Elucidating inequality in N ubia

An examination of entheseal changes at K erma ( S udan)

Bibliographic Data

ID8314906
AuthorsSarah A Schrader (0000-0003-0424-6748, Department of Anthropology University of California Santa Cruz Santa Cruz CA 95064, corresponding author)
Year2015
Volume156
Issue2
Pages192-202
Publication date2015-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-9483 • E-ISSN: 1096-8644
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ajpa.22637
PMID25327628
OpenAlexW2098387978
LanguageEN
Citations received20
References cited80

Located 10 km south of the Third Cataract of the Nile River, the ancient city of Kerma was once capital to the second largest state in Africa. The Eastern Cemetery at Kerma (∼4 km east of city center) encompasses 80+ hectares and was used over a period of 1,500 years (3,200–1,500 BC). Excavated in the early 20th century by George Reisner, the cemetery contained an estimated 20,000–40,000 individuals. Reisner classified these burials into multiple categories, including chiefs and human sacrifices, based on burial position and grave goods. This study investigates the skeletal embodiment of social inequality by examining variation in entheseal severity between the Kerma burial classifications. Seventeen entheses were examined using the Hawkey and Merbs (1995) scoring method ( n = 205 individuals); age, sex, and body size variables were considered by employing Mann–Whitney U tests and partial Spearman's correlations. This analysis suggests that significant differences in entheseal changes existed between select burial types. Specifically, “corridor sacrifices” had significantly higher rates of entheseal changes while “chiefs” and “subsidiary burials” had similar entheseal changes; furthermore, within these burial categories, males had higher entheseal scores despite body size controls. The elevated entheseal changes in the sacrificial burials may be due to an intensive agro‐pastoral lifestyle or other demanding forms of manual labor. In conclusion, the disparity of entheseal markers between burial subgroups at Kerma might reflect a degree of social inequality within this state level society. This bioarchaeological research informs our understanding of socially‐defined categories of persons as well as everyday life in Ancient Kerma. Am J Phys Anthropol 156:192–202, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Archaeology · Geography · Kerma · Nuclear medicine · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Demography · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Medicine · Paleopathology and ancient diseases · Yersinia bacterium, plague, ectoparasites research

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