ORCID Profile
0000-0002-1740-519X
Current Organisations
Universite de Lausanne
,
Swiss Centre of Expertise in the Social Sciences
,
James Cook University
Does something not look right? The information on this page has been harvested from data sources that may not be up to date. We continue to work with information providers to improve coverage and quality. To report an issue, use the Feedback Form.
Related Links
Publications
Between foraging and farming: strategic responses to the Holocene Thermal Maximum in Southeast Asia
Publisher: Antiquity Publications
Date: 08-2018
DOI: 10.15184/AQY.2018.69
Identity and community structure in Neolithic Man Bac, northern Vietnam
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2021
Excavating among the megaliths: recent research at the ‘Plain of Jars’ site 1 in Laos
Publisher: Antiquity Publications
Date: 08-2019
A Bioarchaeological Study of Trauma at Late Iron Age to Protohistoric Non Ban Jak, Northeast Thailand
Publisher: Project MUSE
Date: 2019
Ethical Issues of Bioarchaeology in Southeast Asia
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Date: 2020
Chronology, duration, and periodicity of linear enamel hypoplasia at the late Iron Age site Non Ban Jak, Thailand: A quantitative microscopic analysis
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2023
Forager and farmer evolutionary adaptations to malaria evidenced by 7000 years of thalassemia in Southeast Asia
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-03-2021
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-021-83978-4
Abstract: Thalassemias are inherited blood disorders that are found in high prevalences in the Mediterranean, Southeast Asia and the Pacific. These diseases provide varying levels of resistance to malaria and are proposed to have emerged as an adaptive response to malaria in these regions. The transition to agriculture in the Holocene has been suggested to have influenced the selection for thalassemia in the Mediterranean as land clearance for farming encouraged interaction between Anopheles mosquitos, the vectors for malaria, and human groups. Here we document macroscopic and microscopic skeletal evidence for the presence of thalassemia in both hunter-gatherer (Con Co Ngua) and early agricultural (Man Bac) populations in northern Vietnam. Firstly, our findings demonstrate that thalassemia emerged prior to the transition to agriculture in Mainland Southeast Asia, from at least the early seventh millennium BP, contradicting a long-held assumption that agriculture was the main driver for an increase in malaria in Southeast Asia. Secondly, we describe evidence for significant malarial burden in the region during early agriculture. We argue that the introduction of farming into the region was not the initial driver of the selection for thalassemia, as it may have been in other regions of the world.
Digitizing Intangible Cultural Heritage Embodied: State of the Art
Publisher: Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Date: 16-09-2022
DOI: 10.1145/3494837
Abstract: Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) as a field of research and site for digital efforts has grown significantly since the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Heritage. In contrast to tangible heritage, where cultural identities are manifested through physical objects, intangible cultural expressions are defined through tacit reliances and embodied practices. Such practices are usually bodily communicated, enacted, socially transmitted, and constantly evolving. Burgeoning trends in computational heritage and ICT applications have played a crucial role in safeguarding ICH as they produce versatile resources while making them accessible to the public. Nevertheless, most of the inventions are object-centric and cater to conserving material-based knowledge bases. Few endeavors thus far have fully supported the recording, representing, and reviving of the living nature of ICH. One of the challenges now faced is to find appropriate forms, together with efficient methods, to document the ephemeral aspects of intangible heritage. Another barrier is to find effective ways to communicate the knowledge inextricably linked to people. In response, recent efforts have embarked on capturing the “live” and “active” facets of the embodied cultures, which entails addressing technological and curatorial complexity to communicate the material and immaterial aspects within a meaningful context. Meanwhile, advancements in experimental museology have opened up new modes of experiential narratives, particularly through visualization, augmentation, participation, and immersive embodiment. Novel practices of cultural data computation and data sculpting have also emerged toward the ideal of knowledge reconstruction. This article outlines state-of-the-art models, projects, and technical practices that have advanced the digitization lifecycle for ICH resources. The review focuses on several critical but less studied tasks within digital archiving, computational encoding, conceptual representation, and interactive engagement with the intangible cultural elements. We aim at identifying the advancements and gaps in the existing conventions, and to envision opportunities for transmitting embodied knowledge in intangible heritage.
