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This study addresses issues associated with limited access to reference skeletal collections and how it hampers regional methodological development. The study also investigates the effects of three different priors on age-at-death estimations of Koreans and quantifies the accuracy of Bayesian estimation compared to a non-Bayesian approach. CT scan images of pubic symphyses were scored following the Suchey-Brooks standards. We specifically examine Bayesian age-at-death estimations under an optimal scenario where both the likelihood and prior probability are derived from a target population of Korean origin. Three different priors (population, forensic, and uniform priors) are evaluated for their age estimation accuracy levels. The results showed that Korean males and females had discrepancies in skeletal aging rates only in certain phases. A similar trend was observed in the comparison of the original Suchey-Brooks and Korean sample aging rates. However, when final age estimates were computed based on an inadequate choice of a prior, the between-group differences may be minimized or even obscured. The uniform and forensic priors produced the most reasonable and unbiased estimates, while the uniform prior consistently provided open-ended estimates for the last phase. The population prior produced consistently higher estimates due to the high survivorship of Koreans. In addition, the original Suchey-Brooks standards persistently under-estimated ages for Korean males and females. Overall, when Bayesian age estimation is based on an informed prior that best matches the context of the case (forensic deaths in this study), there was increased accuracy of final age estimates compared to age estimates of other priors and the original Suchey-Brooks method.

An insufficient number of archaeological surveys has been carried out to date on Harappan Civilization cemeteries. One case in point is the necropolis at Rakhigarhi site (Haryana, India), one of the largest cities of the Harappan Civilization, where most burials within the cemetery remained uninvestigated. Over the course of the past three seasons (2013 to 2016), we therefore conducted excavations in an attempt to remedy this data shortfall. In brief, we found different kinds of graves co-existing within the Rakhigarhi cemetery in varying proportions. Primary interment was most common, followed by the use of secondary, symbolic, and unused (empty) graves. Within the first category, the atypical burials appear to have been elaborately prepared. Prone-positioned internments also attracted our attention. Since those individuals are not likely to have been social deviants, it is necessary to reconsider our pre-conceptions about such prone-position burials in archaeology, at least in the context of the Harappan Civilization. The data presented in this report, albeit insufficient to provide a complete understanding of Harappan Civilization cemeteries, nevertheless does present new and significant information on the mortuary practices and anthropological features at that time. Indeed, the range of different kinds of burials at the Rakhigarhi cemetery do appear indicative of the differences in mortuary rituals seen within Harappan societies, therefore providing a vivid glimpse of how these people respected their dead.

Only a few osteological reports describe bone injuries thought to have been caused by falls from horses. Nevertheless, anthropological study alone is insufficient for establishing the correlates of such equestrian accidents. We therefore reviewed the records in Seungjeongwon ilgi (Diaries of the Royal Secretariat) and Joseon wangjo silrok (Annals of the Joseon Dynasty) of the Korea's Joseon period (1392-1910 CE). Although the mechanisms of trauma were diverse, the Joseon documents recorded many injuries caused by horse-riding accidents. During 1625-1872 CE, equestrian-related accidents occurred almost every year, overwhelming other causes of trauma. In all horse-riding accidents (n=142), 37.77% of the records offer detailed data about the traumatic mechanism. Injuries occurred most frequently to the extremities (79.58%), which were followed by the trunk (34.5%) and head (4.92%). Although we do not think that this attempt can explain every paleopathological case, our historical review shows that equestrian-related injuries could be considered as one of the major causes for the bone trauma observed among ancient equestrian people.

The purpose of this research is to examine whether degenerative joint diseases (DJD) and enthesopathies can be used in conjunction in research that aims to understand the activity levels of past populations. To examine this, the relationship between DJD and enthesopathies needs to be explored while taking different peripheral joints and types of entheses into account. In addition, the present research aims to examine the frequency of DJD and enthesopathies in the Joseon Dynasty population of Korea with comparisons with data in other skeletal series of similar dates. In this research, 173 individuals who had been interred in Eunpyeong Cemetery (Seoul, Korea, mid-15th-early 20th centuries) were analyzed. The occurrence of DJD and enthesopathies at six peripheral joints - the shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee, and ankle - were compared. The results presented in this study suggest that DJD and enthesopathies are positively correlated in specific joints. The overall pattern of DJD and enthesopathies by sex was not found to be aligned with each other. While both markers were strongly associated with age in similar joints and bone elements, differences by sex showed a significant association in only some enthesopathies. This result suggests that DJD and enthesopathies react in different ways to variable etiological factors because they have different levels of vulnerability to various causes. Therefore, the distribution and pattern of DJD and enthesopathies should be discussed with caution when they are used together as activity markers. In addition, the population from Eunpyeong Cemetery seems not to have experienced a great deal of habitual stress.

Conventional methods for evaluating the mastoid as a sex indicator cannot determine whether mastoid shape is an independent and reliable sex indicator. Here, shape differences between the mastoids of 100 male and 100 female modern white Americans were statistically analyzed and visualized using the geometric morphometric method. Discriminant analysis was performed on mastoid size and shape. The relation between size and shape was analyzed to examine the effect of size on shape. In the results, mastoid size and shape were statistically significant sex indicators, while size factor explained 87.3% of the total variance of the shape variables. Nevertheless, females had relatively broader and shorter mastoid shape than males regardless of size, reflecting 12.7% of the total variance of the shape variables. In conclusion, mastoid size and shape were statistically significant sex indicators, while size may matter more in the mastoid than in other cranial parts in terms of sexual dimorphism.

