2002 Research Project
General Program  l  Research Foci  l Guest Scientist  l  Specific Projects l Related Debate
GENERAL PROGRAM:

A specific area of inquiry will be targeted for each year of the summer program.  The students will work as a team on a joint subject, collecting data in groups of two on a particular dimension of that foci.   These projects will build off data already amassed, permitting the summer team to significantly contribute to an aspect of the overall biocultural model. The goal is to compile the results during the subsequent academic year in a manuscript for joint publication.  Dr. Sheridan will organize the synthesis, remaining in email contact with all participants during the year. 

Students will work in teams to facilitate collaborative research skills, and provide an internal check on accuracy of data collection.  They will research the topic together, learn and apply statistical methods jointly, compile and survey the pertinent literature in combination, and present the results of their findings together.  However, actual data collection will be completed individually, then later compared by the faculty for accuracy.  This proved exceptionally useful in the Summer 2000 program, where mistakes were found and corrected before the end of the session.

Guest Scientist:  Every summer a scientist will be invited for intensive interaction on the research focus.  They will teach the students method and theory specific to the research endeavor, and will work with each participant on their projects.  They will also speak on their own findings in the area, encouraging student awareness of the greater impact of the research agenda.  Prior to the guest's arrival, participants will receive training in the statistical methods needed for their work, and will be given library time to familiarize themselves with the pertinent literature.  By the time the invited guest scientist arrives, students should be well prepared to glean the most from their visit.

Debate:  Within each proposed foci, there are differing opinions about the application of knowledge and interpretation of results.  Each summer a debate topic will be selected from these areas of contention, and students will divide into two groups of 5 (with each member of a research team on opposing sides).  They will be given a series of readings on the topic and asked to debate the issue.  Thus, as they work on their projects, they will remain cognizant of the issues surrounding the research focus.

Presentation: The final aspect of the research agenda will be a presentation of results, with each student provided approximately 15 minutes to speak and five minutes for questions.  Facilities for slide preparation are available if needed, as is a projector.  Students will be instructed throughout the session on presentation techniques both by the faculty and teaching assistant in preparation for this aspect of the assignment.
RESEARCH FOCUS:

Studies of the human condition, both biological and cultural, often concentrate on the adult segment of the human life cycle. However, because children undergo rapid growth and development, they are often more sensitive to physiological stressors.   Childhood is the 'bottleneck' of natural selection; therefore, a group's ability to supply the biocultural means for subadult survival provides a monitor of adaptive success.

Without question, the most surprising find associated with the St. Stephen's collection were the number of subadults.  One third of the 15,000+ remains are those of children under 16 years of age (from seven months in utero).  To date, there is still no real explanation for their presence.  Were they oblates (young monastics)?  Did the monastery run an orphanage? school? hospital? Were they children from the surrounding community who were  buried in the tombs due to the proximity of a saint or to 'holy men' affiliated with the community?  General writings of the Byzantine period contrast the status of children - some claim they were held in high regard, others discuss how families were "pushed into economic exigencies we can barely endure to glimpse" [Leyerle, 1997:245].   While much information appears in the literature of the time about St. Stephen's monastery, no mention is made of the presence of children.  A fuller understanding of their presence in a monastic tomb may provide a glimpse of adaptive mechanisms for child-rearing in Byzantine society, and the role of the early church in this cultural construct.

GUEST SCIENTIST:
Professor Dennis Van Gerven of the University of Colorado will be brought to Jerusalem to work with the program participants for one week, focusing on childhood health and adaptability.  He will lecture on the basics of bone formation, growth, and development.  He will use his extensive research on a large Medieval Nubian collection as a basis for discussion of biocultural reconstructions of subadult morbidity and mortality.

Prof. Van Gerven has extensive experience working with undergraduates, publishing and presenting papers in national venues with regularly.  He has won an abundance of awards for his teaching (including the Presidential Teaching Award) and has served as Director of Honors for the University of Colorado's nationally recognized program for 6 years.