An unusual case of prone position in the Punic/Roman necropolis of Monte Luna in Sardinia (Italy): A multi-disciplinary interpretation of Tomb 27
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2023
Cultural modification of the dentition in prehistoric Cambodia
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 14-03-2013
DOI: 10.1002/OA.1245
Dental health in Iron Age Cambodia: Temporal variations with rice agriculture
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2013
DOI: 10.1016/J.IJPP.2013.01.003
Abstract: The dental health of two Cambodian Iron Age (500 BC to 500 AD) communities is interpreted through an analysis of advanced wear, caries, periapical lesions, and antemortem tooth loss (AMTL). The two communities, Phum Snay and Phum Sophy, just 40km apart, are temporally situated at a time of significant socio-political change prior to the establishment of Angkorian state rule. Dental pathology frequencies are compared between the two communities and with other prehistoric sites throughout Southeast Asia to determine whether dental health was affected by socio-political changes and the intensification of rice agriculture that also occurred at this time. The people of Snay and Sophy, despite their proximity, were found to exhibit significant differences in dental health. When sub ided by age and sex, Sophy older age class teeth had significantly more advanced wear, and older females had more periapical lesions, while the Phum Snay older age dentitions had significantly more AMTL. Caries rates were similar between the s les. When compared in the broader context of the Iron Age in prehistoric Southeast Asia, both Phum Snay and Phum Sophy suggest a trend of declining dental health during the period prior to the rise of the Angkorian state.
Paleoepidemiology of cribra orbitalia: Insights from early seventh millennium BP Con Co Ngua, Vietnam
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-04-2023
DOI: 10.1002/AJPA.24738
Abstract: We test the hypothesis that the condition(s) leading to the development of cribra orbitalia at Con Co Ngua, an early seventh millennium sedentary foraging community in Vietnam, effectively reduced the resilience of the population to subsequent health/disease impacts. An assessment of both the implications and potential etiology of cribra orbitalia in this specific population is carried out. The effective s le included 141 adults aged ≥15 years (53 females, 71 males, and 17 unknown sex) and 15 pre‐adults aged ≤14 years. Cribra orbitalia was identified by way of cortical bone porosity of the orbital roof initiated within the diplöic space, rather than initiated subperiosteally. The approach is also robust to the misidentification of various pseudo‐lesions. Resultant data was analyzed using Kaplan–Meier survival analysis. Median survival is higher in adults aged ≥15 years without cribra orbitalia than those with this lesion. For the pre‐adult cohort, the opposite pattern is seen where median survival is higher in those with cribra orbitalia than those without. Adults displayed increased frailty and pre‐adults increased resilience with respect to cribra orbitalia. The differential diagnosis for a survival analysis of adults and pre‐adults with and without cribra orbitalia included iron deficiency anemia and B12/folate deficiency, parasitism (including hydatid disease and malaria) in addition to thalassemia. The most parsimonious explanation for observed results is for both thalassemia and malaria being the chief etiological agents, while appreciating these conditions interact with, and can cause, other forms such as hematinic deficiency anemias.
Secondary burial practice at megalithic jar site 1, Plain of Jars Laos
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 03-04-2023
DOI: 10.1007/S41826-023-00067-3
Abstract: In 2020 a Lao/Australian archaeological research team revisited one of the largest megalithic jar sites in Laos, Site 1, and undertook excavations in an effort to more fully understand the ritual practice at the site. This paper reviews previous research undertaken at the site and describes the recent excavation which revealed evidence of secondary burial practice dating to the 8th to thirteenth centuries. The research confirms the use of Site 1 as a burial site where multiple in iduals were interred in secondary burials in shared mortuary contexts.