SUMMARY Cranial fluctuating asymmetry (FA) has been used to examine developmental stress levels in various populations. In bioarchaeological studies, developmental stress can be an important factor for inferring standard of living in a population. However, the crania of a Joseon Dynasty population have only been studied in terms of its morphological characteristics. In this regard, the cranial FA of the two sexes from a Joseon Dynasty population of Korea were compared here for examining their aspects of living conditions in relation to developmental stress and socio-cultural factors. In this study, 77 individuals (39 males and 38 females) who belong to the 15th to the early-20th centuries from Seoul and Gyeonggi province in Korea were investigated. Nineteen three-dimensional landmarks on the vault and basicranium were collected using MicroScribe G2X. The coordinate data were aligned into a common coordinate plane by Procrustes least-squares superimposition. Procrustes ANOVA was adopted to evaluate FA at a population level. The FA of males and females were compared with t-test using SPSS 18. There was statistically insignificant difference in FA between the two sexes in the Joseon Dynasty population. The result was interpreted to reflect both relatively high developmental stress and sex-related discrimination in the population. It was postulated that relatively high developmental stress could increase difference in FA between the two sexes in the prenatal term compared to the postnatal term because sex-related discrimination cannot be practiced before birth and males have lower stress resistance than females. Then, the difference between the two sexes in the cranial FA could be decreased during postnatal development related to sex-related discrimination, resulting in insignificant FA difference of the two sexes in spite of high developmental stress of the Joseon Dynasty population. The results will be useful for comparing and reconstructing living conditions of ancient Korean populations.

Skeletal dysplasias related to genetic etiologies have rarely been reported for past populations. This report presents the skeletal characteristics of an individual with dwarfism-related skeletal dysplasia from South Korea. To assess abnormal deformities, morphological features, metric data, and computed tomography scans are analyzed. Differential diagnoses include achondroplasia or hypochondroplasia, chondrodysplasia, multiple epiphyseal dysplasia, thalassemia-related hemolytic anemia, and lysosomal storage disease. The diffused deformities in the upper-limb bones and several coarsened features of the craniofacial bones indicate the most likely diagnosis to have been a certain type of lysosomal storage disease. The skeletal remains of EP-III-4-No. 107 from the Eunpyeong site, although incomplete and fragmented, provide important clues to the paleopathological diagnosis of skeletal dysplasias.

Objectives As part of efforts to explore the relationship between linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) and dental fluctuating asymmetry (DFA), DFA levels were compared between a hypoplastic group and a non-hypoplastic group. Since both LEH and DFA are pathological indicators of environmental stress which are represented by teeth, it was hypothesized that the hypoplastic group would exhibit higher levels of DFA than the non-hypoplastic group. Design Total of 136 sets of Korean skeletal remains from the Joseon Dynasty (mid 15th–early 20th century, South Korea) were used. To test the hypothesis, DFA levels of both groups were compared by two-way ANOVA after examining some issues related to FA research such as measurement error, type of asymmetry, and size dependence. Result Contrary to the anticipations of many relavant studies, the hypothesis of this study was not supported ( F = 3.469, p = 0.063). That is, the DFA levels of the two groups did not differ significantly, which implies that LEH and DFA do not occur concordantly. Conclusion As to the reason for the result of the present study, it was speculated that (1) different kinds and/or degrees of stressors may influence the occurrence of LEH and DFA, or (2) traditional measuring methods used for DFA research may not reflect true DFA levels. Based on this study, it is recommended that both LEH and DFA should be utilized and reported independently in future research on the environmental stress and nutritional status of human populations.

Despite academic efforts to study the Indus Valley Civilization (IVC), there have as yet been no successful attempts to unveil the IVC people's craniofacial appearance. We investigated the IVC cemetery area of Rakhigarhi site, which was estimated to be of 2273 ± 38 and 2616 ± 73 years BCE. By craniofacial reconstruction (CFR) procedure using computed tomography (CT) data of two Rakhigarhi skulls (A1 BR02 and A2 BR36), we successfully reconstructed the faces of the IVC individuals who were buried about 4500 years ago. This is the first attempt to unveil scientifically accurate representations of IVC people's actual facial morphology.

In November and December 2013, unidentified human skeletal remains buried in a mokgwakmyo\ud (a traditional wooden coffin) were unearthed while conducting an archaeological investigation near Gyeongju, which was the capital of the Silla Kingdom (57 BCE– 660 CE) of ancient Korea. The human skeletal remains were preserved in relatively intact condition.\ud In an attempt to obtain biological information on the skeleton, physical anthropological, mitochondrial\ud DNA, stable isotope and craniofacial analyses were carried out. The results indicated that the individual was a female from the Silla period, of 155 ± 5 cm height, who died in her late thirties. The maternal lineage belonged to the haplogroup F1b1a, typical for East Asia, and the diet had been more C3- (wheat, rice and potatoes) than C4-based (maize, millet and other tropical grains). Finally, the face of the individual was reconstructed utilizing the skull (restored from osseous fragments) and three-dimensional computerized modelling system. This study, applying multi-dimensional approaches within an overall bio-anthropological analysis, was the first attempt to collect holistic biological information on human skeletal remains dating to the Silla Kingdom period of ancient Korea.