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The petrous parts of temporal bones are considered to be the densest parts of the human skeleton. Because of their high biomechanical strength, these elements can be preserved well even exposed to destructive processes. It has been proved that these bones are very well preserved in cremation graves and thus can be used as the foundation for anthropological analyses of cremated remains. The aim of the study was to determine the degree of shrinkage of the petrous portion of temporal bone under the influence of high temperature during the cremation. In a modern crematorium in Prague (Czech Republic), an experiment was conducted by burning 15 human temporal bones and a fresh pig's heads with soft tissues. Nine measurements were collected from each bone before the burning process. Cremation was carried out under controlled conditions in a modern cremation oven—the process took 45 min, and the temperature reached 1000°C. All the bones were burned together to maintain the same experimental conditions. Measurements of the individual bones were then repeated, and the significance of the dimensional changes was assessed. The presented study pointed out the significant size's reduction at level to 14% for dry petrous parts of temporal bones, while the size of fresh bones changed to 28% of their mass depending on the examined feature. Furthermore, the results of comparative analyses revealed that the differences between burning of dry and fresh bones are insignificant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Voice is an important biological cue, which may reveal a significant amount of information about an individual. Particularly in males, it plays a crucial role in processes like male competition or sexual selection. Additionally, voice can provide a cue for body size assessment. This study investigates the relationship between male voice characteristics and physical features (assessed by women) and determines the accuracy of these assessments. Three groups of female judges assessed 60 male voices (20 different voices per group) across seven categories of male physical features: height, body fat, musculature, body shape, hirsuteness, age and strength. Recordings of five vowels and sentence and number of anthropometric measurements were made for each of the studied men. Intra- and extragroup agreement of assessments of men's physical characteristics was demonstrated. Men with lower fundamental frequency (F0) and lower formant dispersion (Df) values were perceived as being heavier, older, stronger and more likely to have chest hair. However, across all the analysed fields of assessment, no accuracy was registered between estimates and men's actual physical characteristics. These findings suggest that females were guided by stereotypes in their assessment of men's appearance from voice alone. We propose the size exaggeration hypothesis as an explanation of this phenomenon [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human voice is an extremely important biological signal which contains information about sex, age, emotional state, health and physical features of a speaker. Estimating a physical appearance from a vocal cue can be an important asset for sciences including forensics and dietetics. Although there have been several studies focused on the relationships between vocal parameters and ratings of height, weight, age and musculature of a speaker, to our knowledge, there has not been a study examining the assessment of one's BMI based on voice alone. The purpose of the current study was to determine the ability of female "Judges" to evaluate speakers' (men and women) obesity and body fat distribution from their vocal cues. It has also been checked which voice parameters are key vocal cues in this assessment. The study material consisted of 12 adult speakers' (6 women) voice recordings assessed by 87 "Judges" based on a 5-point graphic scale presenting body fat level and distribution (separately for men and women). For each speaker body height, weight, BMI, Visceral Fat Level (VFL, InBody 270) and acoustic parameters were measured. In addition, the accuracy of BMI category was verified. This study also aimed to determine which vocal parameters were cues for the assessment for men and women. To achieve it, two independent experiments were conducted: I: "Judges" had to choose one (obese) speaker from 3 voices (in 4 series); II: they were asked to rate body fat level of the same 12 speakers based on 5-point graphic scale. Obese speakers (i.e., BMI above 30) were selected correctly with the accuracy greater than predicted by chance (experiment I). By using a graphic scale, our study found that speakers exhibiting higher BMI were rated as fatter (experiment II). For male speakers the most important vocal predictors of the BMI were harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR) and formant dispersion (Df); for women: formant spacing (Pf) and intensity (loudness). Human voice contains information about one's increased BMI level which are hidden in some vocal cues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During archaeological excavations in burial sites, sometimes stoned organic objects are found, in addition to human remains. Those objects might be of a different origin, depending on various factors influencing members of a community (i.e. diseases, trauma), which provides information about their living conditions. The St. Nicholas Church archaeological site (Libkovice, Czechia) in the 18th century horizon of the cemetery, yielded a maturus-senilis female skeleton with a stone object in the left iliac fossa. This object was an oviform cyst-like rough structure, measuring 54 mm in length, 35 mm in maximum diameter and 0.2–0.7 mm shell thickness. Within the object there were small fetal bones (long bones, i.e. femur and two tibias, two scapulas, three ribs, vertebrae and other tiny bone fragments). Methods utilized to analyze the outer and inner surface morphology of the cyst and its inside, included: X-ray, CT imaging, SEM, histological staining and EDS. The EDS analysis revealed the presence of primarily oxygen, calcium and phosphorus in bone samples, and oxygen and silicon, in stone shell. Based on the length of the femur (20.2 mm) and tibia (16 mm) shafts, the fetal age was determined as being in the 15–18 week of pregnancy. The differential diagnosis was conducted, including for the three most probable cases: fetiform teratoma (FT), fetus-in-fetu (FIF) and lithopedion. The possibility of fetiform teratoma was discounted due to the presence of an anatomically correct spine, long bones and the proportions of the find. Although the low calcium content in the shell (2.3% atom mass), the lack of skull bones and the better developed lower limbs indicate fetus-in-fetu rather than lithopedion, the analyses results are unable to conclusively identify the object under one of these two categories since there are insufficient such cases in excavation material with which to draw comparison. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the St. Nicholas Church archaeological site (Libkovice, Czechia; the 18th century cemetery) a female skeleton with a stone object in the left iliac fossa was found. It was a cyst-like structure. The measures of it were 54 mm in length and 35 mm in maximum diameter. Within the object fetal bones (long bones, i.e. femur and two tibias, two scapulas, three ribs, vertebrae and other tiny bone fragments) were revealed. The methods used for the analysis were intended to describe the external and internal morphology of the object and its content: X-ray, CT imaging, SEM, histological staining and EDS. The EDS analysis revealed the presence of primarily oxygen, calcium and phosphorus in bone samples, and oxygen and silicon, in stone shell. The measurements of the femur (20.2 mm) and tibia (16 mm) shafts allowed to estimate the fetal age as the 15-18 week of pregnancy. During the differential diagnosis three most likely cases were taken into account: fetiform teratoma (FT), fetus-in-fetu (FIF) and lithopedion. FT was excluded due to the presence of long bones and their proportions, and due to the presence of an anatomically correct spine. Of the other two possible variants, fetus-in-fetu is more likely than lithopedion, due to the lack of a skull, better development of lower limbs, and low calcium content in the shell. The results do not allow to clearly answer the question which of these two cases is the object due to the insufficient number of similar discoveries in the excavation material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]