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The ancient cemetery of Pommerœul, Belgium, was classified as Gallo-Roman in the 1970s', yielding 76 cremation graves and one inhumation. However, subsequent radiocarbon analyses dated the inhumation to the Late Neolithic (4 th -3 rd millennium calBC). We report osteoarchaeological analysis indicating that the inhumation was composed of bones from multiple individuals, afterwards buried as "one". Ancient DNA analyses also finds evidence of multiple individuals and revealed another surprise: the cranium is post-Neolithic and genetically related to a pair of siblings from another Belgian Gallo-Roman site. This composite burial may have been created in Late Neolithic times, with Gallo-Romans adding the cranium, or alternatively the burial may have been fully assembled in the Gallo-Roman periods. This exceptional burial documents unexpected burial practices for both prehistoric and Roman times.

Modern humans have populated Europe for more than 45,000 years 1,2 . Our knowledge of the genetic relatedness and structure of ancient hunter-gatherers is however limited, owing to the scarceness and poor molecular preservation of human remains from that period 3 . Here we analyse 356 ancient hunter-gatherer genomes, including new genomic data for 116 individuals from 14 countries in western and central Eurasia, spanning between 35,000 and 5,000 years ago. We identify a genetic ancestry profile in individuals associated with Upper Palaeolithic Gravettian assemblages from western Europe that is distinct from contemporaneous groups related to this archaeological culture in central and southern Europe 4 , but resembles that of preceding individuals associated with the Aurignacian culture. This ancestry profile survived during the Last Glacial Maximum (25,000 to 19,000 years ago) in human populations from southwestern Europe associated with the Solutrean culture, and with the following Magdalenian culture that re-expanded northeastward after the Last Glacial Maximum. Conversely, we reveal a genetic turnover in southern Europe suggesting a local replacement of human groups around the time of the Last Glacial Maximum, accompanied by a north-to-south dispersal of populations associated with the Epigravettian culture. From at least 14,000 years ago, an ancestry related to this culture spread from the south across the rest of Europe, largely replacing the Magdalenian-associated gene pool. After a period of limited admixture that spanned the beginning of the Mesolithic, we find genetic interactions between western and eastern European hunter-gatherers, who were also characterized by marked differences in phenotypically relevant variants., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Estimating sex from burnt human remains is a challenging task in bioanthropology, mainly due to their high level of alteration and fragmentation. Protected within the petrous part of the temporal bone, the bony labyrinth may be particularly valuable for assessing the sex of burnt remains. This prospective study aims at testing predictive models, already found reliable on unburnt bony labyrinths, to burnt specimens. Six discriminant functions were applied on six bony labyrinths of donated adult cadavers of known sex, before and after outdoor burning experiments. Comparisons between unburnt and burnt measurements were executed using Mann-Whitney U tests while shape and size differences induced by fire exposure were examined through a geometric morphometrics (GM) analysis. Predicted sex on unburnt bony labyrinths was consistent with known sex in five cases while a systematic misclassification for males was highlighted on burnt specimens. Higher values of shrinkage were found in males for two measurements included in the equations. GM analysis revealed significant differences in centroid size among males after calcination. Visualization of mean consensus of both female and male bony labyrinths evidenced a reduction in cochlear size and variations in the width and length of semicircular canals of burnt specimens. This exploratory study seems to confirm that designing sex estimation standards specifically for burnt bony labyrinth may be advisable. Understanding how the burning process could impact its morphology is highly recommended through further experiments on larger samples and in controlled environments., (© 2022 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.)

