Southeast Asia Bioarchaeology Newsletter Issue No 3 April 2006 Edited by Kate Domett
[email protected] Welcome to the third annual newsletter designed to update you on the latest news in the field of bioarchaeology in Southeast Asia. News From: Michael Pietrusewsky University of Hawaii, Honolulu Email:
[email protected] NEWS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII, HONOLULU Michael Pietrusewsky, Rona Ikehara, and Michele Toomay Douglas presented a paper at the 18th Congress of the Indo- Pacific Prehistory Association (IPPA) Congress in Manila, Philippines, March 20-26, 2006, entitled “The Bioarchaeology of the Vat Komnou Cemetery, Angkor Borei, Cambodia”. Approximately 60 inhumation burials, of varying states of completeness and preservation, dated between 200 B.C. and A.D. 400 (or the early historic period in the Mekong delta) were excavated at the Vat Komnou cemetery Angkor Borei, Cambodia, by the University of Hawaii and the Royal University of Fine Arts in 1999 and 2000. The cemetery contained the remains of all age groups from infants to old adults. Over 40% of the burials are subadults. Adult males outnumber females 2 to 1 and most of the adults died as young adults. Osteological analyses are beginning to provide us with our first glimpses of these protohistoric people, associated with early Khmer culture, including evidence of health, disease, physiological stress, injury, physical activity, subsistence, length of life, and cultural modification of bone and teeth. Among the findings are tooth caries, moderate to extreme tooth attrition, and evidence of periodontal disease. Possible cultural modifications of the teeth include staining of the tooth enamel most likely due to chewing betel nut and tooth filing.