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"Forensic archaeology Greece."
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Execution by Styrax in Ancient Thasos
Searching through interdisciplinary research to recover echoes of the human condition ingrained as they may be in the skeletal record of the ancients, there have been few cases in the forty year experience of the author which in defiance to the relentless passage of Chrόnos and even the chthonic potency of the waters of Léthe to dissolve all strings relating to Mnenosỳne could offer compelling evidentiary data, critical for generating meaningful interpretive answers as a nexus to life pathways and experiences in antiquity, reflective of dynamics and circumstances, that were not always possible to be recorded or spoken of by the attendants of Cléo. And yet in rare cases, millennia later, ostensibly through the works of Láchesis, a synergy between the fields of Archaeological Anthropology and Bioarchaeology may offer a unique portal whereby the dictum mortui vivos docent may be reiterated. Sharing in the objectives of an ongoing archaeo-anthropological endeavor, aiming to better decipher and elucidate facets of the human condition while carrying out funerary archaeological research of Hellenistic to Roman periods family graves at the extensive ancient necropolis of Thasos, the most northern Aegean island, this essay addresses a case of unique forensic / bioarchaeological interest involving an older male individual, a member of one of the clusters of burials, who had been placed as a single interment in a most conspicuous limestone cyst grave of the Hellenistic period. While odontological, cranio-infracranial skeleto-anatomic manifestations and palaeopathologies revealed a detailed rostrum on aspects of his developmental growth, of acquired and degenerative somatic changes, reflective of his life experiences which involved long term most active participations in physically demanding yet specialized activities, a staggering ‘through and through’ sternal trauma of astonishing preservation, provided for a distinct opportunity to conduct a unique cross-disciplinary investigation on the nature of the weapon reconstructed in bronze, the archaeometry on the trajectory and factors of speed and force at the deliverance of the strike, along with the diagnostic assessments of the thoracic tissues pierced consecutively and their moribund consequences. A review of historical references on the implementation of capital punishment either through the decision of a dicastic or ephetic court, and/or execution carried out as a result of outlawry are evaluated in relevance to funerary practices as these pertained to the interment of the Thasian male within the context of the burial ground, offering in retrospect assessments on the probable cause of his violent death.
eBook
The lameness of King Philip II and Royal Tomb I at Vergina, Macedonia
King Philip II was the father of Alexander the Great. He suffered a notorious penetrating wound by a lance through his leg that was nearly fatal and left him lame in 339 B.C.E. (i.e., 3 y before his assassination in 336 B.C.E.). In 1977 and 1978 two male skeletons were excavated in the Royal Tombs II and I of Vergina, Greece, respectively. Tomb I also contained another adult (likely a female) and a newborn skeleton. The current view is that Philip II was buried in Tomb II. However, the male skeleton of Tomb II bears no lesions to his legs that would indicate lameness. We investigated the skeletal material of Tomb I with modern forensic techniques. The male individual in Tomb I displays a conspicuous case of knee ankylosis that is conclusive evidence of lameness. Right through the overgrowth of the knee, there is a hole. There are no obvious signs that are characteristic of infection and osteomyelitis. This evidence indicates that the injury was likely caused by a severe penetrating wound to the knee, which resulted in an active inflammatory process that stopped years before death. Standard anthropological age-estimation techniques based on dry bone, epiphyseal lines, and tooth analysis gave very wide age ranges for the male, centered around 45 y. The female would be around 18-y-old and the infant would be a newborn. It is concluded that King Philip II, his wife Cleopatra, and their newborn child are the occupants of Tomb I.
Journal Article
Sex determination using metatarsal osteometrics from the Athens collection
The determination of sex in skeletal remains performed by forensic anthropologists or bioarchaeologists typically relies on the analysis of quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the skeleton. In this regard, the most widely used features belong to the pelvic and cranial areas, but these are often not available in forensic or archaeological contexts. The objective of this study is to determine the extent of dimorphism exhibited by the metatarsal bones in order to examine their utility in the metric determination of sex in skeletal remains of Greek origin. A further objective is the development of linear discriminant function equations for sex determination based on the metatarsals from a contemporary Greek population. The skeletal sample used in this study is comprised of 1595 metatarsals (left and right), corresponding to 186 adult individuals (97 males, 89 females) and belongs to the documented collection of the University of Athens. The results suggest that metatarsal bones exhibit significant sexual dimorphism and the accuracy of the discriminant function equations for sex determination range from 80.7% to 90.1% (or 77.9–86.4% cross-validated). Thus, metatarsal bones may be used for sex determination in skeletal remains from Greece in addition to other sexing techniques.
