This study was carried out to assess the levels of physico-chemical parameters that could be impacted by burial leakage and associated human health risks in Benin City, Nigeria. A total of thirty groundwater samples were collected from two cemeteries and analysed for pH, alkalinity, chloride, sulphate, nitrate, phosphate, ammonia- N, calcium, sodium, potassium, BOD₅, COD, Mn, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn and Fe. The concentrations of the parameters were compared to national and international standards. The results revealed that the groundwater is highly acidic in nature. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that except for alkalinity, all other parameters characterised contributed significantly to various principal components (PC) with eigenvalues ≥ 1. Moreover, the significance of the PC depicted decomposition of the body corpse and associated burial materials. Water quality index (WQI), heavy metal evaluation index (HEI) and Nemerov pollution index (NI) indicated that groundwater from the study area is of poor quality, and highly contaminated by heavy metals. We determined the Chronic health risk through exposure by calculating the hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI), for both children and adults. For the oral exposure, approximately 33% of samples suggest the high category of chronic risk for children while the medium category was indicated for adults. We found that oral exposure showed relatively higher risk than dermal exposure, and chronic risk for children and adults ranged from low to negligible. However, the carcinogenic risk of Ni and Pb via oral exposure route suggests, very high risk for Ni and medium risk for Pb. In consideration that long term exposure to low concentrations of some heavy metals (including Pb, Cd, and Ni) could result in different manifestations of cancer, we recommend that residents of these areas should find an alternative source of water for drinking and other domestic uses.

During an excavation campaign in the Church of the Conversion of Saint Paul in Roccapelago (North Italy), a hidden crypt was discovered, which yielded the remains of more than 400 individuals. The crypt was used as a cemetery by the inhabitants of the village of Roccapelago between the 16th and 18th centuries. Along the north side of the crypt, an area apparently separated from the rest of the burials was found, bordered by stones, where several burials of newborns and infants were concentrated. From here, five fabric rolls containing bones were recovered, and it was decided not to carry out destructive analyses, allocating the two best examples to a thorough radiological investigation to try to define the type of burial and the complete biological profile of the infant. The two rolls, subjects of this study, can be dated archaeologically between the 17th and 18th centuries. CT analysis shows a varied group of bones with a fairly good state of conservation. The paleoradiological study carried out had the primary objective of avoiding the destruction of the two rolls, ensuring their conservation; but at the same time, providing essential data to understand their nature, defining the biological profile and the type of deposition.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to investigate the potential genetic etiology of cribra orbitalia noted on human skeletal remains.
METHODS: We obtained and analyzed ancient DNA of 43 individuals with cribra orbitalia. The analyzed set represented medieval individuals from two cemeteries in western Slovakia, Castle Devín (11th-12th century AD) and Cífer-Pác (8th-9th century AD).
METHODS: We performed a sequence analysis of 5 variants in 3 genes associated with anemia (HBB, G6PD, PKLR), which are the most common pathogenic variants in present day of European populations, and one variant MCM6:c.1917 + 326 C>T (rs4988235) associated with lactose intolerance.
RESULTS: DNA variants associated with anemia were not found in the samples. The allele frequency of MCM6:c.1917 + 326 C was 0.875. This frequency is higher but not statistically significant in individuals displaying cribra orbitalia compared to individuals without the lesion.
CONCLUSIONS: This study seeks to expand our knowledge of the etiology of cribra orbitalia by exploring the potential association between the lesion and the presence of alleles linked to hereditary anemias and lactose intolerance.
CONCLUSIONS: A relatively small set of individuals were analyzed, so an unequivocal conclusion cannot be drawn. Hence, although it is unlikely, a genetic form of anemia caused by rare variants cannot be ruled out.
UNASSIGNED: Genetic research based on larger sample sizes and in more diverse geographical regions.

