Olalla López‐costa
Biographic Data
| ID | 95249 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Olalla López‐costa |
| GIVEN NAMES | Olalla |
| FAMILY NAME | López‐costa |
| SIGNATURE | COSTA O L |
| AFFILIATIONS | Stockholm University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6499-226X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 33 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 157 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 33 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
Combining elemental analysis and molecular techniques to characterize Ancient Egyptian mummification balms
FTIR spectroscopy has been successfully used to characterize embalming materials from Egyptian mummies in a wide number of studies in the recent decades. Here, we have performed ATR-FTIR to 27 balm samples from seven Egyptian mummified heads curated at.
Using ATR-FTIR, analytical colour and mercury for unravelling the cremation ritual of Tyresta viking age burial mound (South-Central Sweden)
The funerary rituals in Viking Age Scandinavia are known by their complexity and diversity including inhumation, boat burials, and cremation. Cremations have been extensively studied macroscopically, but the application of geochemical techniques, although highly informative to investigate cremation in more detail, have not been widely explored yet. In the Viking Age the inclusion of both animals and humans on the funeral pyres makes research chal…
Childhood scars in adult remains
This study integrates historical and osteoarcheological approaches to examine childhood in medieval Iberia, offering insights into living conditions, resource management, and welfare of a particularly fragile demographic sector. Infancy and childhood stress is addressed by recording a marker called dental enamel hypoplasia in deciduous and permanent teeth from six Galician osteological collections that account for the majority of skeletal remains…
Limited or willing? Dietary pathways of the Mudejares of the Kingdom of Valencia through stable isotopes analysis
The Mudejares, a Muslim minority living in the Iberian Christian kingdoms during the Late Middle Ages, progressively lost rights and were segregated to rural areas, until they forcefully converted to Christianity on the 15th century and were expelled from Spain at the beginning of the 17th century. Some moderate language editing would add to the clarity of the text throughout, the highlighted area is only one example. Their minority status led to…
The upper Frontier of Al-Andalus
Both studied settlements, Balaguer and SCA, are found to follow similar C 3 based and terrestrial oriented diets. • There is a significant difference in 15 N enrichment between the two sites, that could be tied to a wider rural vs. urban dynamic detected in other populations of the Iberian northeast. Differences based on religion can, nonetheless, not be ruled out. • Manuring practices may have taken place in Balaguer, and may have contributed to…
Life, death and environment at Lagore Crannog
Lagore, Co. Meath, has long been a type-site for artificial lake dwellings known as crannogs since excavation in the 1930s by the Harvard Expedition. Renowned for rich finds and documented as the seat of the kings of Southern Brega (8th and 10th centuries AD), alongside the high-status and royal functions of the site, it is now widely recognised that Lagore had a long history of activity stretching back into later prehistory with evidence of depo…
Una propuesta de multimetodología osteoarqueológica para reconstruir la salud, dieta y crecimiento infantil Medieval
Presentamos el planteamiento multimetodológico de una investigación doctoral, previa al análisis y obtención de datos. Desde hace dos décadas los estudios dedicados a los individuos no adultos del pasado se han consolidado en Antropología Biológica y Arqueología. Ambas disciplinas estudian los restos esqueléticos ya que son una evidencia directa de su existencia. Además de su importancia en la sociedad, son sujetos muy susceptibles a los cambios …
Diet in Augusta Emerita, the Iberian capital that prevailed in Roman to late antiquity transition
Biting into the truth
Human feeding patterns have been reconstructed in Archaeology by analysing either oral pathology or stable isotope ratios in human skeletal remains. However, no clear agreement has been developed between these two methodologies. The main objective of this study is to determine if we can establish a link between them when analysing a population with a hyper-specialized diet, in this case marine resources (and millet/maize). To reach this goal we d…
La necrópolis de la ampliación del Museo Nacional de Arte Romano (Mérida, Badajoz)
