Papers by Elizabeth Berger
Asian Perspectives, 2021
adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriat... more adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this book are included in the book's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the book's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Jul 9, 2020
Cette étude a pour but de présenter deux tombes à chambre en brique des périodes Liao et Jin (Xe-... more Cette étude a pour but de présenter deux tombes à chambre en brique des périodes Liao et Jin (Xe-XIIIe s.) fouillées récemment dans la region du Ke'erqin (à Dongmengyi dans le district de Shuangliao et à Hamaqin dans le district de Changling), dans l'ouest de la province du Jilin, dans le nord-est de la Chine. La description de ces découvertes, réalisée de la manière la plus détaillée possible, met en relief les éléments architecturaux, ceux du mobilier funéraire, et les restes humains. Dans un deuxième temps, les auteurs proposent de mettre en perspective ces découvertes en les comparant aux sépultures publiées pour cette région. 246 tombes du Ke'erqin et des alentours ont été intégrées à une base de données et permettent de mener des analyses quantitatives sur les coutumes funéraires. Ces informations, visualisées au sein d'un Système d'information géographique (SIG), sont analysées pour connaître les configurations spatiales de la distribution des divers types de tombes, de leurs formes, et même des objets les plus proches de ceux découverts à Dongmengyi et Hamaqin. Chine du Nord-Est ; coutumes funéraires ; période Liao-Jin ; tombes à chambre en brique ; archéologie funéraire.
Bulletin de l'Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient, 2019
Cette étude a pour but de présenter deux tombes à chambre en brique des périodes Liao et Jin (Xe-... more Cette étude a pour but de présenter deux tombes à chambre en brique des périodes Liao et Jin (Xe-XIIIe s.) fouillées récemment dans la region du Ke’erqin (à Dongmengyi dans le district de Shuangliao et à Hamaqin dans le district de Changling), dans l’ouest de la province du Jilin, dans le nord-est de la Chine. La description de ces découvertes, réalisée de la manière la plus détaillée possible, met en relief les éléments architecturaux, ceux du mobilier funéraire, et les restes humains. Dans un deuxième temps, les auteurs proposent de mettre en perspective ces découvertes en les comparant aux sépultures publiées pour cette région. 246 tombes du Ke’erqin et des alentours ont été intégrées à une base de données et permettent de mener des analyses quantitatives sur les coutumes funéraires. Ces informations, visualisées au sein d’un Système d’information géographique (SIG), sont analysées pour connaître les configurations spatiales de la distribution des divers types de tombes, de leurs...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Climate change is an indisputable threat to human health, especially for societies already confro... more Climate change is an indisputable threat to human health, especially for societies already confronted with rising social inequality, political and economic uncertainty, and a cascade of concurrent environmental challenges. Archaeological data about past climate and environment provide an important source of evidence about the potential challenges humans face and the long-term outcomes of alternative short-term adaptive strategies. Evidence from well-dated archaeological human skeletons and mummified remains speaks directly to patterns of human health over time through changing circumstances. Here, we describe variation in human epidemiological patterns in the context of past rapid climate change (RCC) events and other periods of past environmental change. Case studies confirm that human communities responded to environmental changes in diverse ways depending on historical, sociocultural, and biological contingencies. Certain factors, such as social inequality and disproportionate ac...
