Dental Morphological Analysis of Roman Era Burials from the Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt
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1 Dental Morphological Analysis of Roman Era Burials from the Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt Scott Donald Haddow Institute of Archaeology University College London PhD Thesis 2012 2 I, Scott Donald Haddow, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. ______________________________________ 3 ABSTRACT Ismant el-Kharab (ancient Kellis) is an archaeological site in the Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt, which dates from the late Ptolemaic to the late Roman period. Previous studies of skeletal material from Kellis and other oasis sites suggest that the ancient population of the Dakhleh Oasis was largely homogenous and inbred as a result of geographic isolation. Archaeological and textual evidence however, indicates a record of contact with the Nile Valley and regions further afield since the Neolithic. In order to test these apparently conflicting narratives, descriptive and multivariate statistical methods are employed in an analysis of heritable dental morphological variants in 186 individuals from Kellis. Variation in dental morphological trait frequencies are commonly used in biological distance studies to assess phenetic relationships between groups. The present study has two main components: 1) an intra-cemetery assessment of inter-sex and inter-group morphological variation in order to identify related individuals within the Kellis 2 cemetery and provide evidence for post-marital residence patterns; and 2) an inter- regional comparison between the Kellis skeletal assemblage and groups from Egypt, Nubia, North and Sub-Saharan Africa in order to place the ancient Dakhleh Oasis population within a broader regional context. The results of the intra-cemetery analysis demonstrate low levels of inter-sex phenetic variation consistent with an isolated and possibly interbred population. Spatial analysis within the Kellis 2 cemetery has tentatively identified one area containing individuals with distinctive dental trait frequencies. This may indicate a kin-structured area of the cemetery, or alternatively, an area reserved for individuals who are not native to the Dakhleh Oasis. The results of the inter-regional comparison of trait frequencies demonstrate an overall affinity with North African populations, especially with several early Upper Egyptian and contemporary Lower Nubian groups. Despite these similarities, however, the Kellis assemblage remains relatively distinct in relation to the comparative groups. This is consistent with a geographically isolated population experiencing limited gene-flow. 4 Acknowledgements I am extremely grateful to the following people, without whose support and assistance this thesis could not have been completed. I am forever indebted to Professor Simon Hillson, my PhD supervisor, for his guidance and support, as well as his patience and good humour. I’d like to thank Dr. Anthony Mills for allowing me to join the Dakhleh Oasis Project and Dr. Joseph “El” Molto for granting me permission to study the skeletal material from Kellis. I thank Professor Joel Irish for graciously allowing me to use his dental morphological data in my comparative analyses and providing useful feedback. I am grateful to Professor Clive Orton for helping me immensely when I was struggling with the statistical component of my thesis and Professor John Tait for giving me advice regarding Egyptology. I also thank Professor Nancy Lovell for providing helpful comments on the final draft of this thesis and my examiners Dr. Sonia Zakrzewski and Dr. Richard Bussman for their constructive criticisms during my viva. Finally, I thank my family and especially my wife Camilla for providing me with the inspiration, motivation and support (both financial and emotional) I needed in order to finish after so many years! This research was partially funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Doctoral Fellowship. 5 Table of Contents Page Chapter 1: Introduction........................................................................... 12 1.1 Materials and methods.................................................................. 14 1.2 Significance of the present study................................................... 17 Chapter 2: Culture-history of the Dakhleh Oasis................................. 18 2.1 Geography and environment......................................................... 18 2.2 Human occupation in the Dakhleh Oasis...................................... 21 2.2.1 Prehistory............................................................................. 21 2.2.2 Pharaonic Period.................................................................. 23 2.2.3 Greco-Roman Period........................................................... 25 2.3 Ancient Kellis (Ismant el-Kharab).................................................. 27 2.4 Kellis mortuary sites...................................................................... 28 2.4.1 Pagan (Pre-Christian) tombs................................................ 28 2.4.2 Christian tombs and cemeteries........................................... 28 2.5 Previous osteological research in the Dakhleh Oasis................... 31 Chapter 3: Materials and methods......................................................... 41 3.1 Introduction.................................................................................... 41 3.2 Structure and function of the human dentition............................... 42 3.2.1 Description of tooth types..................................................... 46 3.2.1.1 Incisors................................................................... 46 3.2.1.2 Canines................................................................... 47 3.2.1.3 Premolars............................................................... 48 3.2.1.4 Molars..................................................................... 49 3.3 History and development of dental anthropology.......................... 51 3.4 Biological distance analysis........................................................... 54 3.5 Dental morphological variation...................................................... 57 3.6 The Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System.......... 60 3.6.1 Maxillary crown and root traits.............................................. 61 3.6.2 Mandibular crown and root traits.......................................... 77 3.7 Previous biological distance studies in Egypt and Nubia………... 88 6 3.8 The present study: materials......................................................... 90 3.9 Hypotheses.................................................................................... 93 3.10 Hypotheses 1 and 2: intracemetery analysis………………...……. 94 3.10.1 Inter-sex trait variation………………..……………………... 94 3.10.2 Spatial analysis………………..……………………………... 96 3.11 Hypotheses 3 and 4: regional trait comparisons………………….. 99 3.11.1 Egyptian comparative material…………………………..…. 99 3.11.2 Nubian comparative material.............................................. 100 3.11.3 North African comparative material.................................... 100 3.11.4 Sub-Saharan African comparative material........................ 101 3.11.5 Inter-regional comparative material.................................... 102 3.12 Trait selection for comparative studies.......................................... 103 3.13 Statistical analyses........................................................................ 105 3.13.1 The Mean Measure of Divergence (MMD)......................... 107 3.13.2 Hierarchical cluster analysis............................................... 111 3.13.3 Multidimensional scaling..................................................... 113 Chapter 4: Results................................................................................... 148 4.1 Introduction.................................................................................... 148 4.2 Presentation of results................................................................... 149 4.3 Description of Kellis permanent dentition morphological traits...... 150 4.3.1 Mandibular dental traits........................................................ 150 4.3.2 Maxillary dental traits............................................................ 155 4.4 Intra-cemetery analysis................................................................. 161 4.4.1 Cemetery and townsite inter-sex variation........................... 161 4.4.2 Spatial analysis: individual traits........................................... 163 4.4.3 Spatial analysis: inter-sex variation...................................... 166 4.4.4 Spatial analysis: combined traits.......................................... 167 4.5 Regional and inter-regional comparisons...................................... 169 4.5.1 Descriptive comparisons...................................................... 169 4.5.2 Trait selection for multivariate comparative study................ 171 4.5.3 Twenty trait regional comparison.......................................... 171 4.5.3.1 Mean Measure of Divergence (MMD)..................... 171 4.5.3.2 Hierarchical cluster analysis of MMD values.......... 174 4.5.3.3 Multidimensional scaling of MMD values............... 176 4.5.4 Thirteen trait inter-regional analysis..................................... 177 4.5.4.1 Mean Measure of Divergence (MMD)..................... 177 4.5.4.2 Hierarchical cluster analysis of MMD values.......... 178 4.5.4.3 Multidimensional