This isotopic study explores the mobility patterns of a growing urban population from Notre Dame\'s Catholic cemetery (1691-1796), located in Montreal (Canada). The site offers a unique opportunity to investigate early colonial settlement in Nouvelle France through individual life patterns.
Stable oxygen isotopic compositions (δ18O) were measured on the enamel of 32 individuals from the Notre Dame collection. Premolars and third molars were selected, as they reflected the δ18O of the drinking water during childhood (2.5-5.5 years) and pre-adulthood (9.5-15.5 years). Firstly, premolars from three children (4-8 years of age) allowed us to provide a mean δ18O for the water consumed locally (22.7 ±  1.0 ‰ vs. VSMOW). Then, our δ18O were compared with published data from various geographical regions in North America (Eastern Canada and the United States) and Europe (France and the British Isles) to highlight mobility patterns of each individual.
Forty-eight percent of our sample (14 out of 29 individuals) did not reflect any long-distance mobility, as all their δ18O reflected Montreal\'s variation during their lifetime. The remaining (15 out of 29 individuals) experienced mobility within (n = 8) and outside (n = 7) North America and at different phases of their life (five at pre-adulthood, six at adulthood and four during both phases). Their migration patterns were analyzed according to age, sex, diet and possible ancestry in order to propose some \"biographies.\"
This study highlights high population diversity in early colonial Montreal. Historians wrote that the city was growing, not only with the arrival of Europeans (e.g., young male workers, sailors), but also other groups (e.g., Indigenous people, slaves from North America). Additional analyses (e.g., ancient DNA) will be needed to explore further this phenomenon.

The escape behaviour, measured as flight initiation distance (FID; the distance at which individuals take flight when approached by a potential predator, usually a human in the study systems), is a measure widely used to study fearfulness and risk-taking in animals. Previous studies have shown significant differences in the escape behaviour of birds inhabiting cemeteries and urban parks in European cities, where birds seem to be shyer in the latter. We collected a regional dataset of the FID of birds inhabiting cemeteries and parks across Latin America in peri-urban, suburban and urban parks and cemeteries. FIDs were recorded for eighty-one bird species. Mean species-specific FIDs ranged from 1.9 to 19.7 m for species with at least two observations (fifty-seven species). Using Bayesian regression modelling and controlling for the phylogenetic relatedness of the FID among bird species and city and country, we found that, in contrast to a recent publication from Europe, birds escape earlier in cemeteries than parks in the studied Latin American cities. FIDs were also significantly shorter in urban areas than in peri-urban areas and in areas with higher human density. Our results indicate that some idiosyncratic patterns in animal fearfulness towards humans may emerge among different geographic regions, highlighting difficulties with scaling up and application of regional findings to other ecosystems and world regions. Such differences could be associated with intrinsic differences between the pool of bird species from temperate European and mostly tropical Latin American cities, characterized by different evolutionary histories, but also with differences in the historical process of urbanization.

Natural sciences provide several modern methodologies that could be successfully applied in archaeological studies. In this pilot study, archaeological human remains from two Iron Age cemeteries (7th-twelfth centuries AD), Lejasbitēni and Čunkāni-Dreņģeri, which are located in different regions of Latvia, were studied. We applied ancient DNA (aDNA) and tooth enamel peptide analysis to determine the biological sex of the individuals. In addition, aDNA analysis was used to perform mtDNA haplogroup analysis. In most cases, the results of aDNA analysis regarding the biological sex of individuals coincided with the gender assigned based on grave orientation and grave goods. The results of sex determination using peptide analysis in all four individuals for whom data were available matched the possible gender. Of the 17 samples that had sufficient DNA for sequencing, seven samples had enough reads to perform mtDNA haplogroup analysis. The H2a2a, I4a1, H2a2a1, and H16c mtDNA haplogroups were identified in the individuals from the Lejasbitēni cemetery, while the T2b and K1a + 150 mtDNA haplogroups were identified in the individuals from the Čunkāni-Dreņģeri cemetery. Overall, the obtained results demonstrated the feasibility of applying aDNA and tooth enamel peptide analysis for biological sex determination within archaeological studies. The availability of human aDNA data will be highly useful for investigating the demographic history and social structures in Iron Age Latvia.