Presentamos el estudio de los esqueletos aparecidos en el solar del Museo Nacional de Arte Romano de Mérida. Abordamos la paleodemografía (mediante la estimación del sexo y edad), la cronología (mediante dataciones 14C en hueso) y la tafonomía, con especial atención a la preservación, comparándolo con el contexto funerario. El total de individuos identificados es de mínimo 118. El alto número de no-adultos (n=41) sugiere una elevada mortalidad in…
Climate Change, Fire and Human Activity Drive Vegetation Change during the Last Eight Millennia in the Xistral Mountains of NW Iberia
An 8500-year record of high-resolution pollen, non-pollen palynomorph, microscopic charcoal and selected geochemical data (Ti, Zr and Pb) is presented from an ombrotrophic mire from the Xistral Mountains, Galicia, North-West Iberia. The results suggest that vegetation changes over the last eight millennia are primarily the result of human disturbance, fire and climate change. Climate and fire were the main factors influencing vegetation developme…
Skeletal remains of human perinatal individuals from the fortified Iberian Period settlement of Ca n'Oliver (6th century to 50 years BCE)
Burial customs in the Iberian Period (Iron Age II) included cremation. Only perinatal and newborn infants were buried directly beneath floor settlement. These infants represent the very few unburned human remains recovered from Iberian sites. The interpretation of these infant burials is in debate, focusing on whether they are unnatural or natural deaths. Our aim is to infer mortality patterns and developmental conditions of these individuals, in…
The late medieval/early modern necropolis of Adro Vello (O Grove, Pontevedra, Spain) from sondage 1.2017
The study of non-adult individuals and the concept of childhood are essential for deepening our knowledge of past communities. Adro Vello (O Grove, Pontevedra) is considered one of the most representative and iconic necropolises of medieval Galicia. However, research on the human skeletal remains has so far been scarce and has not previously focused on what osteoarchaeological analyses can reveal about lifestyle. Here we study the human skeletal …
A Stable Isotope Approach to Roman Diet and Its Legacy in Late Antiquity in Hispania and the Western Empire
Whether a Roman diet existed is a constant issue in Classical archaeology, as it is also its persistence in late Antiquity. Here, we review the isotopic composition (δ13Ccol and δ15Ncol ) of 15 (n = 384) necropolis dating to the 1st to 8th centuries AD from Hispania. We worked with human and animal raw data and calculated the human enrichment regarding herbivoreś average. Although diet was not homogeneous, intra-site variability was greater than …
Evidence of otitis media and mastoiditis in a Medieval Islamic skeleton from Spain and possible implications for ancient surgical treatment of the condition
Estudio antropológico de las alquerías de Benizahat y Zeneta (Vall d ́Uixó, Castellón). Una ventana a la vida rural andalusí
En época andalusí, la Vall d’Uixó (Castellón, España) se conformaba por una serie de alquerías que estuvieron habitadas por población islámica hasta el s. XVI. A través del análisis antropológico de 99 esqueletos procedentes de dos de estas alquerías, Benizahat y Zeneta, el presente estudio explora la posible existencia de diferencias en el estilo de vida de hombres y mujeres y un posible estrés ocupacional relacionado con la economía rural en es…
Food, Mobility, and Health in a 17th and 18th Century Arctic Mining Population in Silbojokk, Swedish Sápmi
Established in 1635, the silver mine of Nasafjäll and the smeltery site in Silbojokk in Swedish Sápmi were used during several phases until the late 19th century. Excavations in Silbojokk, c. 40 km from Nasafjäll, have revealed buildings such as a smeltery, living houses, a bakery, and a church with a churchyard. From the beginning, both local and non-local individuals worked at the mine and the smeltery. Non-locals were recruited to work in the …
Porotic hyperostosis, cribra orbitalia, femoralis and humeralis in Medieval NW Spain
Biological histories of an elite
This study aims to reconstruct the biological histories of the people buried at the Royal Chapel of Lugo Cathedral, an important religious center of NW Spain, by using anthropological, geochemical, and historical perspectives. We conducted a macroscopic and radiographic study on 955 skeletal elements, a multi-isotope (δ13Ccol, δ15N, δ34Scol, δ13Cap, δ18Oap) analysis of human (n = 12) and animal (n = 4) samples, and the study of 1407 documents fro…
Arqueología funeraria andalusí en Cataluña y la provincia de Castellón
El presente trabajo ofrece una síntesis de los conocimientos arqueológicos e históricos sobre el poblamiento andalusí mediante un inventario de hallazgos funerarios en Cataluña, con la provincia de Castellón como referente de comparación. Se presentan nuevos datos relativos a hallazgos aún inéditos de los yacimientos de Plà de Almatà (Balaguer) y la Vall d’Uixó (Castellón). Cataluña formaba parte de la Frontera Superior de al-Andalus, por lo que …
