Recording stories of past and present mobility
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The impact of mobility on the participating individual has garnered far less attention in archaeology than the journey itself, which has been extensively studied through stable isotopes and material culture exchange. The anthropological strand of the Finds Stories project moves away from this approach and focuses upon the impact of different types of mobility on the individuals that take part in it. The impact of mobility is multifaceted; however, health and lifestyle are the two main areas that can be studied using macroscopic and microscopic skeletal features and signatures. The health and lifestyle of the individuals under study will be studied using a multi-proxy approach, drawing upon ethnographic interviews and observational cinema on living individuals and osteoarchaeology (demography and pathology), functional morphology and stable isotope analyses (diet and mobility) on skeletal collections. Interviews and observational cinema We conducted one- to-one and group interviews to record the impact that seasonal mobility has on present day transhumance. We use observational cinema, to record their journeys and everyday life. Osteoarchaeology The individuals under study will undergo a full osteoarchaeological analysis, to explore demography (age and sex) and health (pathology and trauma) and an individual and group level. Functional Morphology The physical movement of the human body through the landscape influences the size and shape of the skeleton, providing a window into the activities and lifeways of the past. Therefore, limb functional morphology can be used to reconstruct behaviour of past individuals. Lower limbs being used to infer differences in terrestrial mobility and upper limbs used to study different types of subsistence and technology use. Stable Isotope Analyses Stable isotope analyses will be used to explore diet (δ 13C and δ 15N) and mobility (87Sr/86Sr). Diet is a key element in the lifestyle and, to an extent, health of an individual. Carbon isotope (δ 13C) signatures can be used to distinguish between different plant groups and Nitrogen isotope (δ 15N) signatures provide a window into the dietary protein intake. Dietary isotopes can also act as a possible complementary measure of mobility. It is possible that different access or cultural preferences to particular foods may support identification of mobile individuals and assist in identifying group mobility, membership and identity |
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