Biological Backlash or Cultural Consequence? High Infant Mortality in Bronze Age Arabia
(University of Nevada, Las Vegas)
Excavations of the Umm an-Nar tomb at the Bronze Age site of Tell Abraq provided the comingled human skeletal remains of 280 adults and 82 subadults. The tomb was used over 250-years and the remains are in relatively good condition although most are partially broken. All age categories are well represented, from fetal and newborn remains to individuals over sixty. The demographic profile by age categories suggests a well represented Neolithic population. Analysis of the remains for signs of dietary stress revealed a well-nourished population, however non-specific periosteal reactions resulting from transmissible infections are found in approximately 50% of the long bones and osteoarthritis is pronounced and severe in all individuals aged over 30. Additionally, this skeletal population features an extreme range of variability in size and robusticity among the long bones in particular. The children’s bones show much pathology, suggesting challenges in making it to adolescence. Cultural factors such as the long tradition of child marriages and marriage to 1st cousins (which both act to increase infant mortality) may have contributed significantly to infant mortality and maternal morbidity. This skeletal population highlights the utility of joining biology and culture to understand health in both the past and the present.