Atmospheric mercury pollution deciphered through archaeological bones
Multi‐method (FTIR, XRD, PXRF) analysis of Ertebølle pottery ceramics from Scania, southern Sweden
A combination of Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), powder X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and portable X‐ray fluorescence spectroscopy (PXRF) was used on the clay fraction of Ertebølle ceramics from several Late Mesolithic sites in Scania, southern Sweden. The aim was to provide up‐to‐date information about clay types used during that period within the Scanian Ertebølle cultural unit, and to elucidate social aspects relevant to the organiza…
Holocene atmospheric dust deposition in NW Spain
Atmospheric dust plays an important role in terrestrial and marine ecosystems, particularly those that are nutrient limited. Despite that most dust originates from arid and semi-arid regions, recent research has shown that past dust events may have been involved in boosting productivity in nutrient-poor peatlands. We investigated dust deposition in a mid-latitude, raised bog, which is surrounded by a complex geology (paragneiss/schist, granite, q…
Eating in silence
Boom and bust at a medieval fishing port
Fringes of the empire
A growing number of paleodiet investigations over recent years have begun to reveal the stark dietary differences that existed between regions of the Roman Empire, as well as significant changes in subsistence strategies after its fall. The present study explores the dietary changes at the Roman to post‐Roman (Germanic) transition in the Northwest Iberian Peninsula, in order to improve our understanding of the changes that occurred at end of the …
Diet and lifestyle in Bronze Age Northwest Spain
Chemical compositional changes in archaeological human bones due to diagenesis
Boom and bust at a medieval fishing port
Diet and food strategies in a southern al-Andalusian urban environment during Caliphal period, Écija, Sevilla
Porotic hyperostosis, cribra orbitalia, femoralis and humeralis in Medieval NW Spain
Paleodiet in the Iberian Peninsula
Eating in silence
Atmospheric mercury pollution deciphered through archaeological bones
Multi‐method (FTIR, XRD, PXRF) analysis of Ertebølle pottery ceramics from Scania, southern Sweden
A combination of Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), powder X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and portable X‐ray fluorescence spectroscopy (PXRF) was used on the clay fraction of Ertebølle ceramics from several Late Mesolithic sites in Scania, southern Sweden. The aim was to provide up‐to‐date information about clay types used during that period within the Scanian Ertebølle cultural unit, and to elucidate social aspects relevant to the organiza…
Skeletal remains of human perinatal individuals from the fortified Iberian Period settlement of Ca n'Oliver (6th century to 50 years BCE)
Burial customs in the Iberian Period (Iron Age II) included cremation. Only perinatal and newborn infants were buried directly beneath floor settlement. These infants represent the very few unburned human remains recovered from Iberian sites. The interpretation of these infant burials is in debate, focusing on whether they are unnatural or natural deaths. Our aim is to infer mortality patterns and developmental conditions of these individuals, in…
A Stable Isotope Approach to Roman Diet and Its Legacy in Late Antiquity in Hispania and the Western Empire
Whether a Roman diet existed is a constant issue in Classical archaeology, as it is also its persistence in late Antiquity. Here, we review the isotopic composition (δ13Ccol and δ15Ncol ) of 15 (n = 384) necropolis dating to the 1st to 8th centuries AD from Hispania. We worked with human and animal raw data and calculated the human enrichment regarding herbivoreś average. Although diet was not homogeneous, intra-site variability was greater than …
Biting into the truth
Human feeding patterns have been reconstructed in Archaeology by analysing either oral pathology or stable isotope ratios in human skeletal remains. However, no clear agreement has been developed between these two methodologies. The main objective of this study is to determine if we can establish a link between them when analysing a population with a hyper-specialized diet, in this case marine resources (and millet/maize). To reach this goal we d…
Biological histories of an elite
This study aims to reconstruct the biological histories of the people buried at the Royal Chapel of Lugo Cathedral, an important religious center of NW Spain, by using anthropological, geochemical, and historical perspectives. We conducted a macroscopic and radiographic study on 955 skeletal elements, a multi-isotope (δ13Ccol, δ15N, δ34Scol, δ13Cap, δ18Oap) analysis of human (n = 12) and animal (n = 4) samples, and the study of 1407 documents fro…
