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Document Details : Title: Report on Selected Human Remains from Lama, Southern Zagros, Iran Author(s): SOŁTYSIAK, Arkadiusz Journal: Iranica Antiqua Volume: 48 Date: 2013 Pages: 77-101 DOI: 10.2143/IA.48.0.2184696 Abstract : During two seasons of excavations (2009-2010) at the Lama cemetery, the archaeological team directed by Mohammad Javad Jafari explored 12 graves dated to the late 2nd and early 1st millennium BCE. Most of them contained multiple burials and the total minimum number of individuals is 90 according to the fieldwork documentation. From this number, remains of at least 55 individuals were studied in order to reconstruct diet, living conditions and activity of the local population, as well as trace some elements of the burial customs and post-depositional history of graves using taphonomic data. Youngest children buried at the Lama cemetery had been separated from adults, but adults of both sexes had been likely buried together. Many of the bodies decayed in the empty space and most graves were re-opened for several subsequent burials. It may be deduced from ecological context that the people buried in Lama were nomadic pastoralists and this observation is confirmed by possible high general level of terrestrial mobility, especially in males, and low intake of fermentable sugars in the diet. The environmental stress was quite high, although diet rich in animal products prevented megaloblastic anemia. No signs of violence were observed, and periodontal disease was quite common due to poor oral hygiene. |
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