Theme:
2. Archaeological Sciences, Humanities and the Digital era: Bridging the Gaps
Session format:
Regular session
Title:
Tracking the Life History through the Microarchitecture of the Human Bone
Content:
Both cortical and trabecular bone microarchitectural studies play a crucial role when investigating developmental changes and behaviors from the first hominin species to the modern human populations. Trabecular bone, thanks to its rapid functional adaptation through efficient bone remodeling, has been proven useful in biological anthropology to better understand locomotor and manipulative behaviors, able to provide insights into patterns of physical activity and infer health conditions and processes as well as their modifications through the different stages of life.
On the other hand, the cortical bone, with its dense structure, is essential for understanding long-term loading and behaviors. Analyzing cortical bone can reveal adaptations to specific behaviors, helping to identify patterns of repetitive stress or strain on bones, and shedding light on activities like tool use, agriculture, or hunting.
In light of innovations in medical and 3D imaging, and advances in artificial intelligence for image processing, confronting or combining both trabecular bone and cortical bone studies - in addition to the classical bone external morphological analysis - offers a comprehensive approach to unraveling the complex interplay of biology and culture in human evolution and behavior. It is one of the very promising ways to better understand ontogeny, environmental adaptations, and cultural impact, and reconstruct behaviors and health in the past.
This session aims to bring together trabecular and cortical studies from different historical, geographical, and cultural backgrounds, promoting these works and the interaction among different research groups, with the purpose of fostering the exchange of ideas and knowledge.
Keywords:
Trabecular bone, cortical bone, ontogeny, mobility, behaviors, adaptation
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Session associated with CAA:
no
Session associated with DGUF:
no
Session associated with other:
Main organiser:
Carla Figus (Italy) 1
Co-organisers:
Antony Colombo (France) 2,3
Jaap Saers (Netherlands) 4
Affiliations:
1. Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Ravenna Campus, Italy
2. Department of Life and Earth Sciences, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE) – Paris Sciences & Lettres Université (PSL) University, Paris, France
3. Unité Mixte de Recherche (UMR) 6034 Archéosciences Bordeaux, Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) – Université Bordeaux-Montaigne, Pessac, France
4. Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Vertebrate Evolution, Development, and Ecology, The Netherlands
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