Diet in Augusta Emerita, the Iberian capital that prevailed in Roman to late antiquity transition
Holocene atmospheric dust deposition in NW Spain
Atmospheric dust plays an important role in terrestrial and marine ecosystems, particularly those that are nutrient limited. Despite that most dust originates from arid and semi-arid regions, recent research has shown that past dust events may have been involved in boosting productivity in nutrient-poor peatlands. We investigated dust deposition in a mid-latitude, raised bog, which is surrounded by a complex geology (paragneiss/schist, granite, q…
Edafología, palinología y antropología física aplicadas a la arqueología ambiental
La reconstrucción paleoambiental puede darnos información muy importante acerca de cómo las sociedades hicieron uso del medio, y de cómo, a su vez, las variaciones climáticas y ambientales han influido en el devenir de las sociedades. En este trabajo analizamos el potencial de la edafología, la palinología y la antropología física en los estudios paleoambientales aplicados a la arqueología. Además, partiendo de éstas disciplinas y, centrándonos e…
Taphonomy and burial context of the Roman/post-Roman funerary areas (2nd to 6th centuries AD) of A Lanzada, NW Spain
Although in the post-Roman transition (Late Antiquity) intense socioeconomic, cultural and environmental changes took place in NW Iberia, their impact in the life of local communities is barely known. The funerary rites and burial are processes deeply rooted in societies, hence their modifications may reveal helpful aspects to understand the aforementioned transition. To reach this objective and improve our knowledge on the local lifestyle, I ana…
Diet and lifestyle in Bronze Age Northwest Spain
Diagenetic effects on pyrolysis fingerprints of extracted collagen in archaeological human bones from NW Spain, as determined by pyrolysis-GC-MS
Chemical compositional changes in archaeological human bones due to diagenesis
Fringes of the empire
A growing number of paleodiet investigations over recent years have begun to reveal the stark dietary differences that existed between regions of the Roman Empire, as well as significant changes in subsistence strategies after its fall. The present study explores the dietary changes at the Roman to post‐Roman (Germanic) transition in the Northwest Iberian Peninsula, in order to improve our understanding of the changes that occurred at end of the …
Holocene atmospheric dust deposition in NW Spain
Atmospheric dust plays an important role in terrestrial and marine ecosystems, particularly those that are nutrient limited. Despite that most dust originates from arid and semi-arid regions, recent research has shown that past dust events may have been involved in boosting productivity in nutrient-poor peatlands. We investigated dust deposition in a mid-latitude, raised bog, which is surrounded by a complex geology (paragneiss/schist, granite, q…
Eating in silence
Boom and bust at a medieval fishing port
Diet and food strategies in a southern al-Andalusian urban environment during Caliphal period, Écija, Sevilla
Paleodiet in the Iberian Peninsula
Arqueología funeraria andalusí en Cataluña y la provincia de Castellón
El presente trabajo ofrece una síntesis de los conocimientos arqueológicos e históricos sobre el poblamiento andalusí mediante un inventario de hallazgos funerarios en Cataluña, con la provincia de Castellón como referente de comparación. Se presentan nuevos datos relativos a hallazgos aún inéditos de los yacimientos de Plà de Almatà (Balaguer) y la Vall d’Uixó (Castellón). Cataluña formaba parte de la Frontera Superior de al-Andalus, por lo que …
Atmospheric mercury pollution deciphered through archaeological bones
Multi‐method (FTIR, XRD, PXRF) analysis of Ertebølle pottery ceramics from Scania, southern Sweden
A combination of Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), powder X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and portable X‐ray fluorescence spectroscopy (PXRF) was used on the clay fraction of Ertebølle ceramics from several Late Mesolithic sites in Scania, southern Sweden. The aim was to provide up‐to‐date information about clay types used during that period within the Scanian Ertebølle cultural unit, and to elucidate social aspects relevant to the organiza…
Evidence of otitis media and mastoiditis in a Medieval Islamic skeleton from Spain and possible implications for ancient surgical treatment of the condition
Estudio antropológico de las alquerías de Benizahat y Zeneta (Vall d ́Uixó, Castellón). Una ventana a la vida rural andalusí
En época andalusí, la Vall d’Uixó (Castellón, España) se conformaba por una serie de alquerías que estuvieron habitadas por población islámica hasta el s. XVI. A través del análisis antropológico de 99 esqueletos procedentes de dos de estas alquerías, Benizahat y Zeneta, el presente estudio explora la posible existencia de diferencias en el estilo de vida de hombres y mujeres y un posible estrés ocupacional relacionado con la economía rural en es…