Geophysical prospection for late holocene burials in coastal environments: Possibilities and problems from a pilot study in South Australia
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 23-07-2010
DOI: 10.1002/GEA.20321
On the origin of pre-Angkorian peoples: Perspectives from cranial and dental affinity of the human remains from Iron age Phum Snay, Cambodia
Publisher: Anthropological Society of Nippon
Date: 2011
DOI: 10.1537/ASE.100511
Scurvy in the tropics: Evidence for increasing non‐adult micronutrient deficiency with the transition to agriculture in northern Vietnam
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 28-01-2023
DOI: 10.1002/AJPA.24698
Abstract: Scurvy in non‐adults was assessed at the Pre‐Neolithic site of Con Co Ngua and the Neolithic site of Man Bac in northern Vietnam to investigate nutritional stress during the agricultural transition in Mainland Southeast Asia (MSEA). One hundred and four human skeletons under the age of 20 years old were assessed. Lesions were recorded macroscopically and radiographically. Differential diagnosis using prior established paleopathological diagnostic criteria for scurvy was conducted. There was no clear evidence for scurvy at Con Co Ngua and a high burden of scurvy was present at Man Bac ( % diagnosed with probable scurvy). Scurvy levels were high across all non‐adult ages at Man Bac indicating significant burden throughout childhood and adolescence. No scurvy at Con Co Ngua is consistent with widely available food sources at the peak of the Holocene thermal maximum. High levels of scurvy at Man Bac corresponds with decreased dietary ersity, high pathogen load, and increased population stress with the transition to agriculture around the time of the 4.2 ka desertification event. This is the first systematic population‐level non‐adult investigation of specific nutritional disease in MSEA and demonstrates an increase in nutritional stress during the Neolithic transition in northern Vietnam. Subperiosteal new bone deposits can be due to normal growth in infants and young children, therefore, identification of scurvy in children under the age of 4 years needs to be considered critically. Further work in diagnosing specific nutritional disease in other non‐adult cohorts throughout MSEA is required.
Hydatid disease (Echinococcosis granulosis) diagnosis from skeletal osteolytic lesions in an early seventh‐millennium BP forager community from preagricultural northern Vietnam
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-11-2022
DOI: 10.1002/AJPA.24435
Abstract: Con Co Ngua is a complex, sedentary forager site from northern Vietnam dating to the early seventh millennium BP. Prior research identified a calcified Echinococcus granulosis cyst, which causes hydatid disease. Osteolytic lesions consistent with hydatid disease were also present in this in idual and others. Hydatid disease is observed in high frequencies in pastoralists, and its presence in a hunter‐gatherer community raises questions regarding human‐animal interaction prior to farming. The objective of this article is to identify and describe the epidemiology of hydatid disease in the human skeletal assemblage at Con Co Ngua. One hundred and fifty‐five in iduals were macroscopically assessed for lesions. Of these, eight in iduals were radiographed. Hydatid disease was diagnosed using a new threshold criteria protocol derived from clinical literature, which prioritizes lesions specific to the parasite. Twenty‐two in iduals (14.2%) presented with osteolytic lesions consistent with hydatid disease, affecting the distal humerus, proximal femur and forearm, and pelvis. Seven in iduals radiographed (4.5%) had multilocular cystic lesions strongly diagnostic for hydatid disease. All probable cases had lesions of the distal humerus. The remaining lesions were macroscopically identical to those radiographed and were considered possible cases. While hydatid disease has previously been found in pre‐agricultural communities, the high prevalence at Con Co Ngua is non‐incidental. We propose that the presence of wild canids and management of wild buffalo and deer increased the risk of disease transmission. These findings further reveal subsistence complexity among hunter‐gatherers living millennia prior to the adoption of farming in Southeast Asia.
Social Status and Its Relationship to Non-specific Stress at Late Iron Age Non Ban Jak, Northeast Thailand
Publisher: University Press of Florida
Date: 21-05-2020
DOI: 10.5744/BI.2019.1017
Abstract: The rise of social inequality is a key development in human history and is linked to deteriorating health. These associated health impacts are poorly understood for Iron Age (420 B.C.–A.D. 500) northeast Thailand. To clarify this issue we investigate whether social status differences influence non-specific stress at the site of Non Ban Jak (A.D. 300–800), which comprises two separate burial mounds. These mounds are thought to represent the neighborhoods of two distinct social groups at the site. Quantitative analyses were used to explore differences in grave goods among the adults of Non Ban Jak (N = 47). Long bone lengths, ages at death, and linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) were examined to explore differences in non-specific stress on the basis of age, sex, burial mound, and mortuary phase. Results demonstrated that older adults of both sexes, males of all ages, and west mound in iduals received greater grave good quantities and may therefore have been of higher social status. West mound in iduals were taller and had a lower prevalence of LEH compared to those from the east mound. Although female LEH prevalence and mortality were reduced relative to males, decreasing stature over time and high neonatal mortality indicated greater female stress. Lower-status in iduals may therefore have suffered increased stress relative to those of higher status. Artifactual and epigraphic evidence supports the suggestion of sex- and class-based status differences at Non Ban Jak, legitimized and perpetuated through the adoption of residential burial and new religious ideologies. การปรากฎขึ้นของความไม่เท่าเทียมทางสังคมเป็นพัฒนาการสำคัญอย่างหนึ่งในประวัติศาสตร์มนุษยชาติและเชื่อมโยงกับสุขภาพที่เสื่อมลง ความรู้ความเข้าใจเกี่ยวกับสุขภาวะที่เกี่ยวเนื่องกับความไม่เท่าเทียมทางสังคมในสมัยเหล็ก (ประมาณ ๒,๔๐๐ – ๑,๕๐๐ ปีมาแล้ว) ในภาคตะวันออกเฉียงเหนือนี้ยังมีน้อย ดังนั้น เพื่อสร้างความเข้าใจให้ชัดเจนในเรื่องนี้ เราจึงได้ศึกษาตรวจสอบว่าความแตกต่างด้านสถานะทางสังคมมีอิทธิพลต่อความตึงเครียดหรือไม่ ทั้งนี้ เราใช้หลักฐานทางโบราณคดีจากแหล่งโบราณคดีโนนบ้านจาก (กำหนดอายุระหว่าง ๒,๓๐๐ – ๑,๒๐๐ ปีมาแล้ว) ซึ่งมีเนินหลุมฝังศพ ๒ เนิน เราเชื่อว่าเนินดินหลุมฝังศพทั้งสองเนินนี้เป็นแหล่งฝังศพของกลุ่มคน ๒ กลุ่มที่เป็นเพื่อนบ้านกันหรือมีความใกล้ชิดทางสังคม เราใช้วิธีการวิเคราะห์เชิงปริมาณในการศึกษาตรวจสอบความแตกต่างของวัตถุอุทิศที่พบร่วมกับหลุมฝังศพของคนในวัยที่เป็นผู้ใหญ่ นอกจากนี้ เรายังวิเคราะห์ความยาวของกระดูกแขน-ขา อายุเมื่อตาย และการเสื่อมผุของเคลือบฟัน เพื่อตรวจสอบระดับความแตกต่างของความตึงเครียดตามเพศ อายุ/วัย กลุ่มสังคม และช่วงเวลา ผลการศึกษาพบว่าผู้ใหญ่วัยสูงอายุทั้งเพศหญิงและชาย ผู้ชายทุกวัย และกลุ่มคนจากเนินฝังศพด้านตะวันตกมีจำนวนวัตถุอุทิศมากกว่ากลุ่มคนจากเนินฝังศพทางตะวันออก และดังนั้นคนที่ถูกฝังในเนินดินฝังสพทางตะวันตกอาจจะมีสถานภาพสูงกว่าคนที่ถูกฝังในเนินดินหลุมฝังศพทางตะวันออก คนที่ถูกฝังในเนินดินหลุมฝังศพทางตะวันตกมีร่างกายที่สูงกว่าและมีการเสื่อมผุของเคลือบฟันน้อยกว่าคนที่ฝังที่เนินดินทางตะวันออก และแม้ว่าการเสื่อมผุของเคลือบฟันและอัตราการเสียชีวิตของผู้หญิงลดลงเมื่อเปรียบเทียบกับผู้ชาย แต่ผู้หญิงก็มีส่วนสูงเฉลี่ยลดลง และมีอัตราการเสียชีวิตของทารกในครรภ์สูงขึ้นตามช่วงเวลาซึ่งอาจจะแสดงว่าผู้หญิงมีชีวิตความตึงเครียด และคนที่มีสถานภาพทางสังคมต่ำก็มีความตึงเครียดมากกว่าคนที่มีสภาพทางสังคมที่สูงด้วย หลักฐานประเภทโบราณวัตถุและจารึกโบราณสนับสนุนว่าความแตกต่างทางสถานภาพทางสังคมและเพศที่แหล่งโบราณคดีโนนบ้านจากเกิดขึ้นและดำรงอยู่ดังจะสะท้อนให้เห็นจากการฝังศพในที่อยู่อาศัยและการเข้ามาของระบบความเชื่อทางศาสนาอันใหม่
Environmental and Social Change in Northeast Thailand during the Iron Age
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 04-2019
DOI: 10.1017/S0959774319000192