Journal Article
High-Precision In Situ 87Sr/86Sr Analyses through Microsampling on Solid Samples: Applications to Earth and Life Sciences
An analytical protocol for high-precision, in situ microscale isotopic investigations is presented here, which combines the use of a high-performing mechanical microsampling device and high-precision TIMS measurements on micro-Sr samples, allowing for excellent results both in accuracy and precision. The present paper is a detailed methodological description of the whole analytical procedure from sampling to elemental purification and Sr-isotope measurements. The method offers the potential to attain isotope data at the microscale on a wide range of solid materials with the use of minimally invasive sampling. In addition, we present three significant case studies for geological and life sciences, as examples of the various applications of microscale 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratios, concerning (i) the pre-eruptive mechanisms triggering recent eruptions at Nisyros volcano (Greece), (ii) the dynamics involved with the initial magma ascent during Eyjafjallajökull volcano’s (Iceland) 2010 eruption, which are usually related to the precursory signals of the eruption, and (iii) the environmental context of a MIS 3 cave bear, Ursus spelaeus. The studied cases show the robustness of the methods, which can be also be applied in other areas, such as cultural heritage, archaeology, petrology, and forensic sciences.
Journal Article
Rocks, views, soils and plants at the temples of ancient Greece
This study explores bedrock geology, topographic setting, compass orientation, soil profile and plant cover at 84 temples of Classical (480-338 BC) mainland Greece, several Aegean islands and Cyprus. A striking pattern emerges: the soil and vegetation matches the dedications to particular deities, suggesting an economic basis for particular cults.
Journal Article
Performing Interpersonal Violence
This book offers the first attempt at understanding interpersonal violence in ancient Athens. While the archaic desire for revenge persisted into the classical period, it was channeled by the civil discourse of the democracy. Forensic speeches, curse tablets, and comedy display a remarkable openness regarding the definition of violence. But in daily life, Athenians had to draw the line between acceptable and unacceptable behavior. They did so by enacting a discourse on violence in the performance of these genres, during which complex negotiations about the legitimacy of violence took place. Since discourse and reality were intertwined and the discourse was ritualized, actual violence might also have been partly ritualized. By still respecting the on-going desire to harm one's enemy, this partial ritualization of violence helped restrain violence and thus contributed to Athens' relative stability.
eBook
Forensic archaeology in Greece
This chapter provides a description of the medico‐legal framework in Greece concerning the investigation of an outdoor crime scene, and also the type of forensic cases in which archaeological theories, principles and methods are employed. In Greece, the medico‐legal death investigation is organised in such a way that two systems run in parallel, a State and a University System. The majority of medico‐legal services operate in hospitals, while others operate in dedicated facilities. The chapter presents some characteristic cases that highlight the anthropological/archaeological involvement in the recovery of human remains and outdoor crime scene investigation in Greece. The application of principles of forensic taphonomy and forensic archaeology is important as they can provide some vital information about the scene, the victim, the perpetrators and the events that took place there.
Book Chapter
The skull from Tomb II at Vergina: King Philip II of Macedon
Because the techniques and the approach described in this paper are perhaps unfamiliar to readers of this Journal, we offer a short introduction on the background to the project. In 1979, after working on the Egyptian mummies in Manchester as part of the Manchester Museum Mummy Research Project, one of us (R. A. H. N.) felt it would be interesting to attempt the reconstruction of some Greek skulls. It seemed that the technique offered interesting new possibilities in the study of Greek portraiture, quite apart from the fascination of an objective method of tackling the appearance of the ancient Greeks. That the very first skull on which we were able to work proved to be such an intriguing one was a stroke of good fortune arising out of the Society's centenary celebrations, when I had the opportunity of discussing the project first with Dr N. Yalouris, and then at his suggestion with Professor M. Andronicos. It is to the latter's great generosity that we owe the privilege of working with a skull that proved much more exciting than even we had anticipated: from the detailed study of the bones that the reconstruction entailed, set against the historical and archaeological evidence, we found that we could not merely reconstruct the dead man's appearance, but provide evidence for his medical history and his military career which identified him (in our view conclusively) as Philip II: we could in fact answer for Professor Andronicos the question that has hung over these tombs at Vergina since he first discovered them in 1977, and identify for him the occupant of the main chamber of Tomb II, the most important of them.
Journal Article
Earliest case of a battered child found in Greece
A pit where Athenians living 2,200 years ago often deposited fetuses and babies who had died of natural causes contained a grim surprise for Maria Liston, an anthropologist. She found the skeleton of a roughly one-year-old child who was probably beaten to death before being thrown into the pit. The unfortunate youngster represents the earliest documented case of severe child abuse, Liston said.
Magazine Article