PNAS, 2022
Climate change is an indisputable threat to human health, especially for societies already co... more Climate change is an indisputable threat to human health, especially for societies already confronted with rising social inequality, political and economic uncertainty, and a cascade of concurrent environmental challenges. Archaeological data about past climate and environment provide an important source of evidence about the potential challenges humans face and the long-term outcomes of alternative short-term adaptive strategies. Evidence from well-dated archaeological human skeletons and mummified remains speaks directly to patterns of human health over time through changing circumstances. Here, we describe variation in human epidemiological patterns in the context of past rapid climate change (RCC) events and other periods of past environmental change. Case studies confirm that human communities responded to environmental changes in diverse ways depending on historical, sociocultural, and biological contingencies. Certain factors, such as social inequality and disproportionate access to resources in large, complex societies may influence the probability of major sociopolitical disruptions and reorganizations—commonly known as “collapse.” This survey of Holocene human–environmental relations demonstrates how flexibility, variation, and maintenance of Indigenous knowledge can be mitigating factors in the face of environmental challenges. Although contemporary climate change is more rapid and of greater magnitude than the RCC events and other environmental changes we discuss here, these lessons from the past provide clarity about potential priorities for equitable, sustainable development and the constraints of modernity we must address.
The 4000 BP climate event was a time of dramatic change, including a cooling and drying climate a... more The 4000 BP climate event was a time of dramatic change, including a cooling and drying climate and the emergence of pastoral practices and a distinct cultural identity across northern Eurasia. However, the link between the climatic changes and the cultural changes has not yet been thoroughly explored. This dissertation therefore assesses human biological measures such as frailty, physiological stress, and nutritional status to ask whether late Holocene climate change precipitated a crisis and collapse of subsistence practices, as has been claimed. The dissertation employs the theoretical framework of the "adaptive cycle," an understanding of complex systems that incorporates both change and continuity. The dissertation asks whether the Bronze Age transition, in which humans adapted to the arid climate of the second and first millennia BCE, constituted a "collapse" or "transformational adaptation," in which the human-environment system changed categoric...
Evidence of cranial surgery, in the form of trepanations, has been found at prehistoric archaeolo... more Evidence of cranial surgery, in the form of trepanations, has been found at prehistoric archaeological sites from all over the world. Within this large body of evidence, it is clear that trepanations vary in size, location and the reason for which they were performed. Numerous trepanations have been discovered at archaeological sites across China, but very few have come from Qijia Culture (2300-1500 BC) sites in Northwest China. This research describes a wellhealed trepanation on an adult male individual(M179:R2) from the Mogou site and compares it to contemporaneous examples from China that date from 3000~0 BC in order to elucidate how and why this procedure was performed. A small circular opening with slightly irregular, but well-healed, margins was identified on the left parietal bone, immediately posterior to the coronal suture. The characteristics of the lesion suggest that the scraping method was employed to create the opening. Unfortunately, the advanced stage of healing made...
The prehistoric village of Yangguanzhai (YGZ) dates to the Middle to Late Yangshao period (3200-3... more The prehistoric village of Yangguanzhai (YGZ) dates to the Middle to Late Yangshao period (3200-3,000 BCE). It is one of the largest settlements of its kind. The site is located in the Jing River Valley, approximately 25 kilometers north of the ancient city of Xi’an in northwest China. Since 2004, in preparation for a major construction project, the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology began to conduct large-scale excavations and exploratory surveys – by means of test trenches and auguring with the Luoyang spade – in various parts of the site. More than 18,000 square meters have been excavated to date. These activities revealed a moat, a row of cave dwellings, subterranean houses, child urn-burials in the residential areas, and extensive pottery kilns. The quantity and quality of finds were impressive enough for the Chinese authorities to halt commercial development and declare the area a protected archaeological site. In 2010, as part of the ongoing excavation, a joint UCLA/...
Antiquity, 2021
Bioarchaeological research provides unique insights on human adaptation, diet, lifestyle and epid... more Bioarchaeological research provides unique insights on human adaptation, diet, lifestyle and epidemiology. The Mogou Bioarchaeology Project explores how health was affected by the Bronze Age transition in northwest China. Preliminary results reveal that the inhabitants experienced substantial physiological stress, infectious disease and lethal trauma.
