Conference Presentations by Della Cook
Cook, Della C., Elizabeth L. Watts, Leslie E. Drane, and Rebecca A. Nathan
2013 “Burned Bone at Y... more Cook, Della C., Elizabeth L. Watts, Leslie E. Drane, and Rebecca A. Nathan
2013 “Burned Bone at Yokem: Questioning Cremation as a Mortuary Practice.” Paper presented at the 57th Annual Midwestern Archaeological Conference in Columbus, OH, October 25.
Yokem Mound Group in Pike County, Illinois, is a Late Woodland and Mississippian mortuary site with three structures that have been interpreted as crematories. New carbon dates on bone and old ones on wood show that at least in one of these structures, burial and burning were widely separated in time, calling into question earlier interpretations (Schurr and Cook 2013). We present a detailed comparison of remains recovered from each structure with other burned remains distributed across the site. Variability in body part representation, fragmentation and degree of burning is substantial. This suggests that bodies placed in these structured experienced differing trajectories that ultimately ended in the burning of largely defleshed and disarticulated bones, rather than a consistent mortuary program that included cremation as a final stage.
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Papers by Della Cook
Chapter 11, part retrospective and part meta-analysis, takes a critical look at the bioarchaeolog... more Chapter 11, part retrospective and part meta-analysis, takes a critical look at the bioarchaeological evidence of Hopewell social organization spanning much of Eastern North America from 200 B.C. to A.D. 500. Past archaeological work considered Hopewell as generally heterarchical and egalitarian. This synthesis of funerary pattern variation and a host of biological data discern patterns consistent with embodied social inequalities, with evidence of better health and diet associated with those of inferred high status. While acknowledging the substantial heterarchical dimensions of Hopewell social organization, Cook et al. suggest that the pendulum has swung too far from hierarchical models and any archaeological conception of the Hopewell tradition must engage the evidence of hierarchy visible in the remains of its people.
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Oxford University Press eBooks, Jun 7, 2012
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Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology, 1981
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American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Mar 1, 2019
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International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, Oct 15, 2012
Fine, polished abrasion of teeth provides evidence for use of traditional oral hygiene practices ... more Fine, polished abrasion of teeth provides evidence for use of traditional oral hygiene practices in 32 fragmentary dentitions from a cemetery for newly arrived enslaved Africans who died before leaving Valongo, the slave port and market of Rio de Janeiro. We infer that chewing sticks were used before these people were enslaved. Cosmetic dental modification and abrasion of tooth roots occur in some individuals. High caries frequency, tooth loss and hypercementosis characteristic remains of enslaved Africans with longer residence in the New World were not found in this unique collection. We review evidence that the practice of using chewing sticks persists in some regions of the Americas. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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Journal of Folklore Research Reviews, Sep 3, 2008
... given this book to several folks no longer with us: Glenn Black, Lucy Blalock, Bill Bright ..... more ... given this book to several folks no longer with us: Glenn Black, Lucy Blalock, Bill Bright ... l lap m map n nap ŋ sing (represented in English by orthographic ng) w win ... name was Gabriel Godfroy; wiikapimisa, a Wea woman whose European name was Sarah Wadsworth; and ...
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Paleopathology is the study of diseases in ancient organisms. The lives of hominid fossils, prehi... more Paleopathology is the study of diseases in ancient organisms. The lives of hominid fossils, prehistoric people, and people from the recent past are better understood if evidence for health and disease derived from their remains is considered. Some diseases can be diagnosed from ancient skeletons and mummies. Others can be identified through ancient DNA techniques or through paleoparasitology. Bioarchaeology seeks to place evidence for health and disease in cultural, historical, ecological, and archaeological contexts. Osteobiography uses the techniques of paleopathology to describe the life experiences both of persons known from history and of the anonymous ancient dead. New technologies and new media promise to improve communication in this interdisciplinary field.
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The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Feb 1, 1974
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Springer eBooks, Jun 28, 2013
In his study of skeletal remains from Franchthi Cave, Greece, J. Lawrence Angel described three g... more In his study of skeletal remains from Franchthi Cave, Greece, J. Lawrence Angel described three groups of small vault fragments as pathological, pointing out well-developed falciform impressions and unusual suture margins. Restudy reveals them to be small ungulate vault fragments. Recognition of human versus nonhuman and normal versus pathological bone is related to fragment size, curvature, and location and distribution of discrete morphological features. Vault fragments that cannot be definitively identified as human or nonhuman constitute a large portion of the scattered bone at Franchthi, and many probably derive from small ungulates. The taphonomy of cave deposits poses methodological problems regarding the borderland between zooarchaeology and physical anthropology. Training in comparative anatomy and zooarchaeology is desirable for physical anthropologists. We ought to employ the methods of zooarchaeology where appropriate.
