SUMMARY

Bioarchaeological analysis of human remains from St Hilda’s Church cemetery, South Shields was undertaken to investigate ancestral diversity in post-medieval Britain. Methodological evaluations argue that when diversity is explored through phenotypic traits, biological affiliations are best investigated through dental morphology due to its resistance to exogenous influences, whereas cranial form appears to be increasingly influenced by environmental and cultural factors in the post-medieval period. A novel quantitative model was developed for a within-group analysis of dental morphology assessed through the Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System, successfully identifying an ancestral outlier. An osteobiographical narrative for this individual, combining osteological and historical data with social theory, suggests that personhood is malleable and multifaceted. Ancestry is therefore most appropriately understood as one aspect of identity which also included sex, occupation, social status and linguistic affiliation.

概括

对南希尔兹圣希尔达教堂墓地的人类遗骸进行生物考古分析，以调查后中世纪英国的祖先多样性。方法学评估认为，当通过表型特征探索多样性时，由于牙齿形态对外源性影响的抵抗力，因此最好通过牙齿形态来研究生物从属关系，而在后中世纪时期，颅骨形状似乎越来越多地受到环境和文化因素的影响。开发了一种新的定量模型，用于对通过亚利桑那州立大学牙科人类学系统评估的牙齿形态进行组内分析，成功识别出祖先的异常值。此人的骨传记叙述，将骨学和历史数据与社会理论相结合，表明人格具有可塑性和多面性。因此，祖先最恰当地理解为身份的一个方面，其中还包括性别、职业、社会地位和语言隶属关系。