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Komel-Dikka2014:humanbonesfromareaU
EGYPT
wasnotedamongyoungadults(20-35
yearsold).Itisslightlylowerformiddle-
-agedindividuals,andonlyasmallnumber
ofthemwouldlivetoamoreadvancedage.
MortalityofchildrenfortheUpper
andLowerNecropoleisisnotthesame.
Amajordilerenceisevidentinthe7-14
yearsgroup[seeFig.3],incaseofwhich
mortalitydecreasesconsiderablyover
time.Humanbonesfromthegravesofthe
UpperNecropoliswere,ingeneral,much
betterpreservedthanthebonesexcavated
inearlierlayers.Takingintoconsideration
therelativelypoorsurvivabilityrate
offragilebonesofyoungchildren,in
comparisontoadultskeletons(Walker,
Johnson,andLambert1988:187),the
shareofinfantsdistinguishedinthe
assemblagefromtheUpperNecropolis
shouldbehigher,assumingthesame
mortalityratesforbothphases.Terefore,
aslightincreaseintheshareoftheyoungest
group
andanapparentdropinthe
mortalityofindividualsof7through14
yearsofagemaybecautiouslyinterpreted
asanoverallimprovementinthewell-
beingofthepopulationor,whichmight
bemoresignificantinthiscase,improved
childstatuswithinthefamily.Itmustbe
stressed,however,thatthe7-14agegroup
isnotnumerous,soallinferencesbasedon
itshouldbetreatedwithreserve.
Overallmortalitymaybeblurred
bythecountingprocedureinvolving
fractionalvalueswhentheage-at-death
determinationrangeextendedtomore
thanoneagecategory[seeTable3].5
Itclearlyshows,however,therelatively
highmortalityinearlyadulthood,which
resemblesthesituationknownfromother
areasofthecemetery(Mahler2007:43;
2012:53).Asimilarstateisalsoreflected
inmostotherstudiesofpre-modern
populationsfromallovertheworld.It
formsawellknown“populationpyramid”
(Chamberlain2006:16)withitswide
basisoffragilebonesofchildrenofen
heavilyreducedbydiagenesis.Surprisingly,
earlierstudiesfromKomel-Dikkashowed
thehighestshareofsenile(55+yearsof
age)individuals(Promińska1972:90)in
thesample.
Tehighshareofchildrenand
juvenilesamongtheinhumedissurprising
consideringthepoorstateofthebones.
Fragileandonlypartiallyossifiedbones
oftheyoung(beforepuberty)should
bethefirsttogiveintodiagenesis.In
areaU,theirremainsconstitute28.6%of
alltheindividualsburiedthere,compared
to22.1%(Mahler2012:52)and13.8%
(Mahler2007:42)inearlierstudies.
Teobserveddilerencesmaybedue
toexplorationtechniquesmorecareful
thanwasthecasebefore.However,
furtherresearchonthetopicincluding
archaeologicaldatashouldbeundertaken
tosupportthestatement.
Childmortalityforthetimesstudiedis
assumedtohavebeenaround50%(Parkin
2013:49-50).Suchhighmortalityof
infantsandchildreninthepastresulted
fromawidevarietyofinterdependent
factors(Lewis2007:84).Temost
importantoneswereinfectiousdiseases,
thehighincidenceofwhichresultedfrom
agenerallackofhygiene.Teimmature
immunesystemsofchildrenwereattacked
withfatalelects;especiallyinurban
circumstances,wherehigherpopulation
densitymusthavebeenconduciveto
spreadingpathogens(Vögele1994:401).
5
Tesixage-at-deathcategoriesemployedreflecttheontogeneticpatternofhumanlife(MalinowskiandBożiłow1997:
303).
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PAM25:Research
