Tell Leilan (Syria) Burial Project

In collaboration with Harvey Weiss, Yale University

This project is in the final stages of analysis and publication.

Supported by grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the University of Alberta

The site of Tell Leilan is located in northeastern Syria on the Habur Plains. Integrating archaeological and paleoenvironmental data with historical records of population movements, Yale archaeologist Harvey Weiss and his colleagues have proposed that a drying trend swept across northern Mesopotamia in the middle of the 3rd millennium BC and led to the abandonment of the city of Leilan after four centuries of productive urban life. (For details, please visit the Tell Leilan web site). Skeletal remains (21 adults and 35 subadults) were recovered from intramural contexts at the site during excavations conducted between 1979 and 1989, and have been the subject of skeletal biological analyses at the University of Alberta. Although the health and dietary status of the ancient inhabitants of Leilan in the period leading up the abandonment of the city were of particular interest, the uncertain provenience, small sample size and incomplete nature of the remains has limited the interpretative value of the analyses. In general, however, the dental remains are characterized by high frequencies of enamel defects, caries, and abscesses, and phytoliths from dental calculus are consistent with the proposed drying trend. In addition, dental metric and nonmetric data are a valuable addition to the existing information on tooth size and morphology in the ancient Near East.

 

 

 

 

 

Publications

in press. Pitre, Mindy C., Pamela M. Mayne Correia, Peter J. Mankowski, Jonathan Klassen, Melissa J. Day, Nancy C. Lovell, and Randolph S. Currah. Biofilm growth in human skeletal material from ancient Mesopotamia. Journal of Archaeological Science.

2006 Lovell, Nancy C. and Scott Haddow. Nonmetric analysis of the permanent dentition of Bronze Age Tell Leilan, Syria. International Journal of Dental Anthropology 9:1-7.

2003 Lovell, Nancy C. and Leslie Dawson. Intra- and inter-tooth analysis of hypoplastic and hypocalcified enamel defects. Journal of Human Ecology 14:525-532.

2003 Haddow, Scott and Nancy C. Lovell. Metric analysis of permanent and deciduous teeth from Bronze Age Tell Leilan, Syria. Dental Anthropology 17:65-72.

Symposia and Conference Presentations

Dust, drought, disease and death in ancient Mesopotamia. Nancy C. Lovell. Symposium at the Annual meeting of the Canadian Association for Physical Anthropology, November 1998, Calgary

Stable isotope evidence for dietary patterns and environmental conditions at Tell Leilan. Rebecca Feasby, M. Anne Katzenberg, and Nancy C. Lovell. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Physical Anthropology, November, 1998 Calgary

Odontometry of Bronze Age Tell Leilan, Syria. Scott Haddow. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Physical Anthropology, November, 1998 Calgary

Dental Disease at Tell Leilan. Nancy C. Lovell. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Physical Anthropology, November, 1998 Calgary

Skeletal Evidence for Health and Disease at Bronze Age Tell Leilan, Syria. Hugh McKenzie. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Physical Anthropology, November, 1998 Calgary

Phytolith analaysis of human dental calculus from Tell Leilan: Reconstruction of diet and environment. Sarah C. Walshaw. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Physical Anthropology, November, 1998 Calgary

Theses

Feasby, RSG "Stable isotope evidence for dietary patterns and environmental conditions at Tell Leilan, Syria, ca. 2900-1900 BC", MA 1998

McKenzie, HG "Skeletal evidence for health and disease at Bronze Age Tell Leilan, Syria", MA 1999

Walshaw, SC "Reconstruction of environment in early Bronze Age Syria through phytolith analysis on human dental calculus", MA 1999

Dawson, L "The health impact of climate change at Bronze Age Tell Leilan: A multi-level analysis of dental enamel defects". MA 1999

Haddow, S "Morphometric analysis of the dentition from Bronze Age Tell Leilan, Syria: A contribution to the dental anthropology of ancient Mesopotamia", MA 2001


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