In forensic anthropology, sex estimation is a fundamental step in assessing individual biological profiles when analyzing human skeletons. Yet, current methods are not reliable enough to allow an accurate sex identification of highly fragmented, burnt, or subadult remains. This paper aims to investigate sexual dimorphism of the bony labyrinth on both identified subadult and adult individuals. The bony labyrinth is of particular interest for sex estimation since it is alleged to complete size and maturation pre-pubertally and is located inside the petrous part of the temporal bone which protects it from taphonomic processes. The study was performed on 93 CT scans of identified individuals from two Belgian osteological collections (19-20th century) and from current pediatric images (Erasme hospital, Brussels). Linear and angular measurements were taken on 2D slices of right bony labyrinths. Intra- and interobservers error measurements were calculated. Statistical tests were used to unravel any morphological variations between subadult and adult bony labyrinths and to highlight differences between females and males, separately in subadults and adults. Linear discriminant functions were established by cross-validation and tested on an independent sample from Belgium. Some measurements were significantly different between subadults and adults, and between females and males within both subadult and adult samples. Univariate functions achieved 72.7% in subadults and 68.4% in adults whereas multivariate equations increased accuracy respectively up to 84.9% and 78.4%. This study entails promising results to design a sex estimation method suitable for fragmented and/or subadult remains. Further metric approaches are needed to explore bony labyrinth sexual dimorphism., (© 2021 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.)

Background: Computed tomography is the criterion standard for diagnosing intra-abdominal injury (IAI) but is expensive and risks radiation exposure. The Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) model identifies children at low risk of IAI requiring intervention (IAI-I) in whom computed tomography may be omitted but does not provide an individualized risk assessment to positively predict IAI-I. We sought to apply machine learning algorithms to the PECARN blunt abdominal trauma (BAT) data set experimentally to create models for predicting both the presence and absence of IAI-I for pediatric BAT victims., Methods: Using the PECARN data set, we derived and validated predictive models for IAI-I. The data set was divided into derivation (n = 7,940) and validation (n = 4,089) subsets. Six algorithms were tested to create 2 models using 19 clinical variables including emesis, dyspnea, Glasgow Coma Scale score of <15, visible thoracic or abdominal trauma, seatbelt sign, abdominal distension, tenderness or rectal bleeding, peritoneal signs, absent bowel sounds, flank pain, pelvic pain or instability, sex, age, heart rate, and respiratory rate (RR). Five algorithms were fitted to predict the absence (low-risk model) or presence (high-risk model) of IAI-I. Models were validated using the test subset., Results: For the low-risk model, four algorithms were significantly better than the baseline rate (2.28%) when validated using the test set. The random forest model identified 73% of children as low risk, having a predicted IAI-I rate of 0.54%. For the high-risk model, all six algorithms had added predictive power compared with the baseline rate with the highest reportable risk being 39.0%. By incorporating both models into a web application, child-specific risks of IAI-I can be estimated ranging from 0.28% to 39.0% CONCLUSION: We developed a tool that provides a child-specific risk estimate for IAI-I after BAT. This publically available model provides a powerful tool for clinicians triaging pediatric victims of blunt abdominal trauma., Level of Evidence: Prognostic, Level II.

Objective: To develop a simplified clinical prediction tool for identifying children with clinically important traumatic brain injuries (ciTBIs) after minor blunt head trauma by applying machine learning to the previously reported Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network dataset., Study Design: The deidentified dataset consisted of 43 399 patients <18 years old who presented with blunt head trauma to 1 of 25 pediatric emergency departments between June 2004 and September 2006. We divided the dataset into derivation (training) and validation (testing) subsets; 4 machine learning algorithms were optimized using the training set. Fitted models used the test set to predict ciTBI and these predictions were compared statistically with the a priori (no information) rate., Results: None of the 4 machine learning models was superior to the no information rate. Children without clinical evidence of a skull fracture and with Glasgow Coma Scale scores of 15 were at the lowest risk for ciTBIs (0.48%; 95% CI 0.42%-0.55%)., Conclusions: Machine learning algorithms were unable to produce a more accurate prediction tool for ciTBI among children with minor blunt head trauma beyond the absence of clinical evidence of skull fractures and having Glasgow Coma Scale scores of 15., (© 2020 The Author(s).)

