Vanessa Campanacho, Ph.D.

In the year of 2015, the Group of Studies in Human evolution (GEEvH) completed ten years of existence. Since its foundation, GEEvH's has played an important role in the difficult task of communicating science in Portugal in the field of human evolution. In this paper, an overview of the main activities developed by GEEvH in the last decade as well as upcoming goals, will be provided. This approach will be framed by a short theoretical introduction to Charles Darwin's

Among the many factors suggested as potential sources of variation in the rate of ageing of the pubic symphysis is occupational/physical activity, but this has yet to be demonstrated. This study's main goal is to determine whether occupational/physical activity influences the aging process in the pubic symphysis. We analyzed a sample of 161 males (18-96 years) from two Portuguese identified skeletal collections, where age-related features were recorded in the pubic symphysis as absent/present. The sample was divided in two groups according to the occupation of the individuals (manual and non-manual) and in two groups according to the femoral robusticity index (robust and gracile). The manual and robust groups represent individuals with more physically demanding occupations while the non-manual and gracile groups represent less physically demanding occupations. The possible influence of occupational/physical activity on the rate of ageing was evaluated by comparing the transition age for each age-related feature, between the two groups, using logistic regression. Only the ligamentous outgrowths on the ventral beveling showed a statistically significant younger age in the robust group, indicating a possible faster rate or early timing of change in the individuals with a more physically demanding activity compared with their gracile counterparts. Thus, these results do not provide significant support to the hypothesis that individuals with a greater demanding occupation or physical activity show greater pubic symphysis degeneration. Further testing of this hypothesis in other samples with individuals from known occupation is required. Am J Phys Anthropol 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Among the many factors suggested as potential sources of variation in the rate of ageing of the pubic symphysis is occupational/physical activity, but this has yet to be demonstrated. This study's main goal is to determine whether occupational/physical activity influences the aging process in the pubic symphysis. We analyzed a sample of 161 males (18–96 years) from two Portuguese identified skeletal collections, where age-related features were recorded in the pubic symphysis as absent/present. The sample was divided in two groups according to the occupation of the individuals (manual and non-manual) and in two groups according to the femoral robusticity index (robust and gracile). The manual and robust groups represent individuals with more physically demanding occupations while the non-manual and gracile groups represent less physically demanding occupations. The possible influence of occupational/physical activity on the rate of ageing was evaluated by comparing the transition age for each age-related feature, between the two groups, using logistic regression. Only the ligamentous outgrowths on the ventral beveling showed a statistically significant younger age in the robust group, indicating a possible faster rate or early timing of change in the individuals with a more physically demanding activity compared with their gracile counterparts. Thus, these results do not provide significant support to the hypothesis that individuals with a greater demanding occupation or physical activity show greater pubic symphysis degeneration. Further testing of this hypothesis in other samples with individuals from known occupation is required.

There is little information about the age at which the ischiopubic ramus fuses derived from dry bone observations. This study documents the age ranges for union of the ischiopubic ramus in a sample of 148 known sex and age skeletons from Portugal, with ages ranging from birth to 20 years, using a three-stage scheme. The oldest female with an unfused ramus is 11 years old and the oldest male is 8 years old. The youngest male with a completely fused ramus is 7 years old, and the youngest female is 5 years old. Despite the relatively large sample size, partial fusion was a rare event to record as only two individuals were at this stage and these seemed relatively older than expected (12 and 14 years of age). The likely age interval for partial union of the ramus was subsequently estimated from logistic regression, for both sexes separated and combined. In the sex-pooled sample, the inter-quartile range (25th–75th percentile) for the median age of fusion is 7–11 years and the 10th–90th percentile range is 4–15 years. The scarcity of data on the age of ischiopubic fusion may be related to biases in the sample or to fusion occurring rapidly in this anatomical location. Additional studies may be required to assess the accuracy of the ages reported here, but at present this study provides the most comprehensive assessment of timing of fusion at the ischiopubic ramus from observations of dry bone specimens.

Whenever age cannot be estimated from dental formation in immature human skeletal remains, other methods are required. In the post-natal period, development of the skeleton provides alternative age indicators, namely, those associated with skeletal maturity of the cranium. This study wishes to document the age at which the various ossification centres in the occipital bone fuse and provide readily available developmental probabilistic information for use in age estimation. A sample of 64 identified immature skeletons between birth and 8 years of age from the Lisbon collection was used (females = 29, males = 35). Results show that fusion occurs first in the posterior intra-occipital synchondrosis and between the jugular and condylar limbs of the lateral occipital to form the hypoglossal canal (1–4 years), followed by the anterior intra-occipital (3–7 years). Fusion of the post-natal occipital does not show differences in timing between males and females. Relative to other published sources, this study documents first and last ages of fusion of several ossification centres and the posterior probabilities of age given a certain stage of fusion. Given the least amount of overlap in stages of fusion, the closure of the hypoglossal canal provides the narrowest estimated age with the highest probability of age.

