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Population relationships on the North Carolina coastal plain have previously been reconstructed based on language, material culture, typology of ossuary sites, and robusticity of human skeletal remains, creating a tripartite division of Native Americans into Algonkian, Iroquoian, and Siouan linguistic/cultural groups. However, many prehistoric populations in North Carolina exhibit conflicting or ambiguous material culture and ossuary evidence, preventing classification and regional grouping. In this study, biodistance measures are used to clarify Late Woodland population relationships. Biological distance of skeletal remains is examined by way of nonmetric cranial traits, as suboptimal preservation of ossuary material made metric assessments impractical. Eleven ossuaries, totaling over 200 individuals, are examined from three different regions of the coastal plain for the presence or absence of 25 nonmetric variants. These data answer the questions of whether prior cultural classifications hold true, whether residence and marriage patterns can be determined based on biodistance and sex data, and whether populations with mixed or ambiguous characteristics can be classified based on biological distance data. Because investigation of most ossuary sites in North Carolina has been limited to robusticity of skeletal elements and non-contemporaneous ethnohistoric accounts of language variation, further research into the biological variation of these Native Americans is a necessary correlate to previous culture studies.

The article offers the views of the author regarding the discoveries of C. Bruun in his article "Water, oxygen isotopes and immigration to Ostia-Portus." The author applauded the study conducted by Bruun concerning the number of immigrants en route to Portus which is now an extinct city. The author recommends that in order to make the study more interesting, bioarchaeologists should find skeletal populations, aside from dental enamel, to support the mass migration of families to Rome.

Competing Interests: We declare no competing interests.

Objective: This study aims to investigate parasitic infection in Italy during the Roman period (27 BCE-476 CE) and subsequent Longobard (Lombard) period (6th-8th CE)., Materials: Sediment samples from drains and burials from Roman Imperial-period sites in Italy (Lucus Feroniae, Oplontis, Vacone, and Vagnari), Late Antique and Longobard-period burials at Selvicciola (ca. 4th-8th CE), and Longobard-period burials at Vacone and Povegliano Veronese., Methods: Microscopy was used to identify helminth eggs and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect protozoan antigens., Results: Roundworm and whipworm were found in pelvic sediment from Roman-period burials, while roundworm and the protozoan Giardia duodenalis were identified in Roman-period drains. In pelvic sediment from the Late Antique through Longobard periods, roundworm and Taenia tapeworm eggs were identified., Conclusions: Fecal-oral parasites were found throughout Imperial Roman Italy, suggesting that gastrointestinal infections caused a significant disease burden. In the Longobard period we see continuity in transmission of fecal-oral parasites, and the appearance of zoonotic parasites acquired from eating undercooked meat., Significance: A wealth of information exists about certain diseases in the Roman period, but relatively little is known about intestinal parasites in Italy during the Roman and Longobard periods. This is the first evidence for Giardia in Roman period Italy, and for any parasites in the Longobard period in Italy., Limitations: Low egg concentrations and lack of controls for some samples makes it difficult to differentiate true infections from environmental contamination in some cases., Suggestions for Future Research: Continual study of samples from Roman and Longobard period Italy., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This article examines the clinical presentation of epiphora in Ancient Rome through the historico-medical analysis of the literary evidence provided by the verses by the poet Juvenal in his Satire VI. A gladiator's ophthalmological problem is interpreted as epiphora caused by traumatic injuries to the craniofacial region, compatible with those described in the palaeopathological literature. This analysis also focuses on the history of epiphora in antiquity and its treatment.

Here we evaluate Bhattacharya et al.'s (2018) recent paper "Whole-genome sequencing of Atacama skeleton shows novel mutations linked with dysplasia" published in Genome Research. In this short report, we examine the hypothesis that the so-called "Atacama skeleton" has skeletal abnormalities indicative of dysplasia, critique the validity of the interpretations of disease based on genomic analyses, and comment on the ethics of research on this partially mummified human foetus. The current paper acts as a case study of the importance of using an anthropological approach for aDNA research on human remains. A critical evaluation of the ethically controversial paper by Bhattacharya et al. highlights how an understanding of skeletal biological processes, including normal and abnormal growth and development, taphonomic processes, environmental context, and close attention to ethical issues of dealing with human remains, is vital to scientific interpretations. To this end, close collaboration with palaeopathologists and local archaeologists through appropriate peer-reviewed journals will add to the rigour of scientific interpretation and circumvent misinterpretation., (Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Migration within the Roman Empire occurred at multiple scales and was engaged in both voluntarily and involuntarily. Because of the lengthy tradition of classical studies, bioarchaeological analyses must be fully contextualized within the bounds of history, material culture, and epigraphy. In order to assess migration to Rome within an updated contextual framework, strontium isotope analysis was performed on 105 individuals from two cemeteries associated with Imperial Rome-Casal Bertone and Castellaccio Europarco-and oxygen and carbon isotope analyses were performed on a subset of 55 individuals. Statistical analysis and comparisons with expected local ranges found several outliers who likely immigrated to Rome from elsewhere. Demographics of the immigrants show men and children migrated, and a comparison of carbon isotopes from teeth and bone samples suggests the immigrants may have significantly changed their diet. These data represent the first physical evidence of individual migrants to Imperial Rome. This case study demonstrates the importance of employing bioarchaeology to generate a deeper understanding of a complex ancient urban center.