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International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, Dec 8, 2011
ABSTRACT A putative calcified soft tissue or parasite recovered in the pelvis of an adult male La... more ABSTRACT A putative calcified soft tissue or parasite recovered in the pelvis of an adult male Late Roman burial from Aqaba, Jordan, is a fossil marine invertebrate. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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Journal of biological research, 1970
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Chapter 11, part retrospective and part meta-analysis, takes a critical look at the bioarchaeolog... more Chapter 11, part retrospective and part meta-analysis, takes a critical look at the bioarchaeological evidence of Hopewell social organization spanning much of Eastern North America from 200 B.C. to A.D. 500. Past archaeological work considered Hopewell as generally heterarchical and egalitarian. This synthesis of funerary pattern variation and a host of biological data discern patterns consistent with embodied social inequalities, with evidence of better health and diet associated with those of inferred high status. While acknowledging the substantial heterarchical dimensions of Hopewell social organization, Cook et al. suggest that the pendulum has swung too far from hierarchical models and any archaeological conception of the Hopewell tradition must engage the evidence of hierarchy visible in the remains of its people.
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Current Anthropology, Apr 1, 1981
by DELLA COLLINS COOK Department of Anthropology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind. 47405, U.... more by DELLA COLLINS COOK Department of Anthropology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind. 47405, U.S.A. 31 x 80 In 1940, Ales Hrdlicka published a paper in which he argued that the intentional removal of one or more of the permanent teeth was a custom among palearctic peoples. He described examples from Siberia, North America, and South America, finding in this distribution support for the Siberian origin of American Indians. The age-specific frequencies of missing teeth suggested to him something of the nature of the cultural content of the practice: As specimens of this nature accumulated, itbecame evident hat we were confronted here with a definite custom, which in all probabilitv was a part of the initiation rites of the youth, parallel to that in aboriginal Australia nd other parts of the world, and which conferred on the sufferers a certain distinction. [p. 1] The strong probability is that in general, or at least in the majority of the cases, the ablations both in Siberia and America were of a ritual nature. It would be difficult toattribute any material proportion of them to either disease or to accident; and the evidence, especially the variety of the removals, speaks against any large proportion of the losses of the teeth reported being due to branding or to punishment. [p. 30] The meaning of the ritual ablation could only have been sacrificial, with secondarily a test of endurance. The practice falls into the same class with circumcision a d could have had no connection, it would seem, with decorative, cosmetic, or simple torture mutilations. [p. 30] The ablations, curiously, though differing considerably infrequency in different groups, were never universal. In most of the tribes or localities they were in fact rather are, affecting but a few percent of the individuals. There evidently was some selection-based perhaps on clan or other form of social organization. [p. 31]
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Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, Jun 1, 2017
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Medical Anthropology, 1979
ABSTRACT. A variety of osteological techniques provide direct estimates of the effects of subsist... more ABSTRACT. A variety of osteological techniques provide direct estimates of the effects of subsistence base changes on health in prehistoric popula-tions. A model is presented for the interactions among demographic, skeletal and nutritional variables across the transition from hunting ...
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Oxford University Press eBooks, Jun 7, 2012
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Oxford University Press eBooks, Jun 7, 2012
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Conference Presentations by Della Cook
2013 “Burned Bone at Yokem: Questioning Cremation as a Mortuary Practice.” Paper presented at the 57th Annual Midwestern Archaeological Conference in Columbus, OH, October 25.
Yokem Mound Group in Pike County, Illinois, is a Late Woodland and Mississippian mortuary site with three structures that have been interpreted as crematories. New carbon dates on bone and old ones on wood show that at least in one of these structures, burial and burning were widely separated in time, calling into question earlier interpretations (Schurr and Cook 2013). We present a detailed comparison of remains recovered from each structure with other burned remains distributed across the site. Variability in body part representation, fragmentation and degree of burning is substantial. This suggests that bodies placed in these structured experienced differing trajectories that ultimately ended in the burning of largely defleshed and disarticulated bones, rather than a consistent mortuary program that included cremation as a final stage.
Papers by Della Cook
2013 “Burned Bone at Yokem: Questioning Cremation as a Mortuary Practice.” Paper presented at the 57th Annual Midwestern Archaeological Conference in Columbus, OH, October 25.
Yokem Mound Group in Pike County, Illinois, is a Late Woodland and Mississippian mortuary site with three structures that have been interpreted as crematories. New carbon dates on bone and old ones on wood show that at least in one of these structures, burial and burning were widely separated in time, calling into question earlier interpretations (Schurr and Cook 2013). We present a detailed comparison of remains recovered from each structure with other burned remains distributed across the site. Variability in body part representation, fragmentation and degree of burning is substantial. This suggests that bodies placed in these structured experienced differing trajectories that ultimately ended in the burning of largely defleshed and disarticulated bones, rather than a consistent mortuary program that included cremation as a final stage.