The possible association between entheseal changes and activity has been widely studied. However many questions remain. This study aims to assess if occupation and physical activity influences the age at which entheseal changes appear in the iliac crest, retroauricular area, iliac tuberosity, ischial tuberosity and obturator foramen. Absence or presence of ossification exostosis and stress lesions was recorded in os coxae from 130 males (19 to 88 years old) from Lisbon and Coimbra identified skeletal collections. The individuals were divided into two groups, based upon to the recorded occupations: manual (n = 69) and non-manual (n = 61). The sample was also divided according to an osteological indicator of physical activity: the femur robusticity index (55 are robust and 54 are gracile femora). The individuals from manual and robust groups were considered to have had physically demanding occupations, while the non-manual and gracile groups represent individuals with less demanding activities. The asymmetry of entheseal changes between left and right sides of the same individuals was tested with a Chi-square test. And the influence of occupation and physical activities on the age of appearance of entheseal changes were tested using logistic regression. Statistically significant asymmetry was not found between left and right bones (p <0.05). However, for the logistic regression calculations the only valid result was obtained for the ossification exostosis on the iliac crest for the measure of femoral robusticity. For the iliac crest, physical activity did not influence the appearance of ossification exostosis. It was not possible to obtain valid logistic regression models, probably due to the distribution of individuals in each occupational and robusticity category. Therefore it was not possible to assess the influence of occupation and physical activity on the age at which entheseal changes appeared for retroauricular area, iliac tuberosity, ischial tuberosity and obturator foramen.

Carabelli’s trait has been studied for more than 150 years. The use of this dental morphological
trait in biodistance analyses, phylogenetic studies, kinship inference and forensic anthropology is
broadly documented. Due to these and other anthropological and evolutionary applications of the
trait, and to its variability, it is still a subject of interest in the anthropological literature. This work
aims to briefly define and review the character and its research history. Known since 1827 and
made popular by Georg Carabelli, an Austrian dentist, Carabelli’s trait is usually considered to not
present sexual dimorphism. It has been one of the main variables in establishing reliable recording
methodology for dental non-metric traits. It presents distinctions in population frequencies and
can be related with the expression of other traits besides being generally considered hereditary.
All of these issues will be presented and discussed, in order to establish the potential
bibliographical foundations of future research approaches.

A Roman cemetery found at Encosta de Sant’Ana in Lisbon yielded a small number of cremation burials. Information about the cremation practices during this particular period comes mostly from the writings of classical authors such as Pliny or Cicero. The opportunities to confirm these descriptions in the Portuguese territory by direct observation in the archaeological record have been rare. Therefore, the burials from Encosta de Sant’Ana offer the chance to add new knowledge to the picture obtained from faunal and human remains and material culture itself. A bioarchaeological approach was adopted in order to infer the funerary behaviour of the populations from Olisipo, the  Roman name for Lisbon, through their burned skeletal remains. In addition, a new reference frame was developed to assist on the analysis of bone weight of the urned cremations. These allowed the reconstruction of funerary rituals and cremation practices.

O presente estudo de caso apresenta o perfil biológico e paleopatológico de um indivíduo do sexo masculino e de meia-idade que viveu presumivelmente no século XVI d.C. O seu esqueleto foi exumado em 1994, durante as obras de renovação do sistema de canalização da Fábrica dos Pasteis de Belém (Lisboa). Consiste num enterramento isolado e afastado do solo religioso - uma prática incomum para a época. Em particular, a análise paleopatológica identificou desequilíbrios homeostáticos em diferentes períodos da sua vida e diversas deformações ósseas como spina bífida occulta, escoliose, assimetria no ângulo de torção dos colos femorais e hallux valgus. As duas últimas condições são raramente mencionadas na literatura antropológica e este caso serve, por isso, para chamar a atenção dos bioantropólogos para a sua existência.

Poster
Due to the recent accessibility to surface scanning technology a surge in the production of three dimensional (3D) digital replicas of human skeletal remains has occurred. Some of those 3D models are easily accessible online. Consequently, ethical concerns about the unrestricted online dissemination and access of digital replicas of skeletal remains have been grown. These concerns are largely unexplored in Portuguese society, thus an online survey was conducted among Portugal residents aiming to understand their perception on how these models are created, used and shared. The survey is composed by 20 non-mandatory questions, and sill ongoing with data here presented being only preliminary. To date 144 individuals, aged between 18 and 69 years old, have participated, most of which were females (56.9%). Half of the participants have visualized a 3D model of skeletal remains; nonetheless, only 12.9% of them have created a 3D model. Largely, the results suggest that Portugal residents agree with the dissemination of 3D digital replicas of human bones, with 87.3% of the participants being willing to allow for their skeleton and that of family members to be digitized after death. Though, the majority considered that the 3D model should be of restricted access and always associated to a description/context. It is noteworthy the low number of participants, which may be indicative of a lack of interest on the subject. But it may also suggest a low self-assessment on their credibility to express an opinion on the topic.

