Keywords

Bioarchaeology, Paleopathology, Anatolia, Karataş, Intersectionality

Abstract

The Early Bronze Age in Western Anatolia represents a period of social transition, associated with hierarchical social stratification. Evidence for stratification at Karataş-Semayük (i.e., Karataş) (2700 to 2300 BCE) is present through architectural composition and size, privatized storage, and differential mortuary treatment. However, previous research has not interpreted paleopathological conditions with considerations of intersectionality to interpret the lived experiences of individuals and assess the presence of marginalization embodied by the inhabitants of Karataş.

Estimated females (n=39) and estimated males (n=60) were observed from a total sample of 170 individuals. Through observations of cribra orbitalia, porotic hyperostosis, and periosteal reactions, the ways in which the interactions of age, sex, and socioeconomic status contribute to differential levels of frailty and risk of mortality were explored. Fisher's exact and Kendall's tau-b correlations, ordered probit regression, hierarchical loglinear, Kaplan-Meier, and Cox proportional hazard analysis were employed to address these goals.

Females are no more stressed than males in terms of quantity of stress markers or severity when present, which suggests that Karataş may be more reflective of a heterarchical social system. Statistical analyses reveal the interaction between sex and socioeconomic status to be the most influential in predicting frailty and risk of mortality. Hazard analysis results indicate that females of low status are least likely to experience increased frailty and risk of mortality, which rejects the hypothesis that females would exhibit more stress due to previous research indicating Karataş was likely virilocal and that higher ranked individuals generally exhibit greater buffers to stress.

Beyond establishing a way to implement intersectionality into bioarchaeological studies of marginalization, this research contributes to the reassessment of past perspectives that hierarchical social systems were well-established and rigid in Western Anatolia during the Early Bronze Age.

Completion Date

2024

Semester

Spring

Committee Chair

Adams, Donovan

Degree

Master of Arts (M.A.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Anthropology

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

DP0028361

URL

https://purls.library.ucf.edu/go/DP0028361

Language

English

Rights

In copyright

Release Date

May 2027

Length of Campus-only Access

3 years

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Campus-only Access)

Campus Location

Orlando (Main) Campus

Accessibility Status

Meets minimum standards for ETDs/HUTs

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Restricted to the UCF community until May 2027; it will then be open access.

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