A former assistant professor and later tenured associate professor of bioarchaeology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Danielle Kurin, PhD, has undertaken field investigations in the Andes in areas of pre-Columbian research such as natural disaster, health, and human migration. One subject in which Danielle Kurin has in-depth knowledge is trepanation, or the ancient practice of drilling holes in the skull and removing a cranial vault section.
The practice was introduced in the south-central Andean highlands from AD 200-600 and was used in treating conditions that ranged from brain trauma to psychosomatic illness. The practice ended with the arrival of the colonial Spanish in the early 1500s. The ubiquity of the practice is in evidence in burial cave excavations Dr. Kurin guided in the Peruvian province of Andahuaylas. Among the remains of 32 people dating back to AD 1000-1250 at one site, 45 distinct trepanation procedures were cataloged. As Dr. Kurin described it, archeological evidence reveals the use of a number of different trepanation techniques, including cutting, scraping, and hand drilling. With the procedure largely limited to male skulls, the aim was to go through the bone without touching the brain. In many cases there is evidence that the trepanation healed, through “finger-like projections of bone” that grew back over a period of years. Dr. Kurin noted that the experimentation with various surgical techniques reflected a backdrop of sudden social collapse of the Wari civilization around 1000 AD and subsequent attempts to safeguard people against disease and violence. She compares trepanation’s progress with research into new medical techniques that have accompanied later conflicts, such as the U.S. Civil War.
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Danielle Kurin is an authority in archaeology. She served as an assistant professor and later tenured associate professor of bioarchaeology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and has served as a visiting professor at the Archaeology Laboratory & Graduate School, Universidad Nacional de San Cristóbal de Huamanga, Ayacucho, Peru. Danielle Kurin’s authored the book The Bioarchaeology of Societal Collapse and Reorganization in Ancient Peru, which was published in 2016.
The first step in any bioarcheological work is looking for the bones of people present in the society during the reviewed period. This study calls for identifying possible burial places through research and excavating them. The archaeological excavation might have to go through several buried structures before locating the targeted burial place, as structures might have been built over the burial places over the years. But this is not the case in every excavation. The manner of burial can tell scientists a great deal about the buried person's social standing. Studying ancient skeletons through observation and via technological aids like X-rays, mass spectrometers, and DNA analysis can be quite revealing. Different bones can provide details about diet, lifestyle, overall health, and class level. These findings help provide evidence about the lifestyles prevalent in the studied society when they were alive. A renowned bioarchaeologist who has attended both national and international appointments, Danielle Kurin served as an assistant professor and later tenured associate professor of bioarcheology with the University of California, Santa Barbara. Danielle Kurin published papers were cited in several archaeological journal articles and book chapters. One of her areas of focus is diet and dietary changes in ancient cities.
The enamel that encases a tooth is made up of 97 percent mineral, which adds strength to the teeth and makes them stronger than bones. For this reason, teeth may be disproportionately prevalent in archaeological sites as compared to bone remains - especially in very old archeological sites. Almost every feature and part of a tooth, including the shape, enamel thickness, and surface, can provide important clues about the early life of people in the prehistoric periods. One such breakthrough in archeological findings, published recently, provided answers to some mysteries about prehistoric hunters of the stone age. By conducting a procedural study on ancient teeth of the mesolithic (stone age) hunter-gatherers of the Croatian Peninsula, scientists discovered microfossils of fish flesh, fish scales, and starch granules in dental plaques. This is a strong piece of evidence that the people of those days foraged on starchy plants and caught fish. Perhaps the scale microfossils could mean that they removed scales from fish with their teeth. Danielle Kurin has been an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara since January 2013, teaching courses for undergraduate and graduate students, conducting research, and carrying out community service.
Kurin specializes in the study of bioarchaeology, the examination and analysis of human remains to understand how people lived—and died, in the past. She works mainly in the Andes, on cultures ranging from about 500 A.D. to contemporary populations. For a bioarchaeologist, the human body and its remains, such as bones, teeth, and skulls provide a window into various aspects of life, ranging from diet, to patterns of work, labor, violence and health care. On an individual level, bioarchaeologists like Kurin can isolate various indicators of life events. Teeth, for example, provide a record of diet and health throughout one’s life. Microscopic scratches and tooth wear can indicate the types of food eaten. Teeth cavities and abscesses often indicate a diet high in sugar and carbohydrates Kurin has investigated their isotopic composition which reflect the foods eaten from infancy through old age—and the locations of those food products. That way she has been able to determine where individuals lived and how they moved around through there life. Bones may reveal stunting –a likely consequence of malnutrition or mistreatment in childhood, At a societal level, Kurin and others have excavated dozens, sometimes hundreds of skeletons at an archaeological site. By examining their features indicating gender, age, health status, broken bones, etc. Kurin can determine the types of injuries people of different status had, how they were harmed or even killed. Kurin has been able to also determine how ancient ethnic groups marked the body, by, for example, elongating the skull in infancy to produce people that were noticeably more cone-headed than their round-headed neighbors. Kurin has also studied mummification after death, finding among remains artifacts indicative of social status and ideas about the afterlife. While the term “bioarchaeology” was coined by John Grahame Douglas Clark it was popularized by Jane Ellen Buikstra, an American. Bioarchaeologist. Among the key figures in the sub-discipline was Phillip L. Walker. Walker received his PhD from the University of Chicago, taught at the University of California, Santa Barbara for 35 years and wrote more than 200 scholarly and scientific papers and reports. He worked on various bioarchaeological topics around the world and won many honors. He died suddenly in 2009. Danielle Kurin came to the University to succeed him after earning her B.A. at Bryn Mawr College and PhD at Vanderbilt University. To honor his legacy, Kurin named her lab the Phillip L Walker Bioarchaeology Lab. She worked with the Department of Anthropology and with Walker’s widow, Cynthia Brock, to have his papers donated to the National Anthropological Archives at the Smithsonian Institution. |
AuthorDanielle Kurin - Award-Winning Educator and Researcher. Archives
June 2023
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