Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award: A Bioarchaeological Investigation of Marginalization through Diet, Oral Health and Mobility

这个博士论文项目的目标是研究在雅典的雅典政治不稳定时期，社会类别，如性别和地位与健康和饮食的程度。在这一时期，政治组织在新生民主和贵族“暴君”统治之间摇摆不定。基本知识来自于那些通常是上层阶级成员的作家的叙述。此外，他们是从次要的历史来源写作的，而不是他们自己经历的事件。因为这些都是流传至今的作品，所以不知道非贵族和边缘化的人是如何经历这场政治动荡的。该项目的重点是考古证据中包含的信息：生活在这一时期的人的骨骼遗骸。Phaleron墓地不仅是少数几个中世纪墓葬空间的例子之一，而且它还包含了地位低下的成年人和儿童的坟墓。此外，该墓地还包括多个埋葬和带镣铐的成年人的万人坑。这提供了一个独特的机会来了解烹饪研究人员定义为饮食，口腔健康和移民身份如何反映社会类别，如性别和地位在这个动荡的时期。政治动荡和不稳定，特别是在最近建立民主统治的地区，仍然是国家安全和关心人类健康的人道主义援助团体所关心的问题。该项目促进了美国和希腊学者之间的合作，并为美国本科生创造了实验室科学的机会。研究人员利用生物地球化学方法以及口腔健康数据来调查Phaleron遗址的社会差异。通过对骨骼和牙齿样本的分析，研究人员确定了饮食的差异（从样本结构中稳定同位素的独特比例可以识别）是否与埋葬环境或其他因素（如年龄，性别或迁移状态）的差异相一致。此外，这些研究人员收集有关口腔健康和疾病的数据，以加强有关该社区健康和饮食变化的论点。埋葬在简易坑中的人和埋葬时戴着镣铐的人之间有严格的区分吗？或者这个社区有许多不同的烹饪和饮食，表明社会地位并不决定一个人的健康状况？研究人员采用多种证据和复杂的统计技术来讨论动荡时期的复杂社会问题。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The goal of this doctoral dissertation project examines the degree to which social categories such as gender and status are associated with health and diet during the Athenian Archaic period—a politically unstable period in Athenian history. During this period political organization oscillated between nascent democracy and rule by aristocratic “tyrants.” Primary knowledge comes from accounts by writers who were often members of the upper class. Additionally, they were writing from secondary historical sources, not events they themselves experienced. Because these are the works that survive to the present, it is not known how non-aristocratic and marginalized people experienced this political turmoil. This project focuses on information contained in archaeological evidence: the skeletal remains of the people who lived during this period. The Phaleron cemetery is not only one of the few examples of an Archaic period burial space, but it also contains graves of low status adults and children. In addition, the cemetery includes multiple burials and mass graves of shackled adults. This provides a unique opportunity to understand how cuisine—which the researchers are defining as diet, oral health, and immigrant status—reflects social categories like gender and status during this tumultuous period. Political turmoil and instability, especially in areas where democratic rule has been recently established, continues to be of interest to national security and to humanitarian aid groups who are interested in human health. The project fosters collaboration between American and Greek scholars and creates opportunities for American undergraduate students in the laboratory sciences.Researchers utilize biogeochemical methods alongside oral health data to investigate social differences at the site of Phaleron. From an analysis of both bone and tooth samples, the researchers determine if differences in diet—identifiable from distinctive ratios of stable isotopes in the structure of the sample—coincide with differences in burial circumstance or other factors, such as age, sex, or migratory status. Additionally, these researchers collect data on oral health and disease to strengthen arguments about the variability of health and diet in this community. Were there strict divisions between those buried in simple pit graves and those who were shackled at the time of burial? Or did this community have many different cuisines and diets that suggest that social status did not determine one’s health status? The researchers employ multiple lines of evidence and sophisticated statistical techniques to discuss complex social issues during a turbulent period.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.