Campanacho V, O‘Mahoney T. 2018. Three-dimensional digital collections: a cautionary warning. Digital Dilemma 2018. London, UK, 6th October. [Digital podium presentation]

This presentation will cover the utility and limitations of the construction of three dimensional digital collections. We will cover areas such as complexity of workflows; accuracy of equipment used; limitations of scan data and metadata capture. This paper aims to discuss such parameters, with the recognition of the current limitations of the 3D scanning equipment.
Creating 3D digital replicas is the product of a more complex process than pointing the scanner’s camera towards a bone. Many of the complexities of this workflow are often unacknowledged. Bone shape, scanner resolution, software selected and functions used may all impact the 3D model morphology.
3D scanners may not capture every feature a bone may possess due to its small size, narrow or deeper shape. For example, it can be questioned if all anthropological analysis can be performed on 3D digital models without direct access to the bone, especially for the analysis of pathological lesions. This is especially pertinent with popular low-cost surface scanners, and the ‘return on investment’ of using this type of equipment should be explicitly questioned at the outset of a project.
Finally, metadata is often lacking in collections of scans regarding both scanning procedure and precision checks of resulting data. Although ISOs and guidelines exist, these are not applied consistently. We will outline some of these with an emphasis on creating greater transparency between researchers.
Critical engagement with the above areas will hopefully enable a more sustainable and critically informed adoption of scalable methods for the digitization of collections.

Campanacho V, Alves Cardoso F. 2018. Portugal residents’ opinion regarding the showcasing of three dimensional digital replicas of human bones. Digital Dilemma 2018. London, UK, 6th October. [Digital podium presentation]

The widely use of three dimensional (3D) scanners in bioanthropology has increase the production of 3D digital replicas of human bones, which are starting to be freely distributed online and easily accessible to anyone. Ethical considerations on the use of these 3D models has not reached Portuguese society at large, making it impossible to access its societal impact, and the real perception of people on how these models are created. To explore this, Portuguese residents were asked to take part on an online survey. The ratio of male to female participants, as classified by selves, was 0.5:1, in a total of 105 partakers. The age of the participants ranged between 18 and 69 years, and the majority had a higher education degree. Only 53.3% of the inquired have seen a 3D model of a human bone, and 48.6% considered the replicas to be the same as real bone. Also, 85.6% would be willing to allow for their skeleton, and those of family to be 3D digitalized after death, and 59.4% considered that the dissemination of the 3D models should be controlled through registration and login, as well as a description/context always should be associated with the models (75.0%). Overall, the results suggest agreement in the dissemination of 3D digital replicas of human bones. Also noteworthy was the limited number of participants, which may be interpreted as a lack of interest on the topic, or more importantly a low self-assessment on their opinion on the subject.

O GEEvH é uma associação científica, criada em 2005, sem fins lucrativos, sedeada no Departamento de Ciências da Vida da Universidade de Coimbra, e criada pelos alunos do curso de Mestrado em Evolução Humana da Universidade de Coimbra. Assumiu a missão de incentivar a promoção, o desenvolvimento e a divulgação do ensino da evolução humana. Esta missão tem-se desenvolvido, principalmente, por via de actividades que passam, por exemplo, pela realização de ateliers pedagógicos para o público geral e escolar que dão a conhecer as mais recentes descobertas científicas no âmbito da evolução humana. A transmissão da informação faz-se com uma linguagem adequada aos públicos-alvo contemplando, também, uma vertente lúdica que visa cativar o interesse dos estudantes para a ciência em geral e a evolução humana em particular.
A premissa que tem presidido ao desenvolvimento destes ateliers pedagógicos assentou no facto da ciência, e o conhecimento produzido, se encontrarem em constante mutação o que dificulta a atualização dos conhecimentos pelos educadores, que muitas vezes têm que lidar com constrangimentos de tempo e recursos. Tendo em conta estes elementos considerou-se que os cientistas são determinantes na criação de interfaces para a transferência de saberes entre as universidades e centros de investigação para a comunidade. Neste processo, o associativismo científico assume um papel de destaque. Assim, recorrendo a actividades experimentais, a jogos didáticos e à apresentação multimédia em escolas, museus e exposições científicas tem-se conseguido transmitir conceitos-base da Paleoantropologia, Primatologia, Bioarqueologia e Arqueologia que ajudam a perceber os principais mecanismos subjacentes à Evolução Humana. Por esta via, entre 2005 a 2014, o GEEvH contactou com 1799 alunos do 1º ciclo do ensino básico de sete distritos de Portugal continental, permitindo que o conhecimento científico estivesse acessível a toda a população desde tenra idade.

Gonçalves, D.; Campanacho, V.; Thompson, T.; Mataloto, R. In press. The weight of the matter: examining the potential of skeletal weight for the bioarchaeological analysis of cremation at the Iron Age necropolis of Tera (Portugal). In: Thompson, T. (Ed.). The Archaeology of cremation: Burned human remains in funerary studies. Oxbow Books.