Pre-Adult Burials at Tombos
An Investigation of Social Age and Health Over the Life Course in the Ancient Nile Valley
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6414016 |
|---|---|
| Authors | M R Buzon (0000-0002-1177-0962, Purdue University West Lafayette), Katie M Whitmore (0000-0003-4053-6179, Purdue University West Lafayette), Stuart Tyson Smith (0000-0001-5665-3324, University of California, Santa Barbara) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 42 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 495-517 |
| Publication date | 2025-09-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | African Archaeological Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0263-0338 • E-ISSN: 1572-9842 |
| Publisher | Springer Science+Business Media (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s10437-025-09637-5 |
| OpenAlex | W4415012966 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 43 |
In many archaeological sites in the Nile Valley of Northeast Africa, pre-adult burials are severely underrepresented due to differential burial practices, variable preservation, differential excavation, and curation practices. This study examines pre-adult burials from the New Kingdom–Early Napatan (1400–750 BCE) site of Tombos in Sudan. Historical and artistic documentation of social age categories from Egypt is presented in order to provide a better understanding of social factors for each age group. Skeletal and mortuary data from pre-adult individuals at Tombos are analyzed and compared with data from other sites in the Nile Valley as well as adult burials from Tombos. The analysis of mortuary patterns indicates greater variability in treatment of pre-adults compared to adults and shows consistency with documented Egyptological ideas that the youngest members of the community were treated as fully human in death with proper burial and offerings for the afterlife. Pathological condition frequencies by age group reveal that individuals in the late childhood social age category (8–14 years) experienced higher levels of non-specific stress indicators as they headed toward social adulthood. Examination of mortuary practices and health conditions by social age category sheds light on differing experiences across the life course
Ancient Egypt and Archaeology · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Paleopathology and ancient diseases
Reconstructing Health Profiles from Skeletal Remains
Living with the Dead
Current Research in Egyptology 2005
Tombos during the Napatan period (∼750–660 BC)
Childhood development and adult longevity in an archaeological population from Barton-upon-Humber, Lincolnshire, England
Cribra orbitalia in the ancient Nile Valley and its connection to malaria
Two cases of skeletal dysplasia from New Kingdom (c. 1400–1050 BCE) Tombos, Sudan
The Old Women of Deir el-Medina
Sex estimation using sexually dimorphic amelogenin protein fragments in human enamel
Tumuli at Tombos
The physical activity of parturition in ancient Egypt
Ancient Egyptian Medicine
The Career of the Egyptian High Priest Bakenkhons
Bone morphologies and histories
Variation in ancient Egyptian stature and body proportions
The causes of porotic hyperostosis and cribra orbitalia
New evidence suggesting a dissociated etiology for cribra orbitalia and porotic hyperostosis
Entangled lives
Studying Age Identities Through Funerary Dimensions
The Osteological Paradox
Redefining Childhood through Bioarchaeology
The Bioarchaeological Investigation of Childhood and Social Age
Twenty-first century bioarchaeology
Cribra orbitalia
Life, death and beyond in Akhenaten's Egypt
An infant cemetery of the Classic Kerma period (1750-1500 BC, Island of Saï, Sudan)
Burial and the dead in ancient Egyptian society
Entanglement and the Formation of the Ancient Nubian Napatan State
Biological and Ethnic Identity in New Kingdom Nubia
Daily life in a New Kingdom fortress town in Nubia
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |