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Beck, Jess. (2026). Preparing PhD students for the professoriate: Navigating the hidden curriculum of the academic job market. In Embedding Employability in the Curriculum: Evidence, Practice and Case Studies from University College Dublin. Edited by E. Wilson, A. Clancy, J. Jones, and J. Keenahan. College of Social Sciences and Law, University College Dublin.
The academic job market in the humanities and social sciences has become increasingly competitive over the past 40 years due to the growing number of PhDs awarded and the decreasing number of permanent positions available. To apply for academic jobs requires assembling a bewildering array of documents, including a curriculum vitae, cover letter, teaching statement, research statement, writing samples, and reference letters, while deciphering the often unwritten expectations that dictate the etiquette of Zoom shortlists, job talks, teaching demonstrations, and panel interviews. The mores of the market constitute a hidden curriculum that is rarely formally addressed in postgraduate coursework. PhD students are instead left to chart a course through this labyrinth by piecing together advice from supervisors, mentors, and postgraduate peers. Classes designed to prepare students for the post-PhD job market can help to fill these gaps in student knowledge and training, with benefits for both the skill development of PhD students and the equitability of programme outcomes. In this case study, I introduce Professionalisation, a PhD student seminar I first taught in the School of Archaeology at University College Dublin in Autumn 2024. Here, the process of “professionalisation” refers to refining the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in navigating the professional world post-PhD, including crafting job documents, publicly presenting research, and preparing for and conducting interviews. To provide a roadmap for faculty interested in developing similar professionalisation courses across other disciplines and institutions, I outline my course learning objectives, structure, and assessments. I conclude by offering advice based on my experience and argue for the relevance of deliberate training in professionalisation at the postgraduate level. |
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SUBRAMANIAM, NANDINI, COLIN QUINN, JESS BECK, HORIA CIUGUDEAN, CLAES UHNÉR, AND HANNAH LAU. (2026). A HISTOLOGICAL EXAMINATION OF MORTUARY VARIABILITY IN EARLY BRONZE AGE TRANSYLVANIA. ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL SCIENCES, 18(170): 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-026-02532-3
Open Access The shift from the Copper Age (c. 3600–2700 BCE) to the Early Bronze Age (c. 2700–2000 BCE) in Transylvania (Romania) was a period of significant changes in mortuary practices. We combine bone histology with bioarchaeological and archaeological assessments of mortuary variability to better understand the organization and diversity of funerary practices in the region. Bone histology, the study of microscopic structures of connective tissues in bone, can help disentangle complex mortuary programs. In this study we detail histological analyses of burials from two Early Bronze Age cemeteries: Meteș-La Meteșel, an upland cemetery associated with local Transylvanian communities, and Hăpria, a lowland cemetery associated with Yamnaya migrants. We identify the presence of multiple different pathways from death to burial in primary inhumations and secondary inhumations at these sites. The results here provide new insights into the complex process of cultural exchange during a time of social transformation and high human mobility. |
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DAVIN, CLAIRE, JESS BECK, AND LAI MA. OPEN PRACTICES, CLOSED REALITIES? ARCHAEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON OPEN RESEARCH PRACTICES. JOURNAL OF ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING, 29(1): 219–242. https://doi.org/10.3998/jep.7833
Open Access Open research frameworks alongside encompassing principles such as FAIR and CARE, have seen an increase in uptake across the global academic landscape in recent years. However, their implementation remains uneven, particularly within the humanities and social sciences (HSS), where disciplinary traditions, methodological diversity, and structural limitations present persistent challenges. This study investigates the integration of open research practices within archaeology—an interdisciplinary field situated within both categories of STEM and HSS, that draws on both qualitative and quantitative methods.Through a qualitative research design based on in-depth interviews with archaeologists, we examine how researchers conceptualise open research, the extent to which they engage with it in practice, and the institutional, epistemic, and ethical factors shaping their engagement. Participants reported varying levels of familiarity with open research, often associating it primarily with open-access publishing, while expressing uncertainty or concern about the applicability of openness to sensitive or context-dependent data, such as excavation records, material cultural heritage, and collaborations with descendant communities.Our findings reveal three main types of barriers to open research implementation in archaeology: (1) conceptual and disciplinary barriers, including tensions between openness and interpretive, context-specific scholarship; (2) practical and infrastructural constraints, such as the lack of repositories or guidelines tailored to the specific formats and sensitivities of archaeological data; and (3) socio-political concerns, particularly regarding the commodification of cultural heritage and ethical obligations to stakeholder communities. At the same time, the study highlights existing opportunities and initiatives within the field—such as digital repositories, data standardisation efforts, and funding mandates—that are gradually facilitating more open practices. In conclusion, we argue that infrastructure and training are required to encourage and sustain meaningful engagement with open research and that a shift in ideology and practice is needed to ensure that researchers are active participants in shaping open research policies rather than passive recipients of mandates. |
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BECK, JESS, ROWAN FLAD, BRIDGET ALEX, ARI CARAMANICA, ANDRE COSTOPOULOS, NICHOLAS C. KAWA, BEN MARWICK, CHRISTINA WARINNER, DANA BARDOLPH, LEWIS BORCK, KRISTINA DOUGLASS, ALAN FARAHANI, MACKINLEY FITZPATRICK, LARS FOGELIN, LAURA HEATH-STOUT, SCOTT HUTSON, MATT MAGNANI, NATALAIA MAGNANI, ANA CECILIA MAURICIO, LISA OVERHOLTZER, MATTHÄUS REST, DANIEL SCOTT SOULELES, AND RENATAT VERDUN DA SILVA CARMO. (2026). CHANGING THE LANDSCAPE OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL PUBLISHING. CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY, 67(1): 155–180. https://doi.org/10.1086/739789
Disseminating research is a key component of scholarly labor, but the costs and benefits of the current structure of academic publishing are underexamined within anthropology. This paper brings together a range of authors from across archaeology and cultural anthropology to summarize current issues in archaeological publishing and offer potential interventions at multiple scales. The paper is divided into five core topics. “Ideology” discusses the relationship between publishing and academic history, gatekeeping, and the ideology of collaboration and coauthorship. “Publishing Dynamics in North America” covers intersections between identity, authorship, and citation practices, as well as gendered patterns in publishing. “Publishing Dynamics in Latin America” presents a case study of academic publishing in Brazil and Peru, highlighting the unique challenges for archaeologists based in the Global South. “Publishing Pathways” interrogates open science and data, standards for peer review and coauthorship, and the impact of different publishing models on individual researchers. Finally, “Media Coverage” investigates bias in popular media covering archaeological research and the monetization of scientific information. We conclude with a list of multiscalar interventions for authors, peer reviewers, editors, journals, departments, institutions, and granting agencies that will improve conditions for authors and readers, emphasizing strategies that lead to collaborative, reciprocal forms of knowledge production. |
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MARWICK, BEN, ANNE MARIE POOLE, AILIN ZHANG, SETAREH SHAFIZAEDH, AND JESS BECK. (2026). HIRE ED: JOB MARKET DYNAMICS FOR TENURE-TRACK FACULTY POSITIONS IN ARCHAEOLOGY. AMERICAN ANTIQUITY, 91(2):259–281. https://doi.org/10.1017/aaq.2025.10117
Open Access Many archaeology graduate students pursue advanced degrees in the hope of undertaking an academic career. Job-listing websites often serve as the first port-of-call for students seeking academic positions. We examined tenure-track job advertisements over the past decade to gain insights into the academic job market for archaeologists. Using data from the community-edited Academic Jobs Wiki for Archaeology, we examined changes in the academic job market over time. We investigated the editing dynamics of the Wiki to understand its users and their biases. We then analyzed the text of 431 job ads posted from 2013 to 2023. Our analysis addresses the question of how archaeological topics, methods, and geographic regions specified in archaeological job ads have shifted over time. We also explored whether the labor burden for applicants has changed over time: do institutions request more information and documents from applicants at the initial stages of application, compared to a decade ago? Finally, we assessed the influence of sociopolitical factors on the changing focus of research topics in the field. We conclude with implications for archaeology students, graduates, and advisors seeking to understand the dynamics of the academic job market and the requirements of employers. |
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BECK, JESS. (2025). WE HEAR, FOR YOU. THE VALUE OF LISTENING TO OUR CORPORATE COLLEAGUES. ECONOMIC ANTHROPOLOGY. SYMPOSIUM IN ECONOMIC ANTHROPOLOGY. e70028. https://doi.org/10.1002/sea2.70028
Open Access In his “modest proposal for university reform”, Scroggins (this issue) makes the case that faculty must adapt to the neoliberal reality of higher education by revising their approaches to public scholarship and to pedagogy. I expand on his arguments, focusing on the key role played by university administrators in perfecting the modern university. I also provide a number of suggestions for administrators to more effectively promote the central institutional missions of maximizing profit while minimizing legal liability. |
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CIUGUDEAN, HORIA, ANNA WATERMAN, JESS BECK, COLIN QUINN, AND DAVID PEATE. (2025). THE HIGHLANDERS OF WESTERN TRANSYLVANIA AND THEIR NEIGHBORS: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDY OF THE EARLY BRONZE AGE TUMULUS AT METEȘ. IN THE BRONZE AGE AT THE EDGE OF THE CARPATHIAN BASIN: ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDIES DEDICATED TO CAROL KACSÓ ON HIS 80TH BIRTHDAY, EDITED BY H. CIUGUDEAN AND B. REZI. EDITURA MEGA: CLUJ NAPOCA.
The migration of Steppe communities to the Carpathian Basin during the late 4th and 3rd millennium BC has been an important topic of research in the past two decades, especially due to the archaeogenetic revolution and a focus on the spread of Yamnaya ancestry in Europe (e.g. Heyd 2011; Dani et al. 2022). At the same time, the continuity of the Late Copper Age (LCA) people from the 4th to the 3rd millennium BC has regained the interest of scholars who are looking for more complex models of migration and cultural change (Frînculeasa 2021a; Preda-Bălănică–Diekmann 2022; Alexandrov 2023; Ciugudean et al. 2023). In this context, there is an important opportunity to apply new scientific analyses to previously excavated collections from key sites in Transylvania and the Carpathian Basin. This study presents an interdisciplinary analysis of the Early Bronze Age tumulus at Meteș–La Meteșel. The tumulus at Meteș–La Meteșel is part of a tomb cemetery with eight mounds on a ridge in the Trascău Mountains. The tumulus is one example of a larger phenomenon of upland tomb cemeteries that dominated the landscape of the Southern Apuseni Mountains during the Early Bronze Age in southwestern Transylvania. We present the results of archaeological excavation, radiocarbon analyses with Bayesian modelling, osteoarchaeological analyses of age, sex, and pathology, isotopic analysis of prehistoric diet, and isotopic analysis of migration and mobility. While our analyses focus on the individuals buried at Meteș–La Meteșel, we also contextualize these results within the local region, the wider Carpathian Basin, and beyond. |
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BECK, JESS, MARTA DÍAZ-ZORITA BONILLA, ROSA DOMÍNGUEZ, LUIS HERNÁNDEZ, JAVIER ESCUDERO-CARRILLO, AND PEDRO DÍAZ-DEL-RÍO. (2024). INTEGRATING BIOARCHAEOLOGY AND CHRONOLOGY AT LOS MELGAREJOS TO UNDERSTAND DITCHED ENCLOSURES IN COPPER AGE IBERIA. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY, 27(4): 407–430. https://doi.org/10.1017/eaa.2024.42
Open Access In Iberia, ditched enclosures appeared during the Copper Age (late fourth to third millennium bc). These sites are linked by their circular organization, communal labour investment, and complex temporality, but vary markedly in their distribution, function, and scale. Though archaeological attention has focused on ‘mega-sites’, an assessment of small-scale enclosures in marginal environments is key to understanding the social dynamics that facilitated their emergence. Here, the authors present results from Los Melgarejos (Getafe, Spain), the first Iberian Chalcolithic enclosure (3 ha) to be extensively documented, with all structures and seven per cent of the enclosure ditches excavated. Bioarchaeology, mortuary archaeology, isotope analyses (δ13Cco, δ13Cap, δ15N), and radiocarbon dating are employed to compare lived experiences of diet, stress, trauma, and funerary ritual at small- and large-scale enclosures. Comparisons with the mega-site of Marroquíes reveal similarities in lived experience and ritual practice, as well as regional differences in dietary isotopes, highlighting the utility of multiscalar comparisons for understanding prehistoric lifeways. |
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CIUGUDEAN, H., QUINN, C., UHNÉR, C. & BECK, J. (2023). FROM WEST TO EAST: INTERACTION BETWEEN COPPER AGE CARPATHIAN COMMUNITIES AND YAMNAYA GROUPS SEEN IN THE FUNERARY RECORD. IN STEPPE TRANSMISSIONS. THE YAMNAYA IMPACT ON PREHISTORIC EUROPE. EDITED BY BIANCA PREDA-BĂLĂNICĂ, MARJA AHOLA, PIOTR WŁODARCZAK, PP. 205–245. ARCHAEOLINGUA: BUDAPEST.
The spread of Yamnaya migrants from the Eurasian Steppe towards Transylvania and the Carpathian Basin has been a major focus of archaeological research. The consequences of this migration, however, would have been more nuanced than traditionally envisioned. We present novel insights into the consequences of the Yamnaya migration through new analyses of the material culture, chronology, and funerary practices in southwest Transylvania. Within Transylvania and the Carpathian Basin, the introduction of Yamnaya ideas did not result in the full abandonment of Early Bronze Age traditions or the replacement of local populations with newcomers. Instead, local communities responded and shifted some practices, while maintaining a strong connection to their Copper Age ancestry through the reuse and repurposing of space. As in any dynamic social context, Yamnaya and their descendant communities adopted and moved objects and ideas from the west to the east and the Eurasian Steppe. In light of the data presented here, we argue that Transylvania during the Late Copper Age and Early Bronze Age was a dynamic context of migration, interaction, social change, and continuity. |
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BECK, J. & RIEL-SALVATORE, J. (2023). TRICKLE-DOWN EQUITY: REPLY TO SHOTT (2022). THE SAA ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD, 23(3): 39–46.
This piece is one of a series of replies addressing Shott, M. (2022) Will Future Archaeology Professors Be Where They Deserve To Be?The SAA Archaeological Record, 22(4): 26–33. |
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BECK, J., & QUINN, C. P. (2023). BALANCING THE SCALES: ARCHAEOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO INEQUALITY. WORLD ARCHAEOLOGY. https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2023.2169341
Archaeology lends a critical perspective to research on social inequality due to the field’s unique access to deep history, emphasis on materiality, and explicit incorporation of multiple lines of evidence. This paper offers a concise overview of archaeological approaches aimed at students and scholars in other fields. We develop a categorization of disciplinary strategies, arguing that archaeologists address institutionalized inequality through examining inequal- ities in the accumulation of goods or resources (economic differentiation); access to resources or knowledge (social differentiation), and inequalities in action, the ability to make decisions for oneself or others (political differentiation). We illustrate these categories with reference to the distinctions between material, relational, and embodied wealth. We draw upon a broad range of geographic, chronological, and cultural case studies to illustrate the flexibility and utility of archaeological methods for answering questions about inequality in human societies. |
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BECK, J., GJESFJELD, E., & CHRISOMALIS, S. (2021). PRESTIGE OR PERISH: PUBLISHING DECISIONS IN ACADEMIC ARCHAEOLOGY. AMERICAN ANTIQUITY, 86(4),669–695. https://doi.org/10.1017/aaq.2021.64
Open Access Success in academic archaeology is strongly influenced by the publication of peer-reviewed articles. Despite the importance of such articles, minimal research has explicitly examined the factors influencing publishing decisions in archaeology. In order to better understand the landscape of archaeological publishing, we distributed a short survey that solicited basic professional and demographic information before asking respondents to (1) identify journals that publish important archaeological research, (2) identify journals that people who read archaeological academic CVs value most highly, and (3) rank the factors that affected their decisions about where to submit an article for publication. Our results from 274 respondents generated a list of 167 individual journal titles. Prestige was viewed as the most important factor that affected publishing decisions, followed by audience and open access considerations. There was no relationship between respondent-generated journal rankings and SCImago Journal Ranks (SJR), but there were significant differences in average SJR by gender and career stage. Responses showed consensus on only a small number of highly ranked archaeology and science-subject journals, with little agreement on the importance of most other journals. We conclude by highlighting the areas of disciplinary consensus and divergence revealed by the survey and by discussing how implicit prestige hierarchies permeate academic archaeology. |
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BECK, J. (2020). THE HUMAN POSITION: THE POTENTIAL OF BIOARCHAEOLOGY FOR STUDIES OF INEQUALITY IN IBERIAN LATE PREHISTORY. IN K. LILLIOS, P. DÍAZ-DEL-RÍO & I. SASTRE, (EDS.), THE MATTER OF PREHISTORY: PAPERS IN HONOR OF ANTONIO GILMAN GUILLÉN. ( PP. 153–172). BIBLIOTECHA PRÆHISTORICA HISPANA, VOL. XXXVI. MADRID: CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTÍFICAS.
Traditionally, studies of prehistoric inequality focus on its material traces in the archaeological record, examining evidence such as architecture, patterns of long-distance exchange, craft specialization, settlement hierarchies, and mortuary treatment. Bioarchaeological evidence from the human skeleton provides a unique and complementary counterpoint to such work by examining the embodied dimensions of differences in social status. Osteoarchaeological assessments of age, sex, and skeletal completion can be used to assess the relationship between identity and mortuary treatment, while the paleopathology of ancient bones and teeth provides insight into the intersection of disease and social status. Isotopic analyses of carbon, nitrogen, strontium, and oxygen reveal inter-individual and inter-group differences in diet and mobility. Finally, radiocarbon dating of human bone allows us to examine diachronic changes in social organization and economic, political, and ideological inequalities. Here, I focus on the site of Marroquíes, a 113-hectare Chalcolithic enclosure settlement in Jaén, Spain, to explore how bioarchaeological analyses contribute to contemporary debates about social complexity. The trajectory of the site of Marroquíes and evidence for the lived experiences of the people who inhabited this settlement is contextualized with reference to other large-scale Chalcolithic sites such as Los Millares and Valencina de la Concepción. This paper concludes with recommendations for embedding new bioarchaeological data within the larger context of archaeological investigations of inequality within Iberian Late Prehistory. |
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BECK, J., & QUINN, C. (2021). LIVING AND DYING IN MOUNTAIN LANDSCAPES. BIOARCHAEOLOGY INTERNATIONAL, 4(2),75–88. https://doi.org/10.5744/bi.2020.2001
In this introduction to the thematic issue Living and Dying in Mountain Landscapes, we develop an analytical framework for the bioarchaeology and mortuary archaeology of highland landscapes. We highlight new theoretical, methodological, and comparative contributions to the anthropological study of upland spaces. Theoretical contributions include examining identity, connectivity, and adaptation from an explicitly biocultural perspective. By bridging the biological anthropological focus on the somatic with an archaeological focus on the long term, bioarchaeology allows for the development of an embodied understanding of “marginal” highland environments, investigating how such landscapes shape and are shaped by human action over time. Recent advances in bioarchaeological methods, including isotopic analyses of mobility and diet and ancient DNA studies of kinship and relatedness, are combined with traditional osteological examinations of age, sex, ancestry, and disease to reconstruct the lifeways of mountain communities. These methodological advances take advantage of the topographical, geological, and ecological diversity of mountain landscapes. Finally, a comparative bioarchaeology of upland and lowland communities across space and time provides a deeper understanding of highland adaptations and identities. The papers share a number of unifying themes, including the impact of mountain landscapes on channeling resource control, creating or mediating diverse identities, and the importance of interdisciplinary investigations for developing an understanding of the relationship between people and place. As this issue demonstrates, the study of human remains must be situated within a holistic bioarchaeological approach to life and death in order to understand the dynamic relationships between people and the highland environments they occupy. |
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BECK, J., CIUGUDEAN, H., & QUINN, C. (2021). BIOARCHAEOLOGY AND MOUNTAIN LANDSCAPES IN TRANSYLVANIA'S GOLDEN QUADRANGLE. BIOARCHAEOLOGY INTERNATIONAL, 4(2), 89–110. https://doi.org/10.5744/bi.2020.2002
The Apuseni Mountains of southwestern Transylvania (Romania) are home to the richest gold and copper deposits in Europe, key resources that fueled the development of social complexity during the Bronze Age (ca. 2700–800 B.C.E.). This landscape encompasses a significant amount of topographic and ecological diversity, with upland landscapes incorporating major mineral deposits, forests, pastures, and salt springs, and lowland agropastoral landscapes abutting the major interregional Mureș River corridor. Local Early Bronze Age (ca. 2700–2000 B.C.E.) communities typically buried their dead in stone-covered tumuli in the uplands, though there are also examples of burial in lowland settlements. The relationship between upland and lowland mortuary contexts is an enduring question within the regional archaeological record. In this paper we present a case study that compares individuals from two sites: the lowland settlement of Alba Iulia-Pârâul Iovului and the upland cemetery of Meteș-La Meteșel. We ask whether there were differences between the uplands and the lowlands in terms of mortuary practices and eligibility for burial, or differences in the lived experience of pathology or trauma. Our results show that there are few significant differences between the two samples. Adults and subadults, as well as males and females, are represented at both sites, and levels of skeletal pathology are low, while dental insults are more frequent. We conclude by outlining a strategy for developing a regional bioarchaeology that will incorporate multiple lines of archaeological and bioarchaeological evidence and enhance our understanding of the biocultural dynamics of the region. |
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BECK, J. (2020). THE LABOR OF BUILDING A COMMUNITY: EXPLORING THE DIVERGENT TRAJECTORIES OF COMPLEX SITES IN COPPER AGE IBERA. VITAL TOPICS FORUM—COOPERATIVE BODIES: BIOARCHAEOLOGISTS ADDRESS NON-RANKED SOCIETIES. AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, 122(4):896–901. https://doi.org/10.1111/aman.13498
Open Access The Iberian Copper Age (c.3200-2250 BC) witnesses a suite of interrelated changes, including expansion of exchange networks, intensification of agriculture, increases in population density, and greater investment in site infrastructure. Accordingly, it is noteworthy that third millennium collective mortuary practices hark back to the Neolithic, even at some of the unprecedented “mega-sites” that appear during this time. Some of these mega-sites show indications of the emergence of institutionalized inequalities through increasing spatial and material attention to the individual, and inter-tomb variability in the quality and quantity of grave goods. In contrast, the 113 ha enclosure settlement of Marroquíes lacks clear or overt evidence for domestic or mortuary inequality. Here, bioarchaeological results suggest that village inhabitants led relatively similar lives in terms of diet and disease, most individuals had local strontium isotope ratios, and males, females, adults, and subadults were all incorporated into mortuary practices. Skeletal analysis thus indicates that within third-millennium Iberia there were multiple ways to build a community, from large-scale centers that emerged in tandem with indicators of increasing social inequality, to other mega-sites where archaeological and bioarchaeological evidence suggest a more cooperative approach. |
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QUINN, C. P., CIUGUDEAN, H., & BECK, J. (2020). THE POLITICS OF PLACING THE DEAD IN BRONZE AGE TRANSYLVANIA. JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE: REPORTS, 34: 102574. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102574
Where people bury their dead is a critical part of mortuary rituals. This paper examines the relationship between the placement of the dead within a landscape and the social roles of the dead in the lives of the living. We examine the distribution of mortuary sites in southwest Transylvania during the Early and Middle Bronze Age (2700–1500 BCE), a period of significant socioeconomic transformation. We document a shift in the locations of cemeteries that is linked to the changing roles of the dead within society. During the Early Bronze Age, people placed their dead in highly visible tomb cemeteries in upland landscapes with access to metal and highland pasture. We argue that the living used mortuary practices to contest access to resources. During the Middle Bronze Age, however, people were primarily cremated and buried in flat urn cemeteries in similar contexts as settlements. We argue that this transition signifies changing institutions of metal procurement as well as a shift in the roles of the dead in the lives of the living. The analysis of cemetery placement has significant potential for revealing the organization and evolution of how bodies are used for political purposes in a broad range of geographic and chronological contexts. |
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DÍAZ-ZORITA BONILLA, M., BECK, J., ARANDA JIMÉNEZ, G., MILESI GARCÍA, L., SÁNCHEZ ROMERO, M., LOZANO MEDINA, A., ESCUDERO CARRILLO, J., & KNIPPER, C. (2020). THE DEPOSITION OF HUMAN REMAINS INSIDE CHALCOLITHIC DITCHED ENCLOSURES: DITCH 5 AT MARROQUÍES (JAÉN, SPAIN). EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY, 23(3), 330–355. https://doi.org/10.1017/eaa.2020.4
Open Access In the last few decades, the discovery of large ditched enclosures in Iberia has revealed the diversity and complexity of deposition and manipulation of human bone remains. Alongside traditional ritual burials (mainly megalithic tombs and hypogea), fragmented and scattered human bones mixed with other kinds of material culture began to appear in many features. This is the case for Ditch 5 at Marroquíes, which offers an excellent opportunity to explore this ritual behaviour. Based on a multi-proxy approach, three main conclusions can be drawn: 1) the skeletal elements present show deliberate selection of particular categories of bones; 2) depositional episodes included the remains of people who died at different points in time and were subject to different taphonomic processes, and 3) mobility patterns indicate that all individuals, with one possible exception, were local. The movement and manipulations of body parts may reflect the active role of people after death as social and symbolic elements that retain agency and capacity for action. |
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BECK, J., & SMITH, B. H. (2019). DON'T THROW THE BABY TEETH OUT WITH THE BATHWATER: ESTIMATING SUBADULT AGE USING TOOTH WEAR IN COMMINGLED ARCHAEOLOGICAL ASSEMBLAGES. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OSTEOARCHAEOLOGY, 29(5), 831–842. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.2802
Commingled assemblages of fragmentary human skeletal remains are a common feature of many archaeological sites and pose significant analytical problems for bioarchaeologists. Such deposits often contain a high volume of the teeth of subadults for which it is challenging to estimate age, including developing permanent teeth with damaged roots, articulated teeth with roots obscured by alveolar bone, and deciduous teeth with completed root apices. Here, we present a new method for more precisely estimating age for the developmentally ambiguous teeth of subadults from archaeological contexts. We used a sample of articulated subadult dentition from the Copper Age site of Marroquíes in Jaén, Spain, to build linear models of the relationship between dental age and tooth wear for deciduous and permanent molars. We tested three different strategies for identifying and removing outliers to build a linear model with the strongest relationship between age and wear. The Adjusted Residual strategy, which used diagnostic plots of linear regression residuals in the statistical package R to identify and remove outliers, was found to produce the strongest linear model. The linear model developed using the Adjusted Residual strategy was then used to provide estimated midpoint ages and upper and lower age bounds based on the wear scores from the sample of developmentally ambiguous teeth. This study demonstrates that it is possible to estimate the age of developmentally ambiguous deciduous and permanent molars with reference to an adequate sample of subadult dentition with estimated ages from the same population. This new method is valuable as it extracts information from developmentally ambiguous teeth that would otherwise be inaccessible, allows for rapid data collection, employs standard macroscopic dental scoring methods, and can be used for sites from other regions and periods. We conclude by discussing the applications of this new method within bioarchaeology and identify directions for future research on subadult dental wear. |
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BECK, J., DÍAZ-ZORITA BONILLA, M., BOCHERENS, H., & DÍAZ-DEL-RÍO, P. (2018). FEEDING A THIRD MILLENNIUM BC MEGA-SITE: BIOARCHAEOLOGICAL ANALYSES OF PALAEODIET AND DENTAL DISEASE AT MARROQUÍES (JAÉN, SPAIN). JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 52, 23–43.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2018.07.001 Highlights
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DÍAZ-ZORITA BONILLA, M., BECK, J., BOCHERENS, H., & DÍAZ-DEL-RÍO, P.(2018). ISOTOPIC EVIDENCE FOR MOBILITY AT LARGE-SCALE HUMAN AGGREGATIONS IN COPPER AGE IBERIA; THE MEGA-SITE OF MARROQUÍES. ANTIQUITY, 92(364), 991–1007. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2018.33
Open Access Settlements incorporating large-scale human aggregations are a well-documented but poorly understood phenomenon across late prehistoric Europe. The authors' research examines the origins and trajectory of such aggregations through isotope analysis of human skeletal remains from the mega-site of Marroquíes in Jaén, Spain. The results indicate that eight per cent of 115 sampled individuals are of non-local origin. These individuals received mortuary treatments indistinguishable from those of locals, suggesting their incorporation into pre-existing social networks in both life and death. This research contributes to our understanding of the extent and patterning of human mobility, which underlies the emergence of late prehistoric mega-sites in Europe. |
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BECK, J. (2017). BIOARCHAEOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO SOCIAL ORGANIZATION AT MARROQUÍES BAJOS (JAÉN, SPAIN). MENGA: REVISTA DE PREHISTORIA DE ANDALUCÍA, 7(8), 28–50.
Within Iberia increasing attention has been paid to the unprecedented emergence of large-scale villages, or “macro-villages”, during the third millennium cal BC. Bioarchaeology has the potential to make significant contributions to our understanding of macro-village organization through a reconstruction of both demography and mortuary treatment. The 113-ha site of Marroquíes in Jaén, Spain, represents one of the largest villages known for the Copper Age. Here, results of the bioarchaeological analyses of three previously unstudied necropolises are presented, representing a minimum number of individuals (MNI) of 280. This sample includes 201 adults and 79 subadults; assessments of sex were possible for 105/201 (52%) adults, producing a count of 46 females or probable females, 28 individuals of indeterminate sex, and 31 males or probable males. Chi-square tests and Fisher’s exact tests showed no significant differences in age or sex between the three mortuary populations. Instead, mortuary practices were communal, and individuals of both sexes and almost all ages were interred in primary, secondary, or commingled burials. Limited evidence of age-based or sex- based mortuary differentiation, in tandem with the synchronic maintenance of multiple necropolises, suggests that mortuary decisions were focused on the identities of the social groups responsible for burying the dead. |
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WATERMAN, A. J., BECK, J. L., THOMAS, J. T., & TYKOT, R. H. (2017). STABLE ISOTOPE ANALYSIS OF HUMAN REMAINS FROM LOS MILLARES (ALMERÍA, SPAIN, C. 2500–1800 BC): REGIONAL COMPARISONS AND DIETARY VARIABILITY. MENGA: REVISTA DE PREHISTORIA DE ANDALUCÍA, 8, 15–27.
The fortified site of Los Millares in southeastern Spain is one of the best-known Copper Age sites in southern Europe and has been studied extensively; improving our understanding of the development of political centralization and social stratification during the 3rd millennium cal BC in the Iberian Peninsula. A unique feature of Los Millares is its expansive cemetery complex; from which human remains of dozens of individuals have been recovered. While burial patterns and grave goods have been key to interpretations of the site; bioanthropological data from the skeletal remains are limited. This study uses stable isotope analysis from human bone to discern dietary patterns from 12 individuals buried at Los Millares and compares these data with other contemporary burial populations in Spain and Portugal. The goal of this study was to evaluate the dietary importance of aquatic resources and domesticated animals during this period. The results of this study point to diets mainly composed of terrestrial proteins with little marine input; despite the site’s proximity to the Mediterranean Sea. While these findings are based on a small sample size and more data are needed to clarify these results; larger than expected standard deviations suggest some dietary heterogeneity within this population; with variations in protein sources and plant intake. |
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KINKOPF, K. M., & BECK, J. (2016). BIOARCHAEOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO LOOTING: A CASE STUDY FROM SUDAN. JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE: REPORTS, 10, 263–271. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.09.011
Looting is a significant destructive force at archaeological sites; grave robbing, in particular, leaves human remains and cultural heritage irreparably damaged. Al-Widay, a necropolis excavated by the Oriental Institute Nubian Expedition near the Fourth Cataract region of the Nile River, is a site with important implications for understanding the taphonomy of archaeological looting. Over 60% of the tumuli excavated at Al-Widay were disturbed in antiquity, making the site an ideal case study for examining the effects of looting on ancient human skeletal remains. Our research applies bioarchaeological methods of quantifying fragmentation to an assessment of “Culturally Significant Anatomical Regions” in order to evaluate the nature and degree of human disturbance activity at this necropolis. At Al-Widay, site reports document looted graves (n = 22), unlooted graves (n = 14), and a sample of graves (n = 42), for which the level of disturbance is unknown. Fisher's exact test showed significant differences in the bioarchaeological patterning of looted versus unlooted contexts, and a cross-validated logistic regression model was used to sort five unknown graves into looted and unlooted categories, providing a quantitative bioarchaeological method for the identification of looting. |
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QUINN, C. P., & BECK, J.(2016). ESSENTIAL TENSIONS: A FRAMEWORK FOR EXPLORING INEQUALITY THROUGH MORTUARY ARCHAEOLOGY AND BIOARCHAEOLOGY. OPEN ARCHAEOLOGY, 2(1), 18–41. https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2016-0002
Open Access Research on the emergence of institutionalized inequality has traditionally maintained an analytical divide between lived institutions that affect daily life and performed institutions materialized in mortuary contexts. Here, we argue that convergence or divergence between lived and performed contexts reveals key aspects of past social organization. When combined, mortuary archaeology and bioarchaeology provide a methodological framework well suited to evaluate the coherence or dissonance of such institutions. Three case studies from prehistoric Europe highlight how new insights gained by studying tension between institutions, identities and experiences across social dimensions can transform our understanding of the development of institutionalized inequality. |
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BECK, J. (2016). PART OF THE FAMILY: AGE, IDENTITY, AND BURIAL IN COPPER AGE IBERIA. IN A. J. OSTERHOLTZ (ED.), THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF COMMINGLED REMAINS (pp. 47–73). CHAIM: SPRINGER https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22554-8
Recent work has called attention to the significant number of subadults recovered from late prehistoric burial contexts in western Iberia. However, non-adult burials are also documented at some of the well-known, large-scale centers of the Copper Age of southeastern Spain, where adults and subadults are represented in both commingled and individual burials. The implications of the inclusion and mortuary treatment of subadults at such centers of social and economic power have yet to be satisfactorily explored. Here, I discuss the implications of the presence of non-adults on the formation and representation of community identities, with particular emphasis on the case of Marroquíes Bajos. At this site, salvage excavations have yielded evidence of five concentric ditches and one adobe wall that encompass an area of approximately 113hectares, making it one of the largest ‘macro-villages’ known for the Iberian Copper Age. Marroquíes Bajos is a particularly relevant case because non-adults occur in formally and chronologically distinct funerary contexts; their remains appear in secondary and commingled contexts, communal burials, and grouped individual burials beneath structures. The significance of subadult burial is explored relative to understandings of status and role in prehistory, as well as ethnographically and archaeologically documented rites of passage. |
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BECK, J., OSTERICHER, I., SOLLISH, G., & DE LEÓN, J.(2015). ANIMAL SCAVENGING AND SCATTERING AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR DOCUMENTING THE DEATHS OF UNDOCUMENTED BORDER CROSSERS IN THE SONORAN DESERT. JOURNAL OF FORENSIC SCIENCES, 60(s1), S11–S20. https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.12597
Since 1998, over 5500 people have died while attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border without authorization. These deaths have primarily occurred in the Arizona desert. Despite the high volume of deaths, little experimental work has been conducted on Sonoran Desert taphonomy. In this study, pig carcasses were used as proxies for human remains and placed in different depositional contexts (i.e., direct sunlight and shade) that replicate typical sites of migrant death. Decomposition was documented through daily site visits, motion-sensitive cameras and GIS mapping, while skeletal preservation was investigated through the collection of the remains and subsequent faunal analysis. Our results suggest that vultures and domestic dogs are underappreciated members of the Sonoran scavenging guild and may disperse skeletal remains and migrant possessions over 25 m from the site of death. The impact of scavengers and the desert environment on the decomposition process has significant implications for estimating death rates and identifying human remains along the Arizona/Mexico border. |
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BECK, J., & CHRISOMALIS, S. (2009). LANDSCAPE ARCHAEOLOGY, PAGANISM, AND THE INTERPRETATION OF MEGALITHS. POMEGRANATE, 10(2), 142–162. https://doi.org/10.1558/pome.v10i2.142
Many varieties of contemporary Paganism share common methodologies and interests with the academic subfield of landscape archaeology, in particular with regard to their interpretation of megalithic architecture. While there are differences in the range of evidence considered, and the relative value placed on certain methodologies, there are more parallels than dissimilarities. In particular, reliance on intuition as a source of knowledge and a concern with reconstructing the sensory conditions of prehistoric built environments are shared. Space and place in many varieties of archaeology are viewed through a phenomenological perspective that is individual and not necessarily inter subjective. Despite the tensions between archaeologists and Pagans over access to and proper custodianship of megalithic architectural sites in Britain and elsewhere, opportunities exist for fruitful intellectual and social exchange between the two vocations. |