Food, Mobility, and Health in a 17th and 18th Century Arctic Mining Population in Silbojokk, Swedish Sápmi
Established in 1635, the silver mine of Nasafjäll and the smeltery site in Silbojokk in Swedish Sápmi were used during several phases until the late 19th century. Excavations in Silbojokk, c. 40 km from Nasafjäll, have revealed buildings such as a smeltery, living houses, a bakery, and a church with a churchyard. From the beginning, both local and non-local individuals worked at the mine and the smeltery. Non-locals were recruited to work in the …
Porotic hyperostosis, cribra orbitalia, femoralis and humeralis in Medieval NW Spain
Biological histories of an elite
This study aims to reconstruct the biological histories of the people buried at the Royal Chapel of Lugo Cathedral, an important religious center of NW Spain, by using anthropological, geochemical, and historical perspectives. We conducted a macroscopic and radiographic study on 955 skeletal elements, a multi-isotope (δ13Ccol, δ15N, δ34Scol, δ13Cap, δ18Oap) analysis of human (n = 12) and animal (n = 4) samples, and the study of 1407 documents fro…
The late medieval/early modern necropolis of Adro Vello (O Grove, Pontevedra, Spain) from sondage 1.2017
The study of non-adult individuals and the concept of childhood are essential for deepening our knowledge of past communities. Adro Vello (O Grove, Pontevedra) is considered one of the most representative and iconic necropolises of medieval Galicia. However, research on the human skeletal remains has so far been scarce and has not previously focused on what osteoarchaeological analyses can reveal about lifestyle. Here we study the human skeletal …
A Stable Isotope Approach to Roman Diet and Its Legacy in Late Antiquity in Hispania and the Western Empire
Whether a Roman diet existed is a constant issue in Classical archaeology, as it is also its persistence in late Antiquity. Here, we review the isotopic composition (δ13Ccol and δ15Ncol ) of 15 (n = 384) necropolis dating to the 1st to 8th centuries AD from Hispania. We worked with human and animal raw data and calculated the human enrichment regarding herbivoreś average. Although diet was not homogeneous, intra-site variability was greater than …
La necrópolis de la ampliación del Museo Nacional de Arte Romano (Mérida, Badajoz)
Presentamos el estudio de los esqueletos aparecidos en el solar del Museo Nacional de Arte Romano de Mérida. Abordamos la paleodemografía (mediante la estimación del sexo y edad), la cronología (mediante dataciones 14C en hueso) y la tafonomía, con especial atención a la preservación, comparándolo con el contexto funerario. El total de individuos identificados es de mínimo 118. El alto número de no-adultos (n=41) sugiere una elevada mortalidad in…
Climate Change, Fire and Human Activity Drive Vegetation Change during the Last Eight Millennia in the Xistral Mountains of NW Iberia
An 8500-year record of high-resolution pollen, non-pollen palynomorph, microscopic charcoal and selected geochemical data (Ti, Zr and Pb) is presented from an ombrotrophic mire from the Xistral Mountains, Galicia, North-West Iberia. The results suggest that vegetation changes over the last eight millennia are primarily the result of human disturbance, fire and climate change. Climate and fire were the main factors influencing vegetation developme…
Skeletal remains of human perinatal individuals from the fortified Iberian Period settlement of Ca n'Oliver (6th century to 50 years BCE)
Burial customs in the Iberian Period (Iron Age II) included cremation. Only perinatal and newborn infants were buried directly beneath floor settlement. These infants represent the very few unburned human remains recovered from Iberian sites. The interpretation of these infant burials is in debate, focusing on whether they are unnatural or natural deaths. Our aim is to infer mortality patterns and developmental conditions of these individuals, in…
The upper Frontier of Al-Andalus
Both studied settlements, Balaguer and SCA, are found to follow similar C 3 based and terrestrial oriented diets. • There is a significant difference in 15 N enrichment between the two sites, that could be tied to a wider rural vs. urban dynamic detected in other populations of the Iberian northeast. Differences based on religion can, nonetheless, not be ruled out. • Manuring practices may have taken place in Balaguer, and may have contributed to…
Geography (24 works) · Archaeology (21 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (18 works) · Biology (13 works) · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies (13 works) · Art (9 works) · Ecology (9 works) · Paleopathology and ancient diseases (9 works) · History (8 works) · Ancient history (7 works)