The increasing prevalence of malignant disease has been associated with shifts in environmental, socioeconomic, and lifestyle risk factors as well as increased adult lifespan. We examine the relationship between malignant neoplasms affecting bone, age and industrialization.
Pre-existing skeletal data from 11 medieval (1066-1547, n = 8973) and 14 industrial (1700-1890, n = 4748) cemeteries (N = 13,721) from England.
Context number, sex, age-at-death, evidence of skeletal malignancy, and diagnosis were collated. The data were compared using chi square, Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests and logistic regression (α = 0.01).
There was a statistically significant increase in skeletal malignancy from 0.06 % in the medieval sample to 0.36 in the industrial sample (p < 0.001). Age had a strong relationship with malignancy (p = 0.003), sex did not (p = 0.464). Logistic regression revealed that time-period (p < 0.001) was a stronger predictor of skeletal malignancy than age-at-death (p = 0.002).
Our results confirm that even with the temporal increase in adult human lifespan the increase of malignant neoplasms of bone between the medieval and industrial time periods is still statistically significant.
The augmented exposure to carcinogens and pollution during the Industrial Revolution had a strong effect on an individual\'s susceptibility to developing malignant disease of bone.
This meta-analysis relies upon previously gathered data and diagnosis from a large number of researchers and did not include radiographic or CT screening. Only malignant neoplasms that affected bone could be included.
Increasing excavation and analysis of post-medieval cemeteries will provide more data. Multimethod approaches (radiography, CT, Micro-CT and histology) are encouraged.

This research seeks to identify the way the sick were treated in the 14th-15th centuries АD in a rural community located close to the medieval urban centre of Suzdal in central medieval Russia MATERIALS: Skeletons of 26 humans were examined from the cemetery associated with the rural settlement of Mikhali 3/Mininskoe (central Russia) (14th-15th centuries A.D.) METHODS: Archaeological study, paleodemographic analysis, description of physiological stress markers, stature reconstruction, X-ray, 3D scan.
The remains comprised of 11 children, 11 adult females and 4 adult males. Numerous stress markers, as well as indicators of chronic disease and low levels of sexual dimorphism were noted suggesting a hard life and low social position. However, about 20% of adults lived to more than 40 years old and the archaeological artifacts - markers of prosperity -suggests high living standards of the majority of the inhabitants.
Among the possible explanations of the paradox of poor health but ample access to resources is well-developed supportive care practice within the community.
A combination of bioarchaeological and archaeological studies of a medieval settlement and cemetery of Mikhali 3 offers information about medieval attitude towards the sick.
Few sites had been analyzed using a complex approach.
Combination of bioarchaeological and archaeological sources for estimation of life quality of medieval communities and clarification of their meaning of \'life quality\'.

This study realized the exhumation and transfer of human remains buried in the cemeteries at Orobajo, Barbacoas and La Fortuna (Municipality of Sabanalarga, Peque and Buriticá respectively) within the framework of \"Social Management\" of the Ituango Hydroelectric Project and the program Integral Restitution of Living Conditions for communities. Methods and techniques from bioanthropology, forensic sciences, archeology and Soil Sciences were used. Cemeteries were characterized by unconventional burials; moreover, documentation of tombs and burial practices were not generalized, nor did they show patterns. In the field assessment, 2,883 pit tests and soil probes using a penetrometer were carried out over a total area of 2,288 square meters. A total of 349 skeletonized human remains were exhumed, almost double of what was expected; of these, 180 were from Orabajo, 151 from Barbacoas, and 18 from La Fortuna. Though the remains showed a great deal of deterioration, age at death was determined for 59% of cases, and sex identified in 49%. Personal artifacts and clothing items were recovered along with the bones in many cases. Remains from Barbacoas and La Fortuna were given over to communities, and final dispositions were made in sites previously agreed upon (cemeteries in Peque, Buriticá and Sabanalarga respectively).

We identify and analyse practices and management regimes around burial and handling of ashes across eight case study towns within six Northern European countries. We analyse management of cemeteries and crematoria gardens, majority practices and provision for minority communities, including various burial types, cremated remains, the re-use of graves, and costs for interments. Comparative data is drawn from analysis of national and local regulations, interviews with stakeholders, and observations at cemeteries and crematoria gardens. The findings show significant variation in national and local regulations and practices for burial and cremation particularly around the re-use of graves, handling of ashes and costs for grave space and cremation. We identify the opportunities and constraints of these variations in terms of accessibility, diversity and equality; and argue for national directions to avoid unequal treatment within nations. Furthermore, we stress the importance of a liberal and inclusive management of European cemeteries and crematoria gardens.