Archaeological Human Remains, 2018
Biological anthropology in China has evolved greatly over the one and half centuries in which it ... more Biological anthropology in China has evolved greatly over the one and half centuries in which it has been practiced. Until the middle of the twentieth century, skeletal analysis formed part of a holistic four-field anthropological practice. After the rise of the Chinese Communist Party, archaeology programs became independent and anthropology departments focused predominantly on physical anthropology and paleoanthropology. In the last several decades, biological anthropology has experienced rapid growth, and has made important contributions to Chinese archaeology. While biological anthropology within China has long been in close contact with the field in other countries, it also draws from a long independent tradition of Chinese historiography, antiquarianism, and medical studies, and has undergone more than 100 years of development within China to become a discipline with its own research foci and disciplinary boundaries.
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2021
Abstract This paper reviews recent archaeological research on human-environment interaction in th... more Abstract This paper reviews recent archaeological research on human-environment interaction in the Holocene, taking continental China as its geographic focus. As China is large, geographically diverse, and exceptionally archaeologically and historically well-documented, research here provides critical insight into the functioning of social-natural systems. Based on a broad review of the field as well as recent advances and discoveries, the authors reflect on research themes including climate change and adaptive systems theory, spatial and temporal scale, anthropogenic environmental change, risk management and resilience, and integration of subdisciplines. These converge on three overarching conclusions. First, datasets relevant to climate change and ancient human-environment interaction must be as local and specific as possible, as the timing of environmental change differs locally, and the human response is highly dependent on local social and technological conditions. Second, the field still needs more robust theoretical frameworks for analyzing complex social-natural systems, and especially for integrating data on multiple scales. Third, for this work to contribute meaningfully to contemporary climate change research, effective communication of research findings to the public and to scientists in other disciplines should be incorporated into publication plans.
International Journal of Paleopathology, 2019
This research explores how social and environmental factors may have contributed to conflict duri... more This research explores how social and environmental factors may have contributed to conflict during the early Bronze Age in Northwest China by analyzing violent trauma on human skeletal remains from a cemetery of the Qijia culture (2300-1500 BCE). The Qijia culture existed during a period of dramatic social, technological, and environmental change, though minimal research has been conducted on how these factors may have contributed to violence within the area of the Qijia and other contemporaneous material cultures. An osteological assessment was conducted on 361 individuals (n = 241 adults, n = 120 non-adults) that were excavated from the Mogou site, Lintan County, Gansu, China. Injuries indicative of violence, including sharp-and blunt-force trauma that was sustained ante-or peri-mortem, were identified, and the patterns of trauma were analysed. Violent injuries were found on 8.58% (n = 31/361) of individuals, primarily adult males. No evidence of trauma was found on infants or children. Cranial trauma was found on 11.8% (n = 23/195) of the adult individuals examined. Of these, 43.5% (n = 10/23) presented with severe peri-mortem craniofacial trauma. The high rate of perimortem injuries and their locations indicate lethal intent. This lethality, in addition to the fact that individuals with trauma were predominantly male, suggest intergroup violence such as raiding, warfare, or feuding. Both social and environmental factors may have contributed to this conflict in the TaoRiver Valley, though future systematic archaeological and paleoenvironmental data will be needed to disentangle the many potential causal factors.
International journal of paleopathology, Jan 6, 2018
This paper describes the morphology of the feet of a population of elite women from the Ming dyna... more This paper describes the morphology of the feet of a population of elite women from the Ming dynasty (1368-1644 CE) in Shaanxi province. This is a social stratum, time, and place in which foot binding was practiced. Among a group of 31 skeletons exhumed from the cemetery, eight were women with well-preserved foot bones. Macroscopic examination revealed that half these women (4/8) had clearly altered foot bones: the metatarsal bones, and the few observable phalanges, were gracile and small, while the tarsal bones exhibited a slight reduction in size but no dramatic change in morphology. The other half of the women (4/8) had apparently unmodified metatarsal bones. T-tests comparing linear measurements of the foot bones between the two groups revealed that metatarsal bones were the most affected by binding, and among the tarsal bones, the talar trochlea and calcaneal dimensions were most impacted. This small group of skeletons reveals that some elite women in Shaanxi apparently still d...
