a través de la investigación de dos apreciaciones comunes sobre el aprendizaje en línea desde una perspectiva bioarqueológica: (1) que las técnicas en línea son inadecuadas para enseñar habilidades prácticas, y (2) que los entornos de aprendizaje en línea carecen de un sentido de comunidad, lo que afecta negativamente las experiencias de los estudiantes. Para medir las percepciones de los alumnos sobre la educación práctica en línea en bioarqueología, realizamos una encuesta cualitativa de los participantes de una serie de clases magistrales sobre esta disciplina. Los resultados sugieren que los estudiantes perciben que el aprendizaje en línea es tan efectivo para la formación práctica como las alternativas en persona y que el aprendizaje en línea puede generar un sentido de comunidad cuando se ofrece un enfoque colaborativo e interactivo. Basado en nuestros resultados, se presentan varias consideraciones importantes para la educación en línea en bioarqueología, incluido el énfasis activo en el compromiso social y la construcción de relaciones, la enseñanza culturalmente apropiada, la accesibilidad de los recursos relacionados con el idioma y el uso de recursos para fomentar la flexibilidad en el aprendizaje.