TEAM RESEARCH PROJECTS:
Several team projects will be assigned using the subadult remains to begin to address the issues outlined above.  Students will thus have the chance to collect original biological data while exploring an issue of social/historical importance:
 
Age Profile: One team will assess age at death using Ubelaker's dental development chart.  Dental eruption is one of the best age indicators in subadults given the high degree of genetic versus environmental control over this process.   This team will also score the degree of epiphyseal (growth plate) closure of the postcranial bones for age estimation. Students will be looking at community profiles since the remains are from an ossuary, thus broader age categories modified from Buikstra and Ubelaker (1994) will be used -- fetal (before birth), infant (0-3 yrs), child (4-12 yrs), adolescent (13-15 yrs), teen (16 and older).
Postcranial Metrics: The long bones will be seriated by size for age estimation, using Van Gerven's Medieval Nubian reference collection for which age could be determined using a variety of dental and skeletal measures.  This aging method is not as accurate as dental age comparisons, but can add importantly to an overall multifactorial age profile. This team will be assigned measurement of long bone lengths of the femora, tibia, and radii as well as diaphyseal (bone shaft) dimensions for comparison to radiograph age estimate tables
Sex Determination:Distinguishing male from female subadults is often an arduous task since most secondary sexual characteristics of the skeleton develop with puberty. This team will use a method refined by Dr. Sheridan to assess morphology of the auricular surface (innominate) for sex determination in individuals over age 10 years of age.  They will also test other methods outlined in the literature based on various measures of the mandible and ilium to determine sex in subadults.
Cortical Bone Maintenance:Patterns of subadult stress have been demonstrated in studies of long bone growth and cortical bone maintenance.  Although few studies have been conducted on bone reduction in archaeological subadult collections, it is clear from radiographic techniques that juvenile cortical bone loss occurs.  Analysis of prehistoric collections from the Americas and Sudanese Nubia corroborate this finding and seem to indicate that such subadult loss results from nutritional inadequacy.  Thus, a sample of femora will be measured by this team for length and diameter, then sectioned and analyzed for total subperiosteal area, cortical area, and medullary area.
Survey of Non-Metric Traits:According to the literature, pilgrimage to holy sites was a major cultural phenomenon which reached its zenith during the 5th-7th centuries in Jerusalem. Many studies have surveyed genetically-produced dental and skeletal anomalies in isolated populations to determine the degree of relatedness among its members. While such studies can not delimit the specific geographic origin of the inhabitants, they can determine the degree of heterogeneity within the group. Metric and non-metric traits for the adults has shown significant diversity in traits. This team will survey comparable features of the dentition in those subadults with erupted permanent teeth for a comparison of diversity.  If little heterogeneity is found, this may indicate the children were from the surrounding area.

This component of the Byzantine St. Stephen's project will begin to address the subadult segment of the burial context.  Through a study of the demographic makeup (age and sex), health status, and possible heritage of the children, questions as to their presence and function in the community may become clearer.  For example, if there are numerous females, this might nullify the premise they were oblates (young monks in training).  Texts of the time indicate the minimum age for monastic life was 10 years, thus if a majority are quite young this too could preclude the oblate and perhaps school theories.  If rife with disease and/or nutritional stress, this might give credence to the idea that they were the children of the surrounding region buried in the tombs for its proximity to holy men.  High similarity of genetic traits in the children would also suggest this, or the orphanage theory, as there appears little consistency of non-metric traits amongst the adults.

DEBATE:
This component of the course will focus on the utility of ancient skeletal collections for assessing subadult morbidity and mortality patterns. The study of Lampl and Johnson showed that growth and development can vary substantially in a given population; thus, the question of discontinuity will be discussed.  One side will argue in favor of the use of skeletal remains because "individual variation often swamps populational differences" [White, 2000:341].  The other side will illustrate the potential for substantial variation among different individuals in the rate and timing of change.
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