The reliquary of Jacques de Vitry, a prominent clergyman and theologian in the early 13th century, has experienced several transfers over the last centuries, which seriously question the attribution of the remains to the late Cardinal. Uncertainty about the year of his birth poses an additional question regarding his age at death in 1240. The reliquary, located in the Saint Marie d'Oigines church, Belgium, was reopened in 2015 for an interdisciplinary study around his relics as well as the Treasure of Oignies, a remarkable cultural heritage notably built from Jacques de Vitry's donation. Anthropological, isotopic and genetic analyses were performed independently on the remains found in the reliquary. Results of the analyses provided evidence that the likelihood that these remains are those of Jacques de Vitry is very high: the remains belong to the same human male individual and the historical tradition about his age is confirmed. In addition, a separate relic (left tibia) was analysed and found to match with the remains of the reliquary (right tibia). The unique Jacques de Vitry's mitre, made of parchment, was sampled non-destructively and the extracted parchment collagen was analysed by a proteomic method in order to determine the animal species. The results showed that, surprisingly, not all parts of the mitre were made from the same species. All together, these findings are expected to fertilize knowledge carried by historical tradition around the relics of Jacques de Vitry and his related cultural heritage., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

A Neolithic Belgian mandible from Bois Madame rockshelter in Arbre presents an asymmetrical morphology resulting from a secondary, or false, articulation of the right mandibular condyle. The pathological articulation produced enlarged masseter, medial pterygoid and mylohyoid musculature on the right side as well as a flattening of the right incisal alveolus curvature. The secondary condylar articulation did not lead to pronounced asymmetry of attrition on the antimeres of the dental arcade. This is the most complete mandible from this Late Neolithic collective burial dating to the beginning of the Bronze Age circa 4000 years BP. It is possible that a fall or blow to the mental symphysis during early adolescence could have resulted in the partial intrusion of the mandibular condyle into the articulation disc of the temporomandibular joint capsule. When the affected condyle healed, a secondary, but serviceable articulation developed, producing unique stresses on the involved muscular tissue and ultimately resulted in an asymmetry of mandibular form., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Harris lines (HLs) are defined as transverse, mineralized lines associated with temporary growth arrest. In paleopathology, HLs are used to reconstruct health status of past populations. However, their etiology is still obscure. The aim of this article is to test the reliability of HLs as an arrested growth marker by investigating their incidence on human metrical parameters., Methods: The study was performed on 69 individuals (28 adults, 41 subadults) from the Dendermonde plague cemetery (Belgium, 16th century). HLs were rated on distal femora and both ends of tibiae. Overall prevalence and age-at-formation of each detected lines were calculated. ANOVA analyses were conducted within subadult and adult samples to test if the presence of HLs did impact size and shape parameters of the individuals., Results: At Dendermonde, 52% of the individuals had at least one HL. The age-at-formation was estimated between 5 and 9 years old for the subadults and between 10 and 14 years old for the adults. ANOVA analyses showed that the presence of HLs did not affect the size of the individuals. However, significant differences in shape parameters were highlighted by HL presence. Subadults with HLs displayed slighter shape parameters than the subadults without, whereas the adults with HLs had larger measurements than the adults without., Conclusions: The results suggest that HLs can have a certain impact on shape parameters. The underlying causes can be various, especially for the early formed HLs. However, HLs deposited around puberty are more likely to be physiological lines reflecting hormonal secretions. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 29:e22885, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., (© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Vault sutures have proven their low reliability for estimating age at death in individual forensic science cases. We broke down the palatine sutures of 134 skulls (with known sex and age at time of death) into 15 subparts and 5 stages of fusion to obtain a mean coefficient of obliteration (Cp) which was then linked to five age classes. We completed this study with multiple regression equations of total palatine suture scores. We compared our results with those obtained using the Mann method on the one hand and classically segmented and scored ectocranial suture age determination methods on the other. Palatine sutures generally do not estimate age at death any better than cranial vault sutures. Despite the partly subjective aspect of suture study, palatine suture observation contributes additional information to age-range estimation, especially in old and very old subjects where other methods lose their effectiveness.

The role of the odontologist is crucial for the study of archaeological material. The excavations at the site of the ancient abbey of the Dunes of Koksijde led to the discovery of more than a thousand burial places. It is possible to estimate the age of the skeletons by studying molar dental wear. This method is however less appropriate for the industrialised populations of the 21st century, because of the switch to more diverse and processed (less abrasive) food.

An ovoid yellowish object has been discovered in an Early Mesolithic collective burial located in the Meuse Basin: the Autours rockshelter (Prov. of Namur, Belgium). It was found among commingled hand and foot bones in a small crack of the rockshelter wall. Mineralogical, radiological and microscopic analyses showed that it was most probably a complex odontoma.