International journal of paleopathology, Mar 1, 2017
Reports of Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease (LCPD) in the paleopathological literature are rare. Here, ... more Reports of Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease (LCPD) in the paleopathological literature are rare. Here, the authors present a probable case of LCPD, which presents as abnormal morphology of the proximal femur. The condition was observed in an individual of the Warring States period in Shaanxi Province, China, and the morphology involves a "mushroom head" deformity of the proximal right femur and an enlarged acetabulum, along with a contralateral tibia, talus, and navicular that are enlarged and demonstrate periosteal new bone formation. The authors consider tuberculosis, septic arthritis, trauma, slipped capital femoral epiphysis, and Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease in a differential diagnosis. The authors conclude that the most likely diagnosis for the deformity is Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease. Bony changes in the hip joint and contralateral lower leg suggest that the individual had an altered gait because of the condition.
International Journal of Paleopathology, 2020
We set out to assemble this special issue of IJPP with three goals in mind: (1) to familiarize An... more We set out to assemble this special issue of IJPP with three goals in mind: (1) to familiarize Anglophone readers with research on paleopathology conducted by Chinese scholars; (2) to enhance interest in paleopathological research among Chinese scholars, and to foster the use of differential diagnosis as the key mode of paleopathological analysis; and (3) to initiate integration of pathological analysis of human skeletal collections with historical records documenting early medical practices, epidemics, development and age-related diseases, and demographic records. The collection of papers that follows present new data, from a range of time periods and geographic and social contexts, that we feel reflect the diversity, dynamism, and enormous scope of archaeology in China today. Themes such as infectious disease history, interpersonal violence, and comorbidity as a methodological issue are addressed by multiple papers. However, as the special issue developed, we also came to a slow appreciation of structural constrains that made our original goals difficult to attain within the current state of our discipline, of which the language barrier represents only a minor issue. The following sections are intended to contextualize this special issue, and help readers understand the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that influence paleopathological research in China and its interactions with similar research in other parts of the world.
Journal of Archaeological Archeaology, 2021
Antiquity, 2021
Bioarchaeological research provides unique insights on human adaptation, diet, lifestyle and epid... more Bioarchaeological research provides unique insights on human adaptation, diet, lifestyle and epidemiology. The Mogou Bioarchaeology Project explores how health was affected by the Bronze Age transition in north-west China. Preliminary results reveal that the inhabitants experienced substantial physiological stress, infectious disease and lethal trauma.
The Routledge Handbook of the Bioarchaeology of Climate and Environmental Change Edited By Gwen Robbins Schug, 2021
American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council, Jan 8, 2017
International Journal of Paleopathology, 2020
Objective: Paleopathological evidence of cancer from past populations is rare, especially outside... more Objective: Paleopathological evidence of cancer from past populations is rare, especially outside of Europe and North Africa. This study expands upon the current temporal and spatial distribution of cancer by presenting a possible case of multiple myeloma from Bronze Age China.
Material: The human skeletal remains of an adult male from the Qijia culture horizon (1750-1400 BCE) of the Bronze Age cemetery of Mogou, located in Gansu Province, Northwest China.
Methods: The human skeletal remains were assessed macroscopically and radiographically using plane x-rays.
Results: Multiple ovoid-shaped osteolytic lesions with sharply demarcated margins were observed. The axial skeletal had the greatest involvement, specifically the vertebrae, ribs, and sternum. Radiographic imaging revealed more extensive destruction of hematogenous than cortical bone, indicating that the marrow was the focal point of the disease.
Conclusion: Based on the nature, distribution, and radiographic appearance of the lesions, the most likely diagnosis is multiple myeloma. Significance: This is one of the only cases of cancer identified in archaeological human skeletal remains from East Asia and is the first published case of a hematopoietic malignancy from mainland China. The analysis and publication of examples of neoplasia from areas that expand upon the current known temporal and spatial distribution is necessary in order to better reconstruct the history and evolution of cancer
Limitations: Poor skeletal preservation prevented the full extent of osteolytic lesions to be observed.