Abstract: The Iron Age of Mainland Southeast Asia began in the fifth century bc and lasted for about a millennium. In coastal regions, the development of trade along the Maritime Silk Road led to the growth of port cities. In the interior, a fall in monsoon rains particularly affected the Mun River valley. This coincided with the construction of moats/reservoirs round Iron Age settlements from which water was channelled into wet rice fields, the production of iron ploughshares and sickles, population growth, burgeoning exchange and increased conflict. We explore the social impact of this agricultural revolution through applying statistical analyses to mortuary s les dating before and after the development of wet rice farming. These suggest that there was a swift formation of social elites represented by the wealth of mortuary offerings, followed by a decline. Two associated changes are identified. The first involved burying the dead in residential houses the second considers the impact of an increasingly aquatic environment on health by examining demographic trends involving a doubling of infant mortality that concentrated on neonates. A comparison between this sequence and that seen in coastal ports suggests two interconnected instances of rapid pathways to social change responding to different social and environmental stressors.
Domestication and large animal interactions: Skeletal trauma in northern Vietnam during the hunter-gatherer Da But period
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 04-09-2019
Revisiting Prei Khmeng: The Excavation of an Iron Age Settlement and Cemetery in Cambodia
Publisher: Project MUSE
Date: 2020
Ancient genomes document multiple waves of migration in Southeast Asian prehistory
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 06-07-2018
Abstract: The past movements and peopling of Southeast Asia have been poorly represented in ancient DNA studies (see the Perspective by Bellwood). Lipson et al. generated sequences from people inhabiting Southeast Asia from about 1700 to 4100 years ago. Screening of more than a hundred in iduals from five sites yielded ancient DNA from 18 in iduals. Comparisons with present-day populations suggest two waves of mixing between resident populations. The first mix was between local hunter-gatherers and incoming farmers associated with the Neolithic spreading from South China. A second event resulted in an additional pulse of genetic material from China to Southeast Asia associated with a Bronze Age migration. McColl et al. sequenced 26 ancient genomes from Southeast Asia and Japan spanning from the late Neolithic to the Iron Age. They found that present-day populations are the result of mixing among four ancient populations, including multiple waves of genetic material from more northern East Asian populations. Science , this issue p. 92 , p. 88 see also p. 31
Related Organisations
Swiss Centre Of Expertise In The Social Sciences
Location: Switzerland
Related Funding Activities
Megalithic Connections: Imperilled Cultural Heritage In Laos And India
Start Date: 2023
End Date: 2027
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityHistory In Their Bones: A Diachronic, Bioarchaeological Study Of Diet, Mobility And Social Organization From Cambodian Skeletal Assemblages
Start Date: 2009
End Date: 2011
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityFrom Paddy To Pura: The Origins Of Angkor
Start Date: 2011
End Date: 2013
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityThe Best Of Times, The Worst Of Times: A Biocultural Investigation Of 19th Century Frontier Mining Cemeteries In Australia, New Zealand And California
Start Date: 2019
End Date: 2022
Funder: Marsden Fund
View Funded ActivityThe Plain Of Jars, Laos
Start Date: 2015
End Date: 2019
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded Activity