Conference Review: British Association for Biological Anthropology (BABAO) Conference 2022

Alex Tutwiler, PhD candidate, Laboratory for Human Osteoarchaeology, Leiden University

Despite being virtual this year, this year's BABAO conference was an osteo-blast! The first keynote speaker, Dr. Emma Pomeroy of the University of Cambridge, got the ball rolling by sharing her research on neanderthal mortuary and funerary behavior in Shanidar Cave (Iraqi Kurdistan). While neanderthal funerary habits are a hotly debated topic within the paleoanthropological community, Dr. Pomeroy presented some fascinating theories as to the methodology behind the placement of the remains in Shandiar Cave.

Our first symposium of the day covered recent advances in palaeopathology. Veronica Pace of Leiden University started off the session by presenting her research on employing CT scans to diagnose chronic frontal sinusitis in a rural post-medieval community in The Netherlands – a project that earned her first place for the Jane Moore Podium Prizes! Lukas Waltenberger of the Austrian Archaeological Institute continued the symposium by presenting his research on parturition scars and their employment in estimating parity in a modern sample. Marie C. Weale from the University of Bradford provided a strong finish to this session by presenting her work on vitamin D deficiency throughout British History.

After a brief break we moved into our next symposium of the day, which shed light on recent advances in 3D reconstruction and morphometric methods. Dr. Ashleigh L. Wiseman of the University of Cambridge led off by sharing her current project, which focuses on using digital 3D soft tissue reconstruction on the pelvis and lower limb of Australopithecus afarensis to formulate predictions of muscular leverage. Lloyd A. Courtenay then presented the research he conducted in association with the University of Salamanca and the Complutense University of Madrid on simulating 3D models in order to create larger sample sizes in paleoanthropological analyses. Dr. Thomas O'Mahoney of Anglia Ruskin University was up next to present his work analyzing the growth of fetal human scapulae using geometric morphometrics. To close out the session, we had Rebecca Strong of Teesside University present her work using geometric morphometrics to identify potential weapons from sharp force injuries in skeletal material.

Lunch time allowed everyone to scope out all of the posters in GatherTown, a virtual community designed by the BABAO trustees to provide us with the conference experience from the comfort of our own homes. The posters covered a variety of topics including metrics, forensics, scientific approaches to evolution and education, pathology, trauma, modification, diet, growth, stress, non-metric traits, and funerary rites. The winner of the Bill White Poster Award was Zairia Garcia-Lopez of Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, whose research regarded necrosol formation and its value in forensic anthropology.

The symposium on chemical methods and dietary analysis provided a strong finish for the first day of BABAO 2022. Claudia Bressan of Leiden University started by presenting her research on the potential of in vitro dental calculus in archaeological diet reconstruction. Elīna Pētersone-Gordina of the University of Latvia then shared her work reconstructing the diets of Iron Age Latvian populations. Heidi Shaw from Durham University shared her work developing a new method of sex determination using chromosome- linked peptides recovered from tooth enamel. To close out the session, Leslie Quade of Masaryk University presented on the analysis of cortisol levels in deciduous tooth tissues.

Day two started off strong with a keynote presentation from Dr. Blessing Chidimuro of the University of Reading, whose research focuses on the stable isotopic evidence for cane sugar consumption in post-

medieval England. Through comparing isotopic results from bone collagen, bone carbonate, and dental calculus, she led us on an exploration of the rise in sugar consumption in England during the 18th and 19th centuries.

The first session of the day focused on cremation, fragmentation, and taphonomy – the best start to a Sunday morning conference! Keziah Warburton of the University of Central Lancashire started the symposium by presenting her work using GIS mapping to conduct osteoarcheological and taphonomic analysis in fragmented assemblages. Emma Jade Bonthorne of the University of Oxford then shared her work with the highly commingled remains from the Silo de Carlomagno in Roncesvalles, Navarra, Spain – an assemblage that currently consists of over 400,000 bone fragments and has an estimated MNI of over 1,000 individuals! Pilar Mata Tutor of the Laboratorio de Antropología y Odontología Forense Universidad Complutense de Madrid closed out the session by presenting her research on dismemberment and cremation in modern forensic cases.

The next session of the day regarded bioarcheology in the 21st century, and led to some fascinating discussions regarding the changes our field has seen in the past 22 years. Giselle Király of the University of Winchester started the session by discussing her experience using archaeological excavation of human remains as a facilitator for U.K. veteran coping strategies. Vanessa Campanacho of Universidade NOVA de Lisboa then highlighted the rise of ethical discussions on human remains in scientific publications. Veronica Jackson represented the Make-Up of the City Project from the University of Brussels and presented their research on the possibility of an intersex individual in a medieval sample from Ypres, Belgium – a presentation that was awarded second place in the Jane Moore Podium Prizes! Ellie Chambers then wrapped up the session with a fascinating discussion of how race science has been employed in the history of bioarcheology and the steps that we can take moving forward to rectify the sordid history of our field.

The next session brought us into a discussion of growth, status, and stress. Isobel Grimley of the University of Sheffield began by discussing the impact of physiological stress on variability in pubertal timing in medieval and post-medieval adolescents from North-East England. Dr. Sarah Schrader of Leiden University then shared her research on the relationship between socioeconomic status, age at death, and femoral length in a post-medieval Dutch community. Sarah Inskip wrapped up this session with a report on the long-term stature patterns observed in Cambridge and their implications regarding health and well-being.

The final session of the conference regarded mortality, morbidity, and survivorship. Georgia Holmes of the University of Bradford began the symposium by sharing her research on morbidity and mortality in Northern England during the 19th century. Michael Henderson from MOLA then discussed his research on parishioner and pauper burials from St. James Westminster (1695-1790). Emma Spencer of Australian National University closed out the conference with a presentation on survivorship in industrial London.

Overall, the 2022 BABAO conference was eventful, educational, and an excellent opportunity to connect with colleagues and see what everyone has been up to for the past year! None of this would have been possible without the support of the trustees, who worked tirelessly to get this conference off the ground, or the fantastic BABAO community who brought such enthusiasm to every aspect of the conference. Thanks for a great weekend, and we'll see you all next year in London!