Suggestions for future research: By placing case studies such as this into a temporal and spatial framework, it is possible for future research to begin to interrogate possible underlying causes of cancer in ancient populations within the context of changing environmental conditions and subsistence strategies.
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Papers by Elizabeth Berger
Material: The human skeletal remains of an adult male from the Qijia culture horizon (1750-1400 BCE) of the Bronze Age cemetery of Mogou, located in Gansu Province, Northwest China.
Methods: The human skeletal remains were assessed macroscopically and radiographically using plane x-rays.
Results: Multiple ovoid-shaped osteolytic lesions with sharply demarcated margins were observed. The axial skeletal had the greatest involvement, specifically the vertebrae, ribs, and sternum. Radiographic imaging revealed more extensive destruction of hematogenous than cortical bone, indicating that the marrow was the focal point of the disease.
Conclusion: Based on the nature, distribution, and radiographic appearance of the lesions, the most likely diagnosis is multiple myeloma. Significance: This is one of the only cases of cancer identified in archaeological human skeletal remains from East Asia and is the first published case of a hematopoietic malignancy from mainland China. The analysis and publication of examples of neoplasia from areas that expand upon the current known temporal and spatial distribution is necessary in order to better reconstruct the history and evolution of cancer
Limitations: Poor skeletal preservation prevented the full extent of osteolytic lesions to be observed.
Suggestions for future research: By placing case studies such as this into a temporal and spatial framework, it is possible for future research to begin to interrogate possible underlying causes of cancer in ancient populations within the context of changing environmental conditions and subsistence strategies.
Material: The human skeletal remains of an adult male from the Qijia culture horizon (1750-1400 BCE) of the Bronze Age cemetery of Mogou, located in Gansu Province, Northwest China.
Methods: The human skeletal remains were assessed macroscopically and radiographically using plane x-rays.
Results: Multiple ovoid-shaped osteolytic lesions with sharply demarcated margins were observed. The axial skeletal had the greatest involvement, specifically the vertebrae, ribs, and sternum. Radiographic imaging revealed more extensive destruction of hematogenous than cortical bone, indicating that the marrow was the focal point of the disease.
Conclusion: Based on the nature, distribution, and radiographic appearance of the lesions, the most likely diagnosis is multiple myeloma. Significance: This is one of the only cases of cancer identified in archaeological human skeletal remains from East Asia and is the first published case of a hematopoietic malignancy from mainland China. The analysis and publication of examples of neoplasia from areas that expand upon the current known temporal and spatial distribution is necessary in order to better reconstruct the history and evolution of cancer
Limitations: Poor skeletal preservation prevented the full extent of osteolytic lesions to be observed.
Suggestions for future research: By placing case studies such as this into a temporal and spatial framework, it is possible for future research to begin to interrogate possible underlying causes of cancer in ancient populations within the context of changing environmental conditions and subsistence strategies.
For the past thirty years, a principal focus of North American bioarchaeology has been the study of the rise of agriculture and its impact on human health. The tools and models developed through this research program can now be applied to other important subsistence transitions around the world. The rise of pastoralism and agropastoralism on the Eurasian steppe in the Bronze and Iron Ages was part of a multiregional, complex change in human behavior entailing new systems of food procurement, economic specialization, and identity formation. My research applies the tools of paleopathology, paleodemography, and chemical dietary reconstruction to the question of how animal husbandry impacted human diet, health, and population structure in the Northwest of China. In this initial discussion, I will compare my findings from the human skeletal remains of the Warring States Qin cemetery of Shijiahe, Huangling County, Shaanxi, and the Shajing cemetery of Shuichang County, Gansu, to begin the discussion of the causes and consequences of various ancient lifeways.