Anthropology 275       Reading Report 19
Disease in Prehistory       Due: 11/30-2007

Answer the following questions based on the paper by Formicola V and AP Buzhilova. 2004. Double child burial from Sunghir (Russia): Pathology and inference for Upper Paleolithic funerary practices. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 124:189-198.

1) Describe the location, archaeological background, and significance of Sunghir archaeological site. What are some unusual characteristics of burials 2 and 3?
2) What is the sex and age of buried individuals? What technique was used to identify their sex?
3) Sunghir 3 skeleton exhibits shortened femora with marked anterio-posterior bowing. Discuss two possible explanations of these shape abnormalities.
4) Why traumatic injury is an unlikely explanation of this pathology? Which explanation is the most likely? Why?