The man, the woman and the hyoid bone: from archaeology to the burial practices of the Xiongnu people (Egyin Gol valley, Mongolia).

The man, the woman and the hyoid bone: from archaeology to the burial practices of the Xiongnu people (Egyin Gol valley, Mongolia). Introduction When dealing with past populations, knowledge about burialpractices is derived from both ancient texts and archaeologicalexcavations. Usually, the comparison of these two approaches is animportant guide to interpretation. In the present study, we discuss theinterpretation of a Xiongnu grave. We stress the fact that excavation ofa tomb should be extremely detailed, both archaeological andanthropological data being considered. Burial practices of the Altaic peoples in the Hunnu period, aspresented in ancient texts, have already been discussed (Roux Roux, Pierre Paul ��mile 1853-1933.French bacteriologist. His work with the diphtheria bacillus led to the development of antitoxins to neutralize pathogenic toxins. 1963).They have been more and more closely defined owing to archaeologicalresearches (Erdelyi et al. 1967; Rudenko 1970; Davydova 1985; Crubezy etal. 1996). The case presented here was studied within the framework of aprogramme carried out by the French Archaeological Mission in Mongolia,including archaeologists, anthropologists and archaeozoologists. One ofthe main aims was the excavation of a burial site on a sedimentary shelfbordering the bed of the Egyin Gol river, a tributary of the Selenga, inthe northwest of Mongolia (FIGURE 1). The burial site, known as EgyinGol I, consists of 66 tombs which take the shape of circular tumuli. Aglobal survey was carried out during the 1995 expedition (Crubezy et al.1996) and intensive excavations started during the 1996 expedition. From1996 to 1999, we excavated the 66 tumuli which were dated by radiocarbonfrom the 4th century BC to the 2nd AD, corresponding to the Hunnuperiod. These tombs are usually individual tombs, deep, and filled witha considerable amount of stone and soil above the lower level. Thislower level generally consists of a wooden structure of varyingcomplexity, the constant finding being the coffin, sometimes inside acoffer and accompanied by an offering box, or a niche hollowed out inthe pit to contain animal offerings. The grave-goods are generallyweapons but jewellery and coffin ornaments have also been unearthed Unearthed is the name of a Triple J project to find and "dig up" (hence the name) hidden talent in regional Australia.Unearthed has had three incarnations - they first visited each region of Australia where Triple J had a transmitter - 41 regions in all. .These funerary fu��ner��ar��y?adj.Of or suitable for a funeral or burial.[Latin fner structures and the artefacts discovered are perfectlycompatible with the culture of the Xiongnu (Erdelyi et al. 1967;Konovalov 1976; Davydova 1985), who were nomadic shepherds (Minajev1996). [Figure 1 ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This paper deals with a double burial (EG I, tomb 33) which isdated 113-52 cal BC at 68% probability (PA-1596). Its anthropologicaland archaeological characteristics raise questions as to therelationship in death between the two deceased. Organization of the tomb: the pit and its fill Tomb 33 of the EgyinGol I burial site lies in the southern part of the site, near the edgeof a plateau. On the surface it appeared as a rough circle of stones4.5-5.5 m in diameter. The tomb had three main levels separated by a stone and soil fill.At 1 m in depth, the outlines of the pit appeared, defined by deep blacksediments similar to peat, marked by a stone covering lying east-west.At 1.70 m, a complete cattle skull (bullock or cow) was discoveredexactly in the centre of the initial tumulus tumulus(t`myələs), plural tumuli (–lī), in archaeology, a heap of earth or stones placed over a grave. . The skull faced the west,one half of the jaw laid on the skull and the other in its anatomicalposition anatomical positionn.The erect position of the body with the face directed forward, the arms at the side, and the palms of the hands facing forward, used as a reference in describing the relation of body parts to one another. (FIGURE 2). The last covering of stone lay at 1.85 m in depth(FIGURE 3). It was partially missing in the southeast part of the pit, afinding which we will discuss later. [Figures 2-3 ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The tomb consisted of a double, asymmetrical coffin which containedthe remains of two individuals, 33 and 33A (FIGURE 4). An offering boxlay at the eastern end of the southern coffin. The coffins were 180 cmlong and 50 cm wide; the length of the offering box was 85 cm. The brimswere about 5 cm thick. The bottom of the pit was at 2.15 m in depth. Thewhole funerary architecture undoubtedly suggested that both individualshad been buried at the same time. In fact, the pit corresponds to theposition of the man's coffin and the space corresponding to thewoman's one had been hollowed out from the bottom of the pit. Thisarchitecture supposes that the wooden structures making up this tomb hadbeen put together in situ In place. When something is "in situ," it is in its original location. at the base of the pit. [Figure 4 ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Individual 33(1) This was an adult man whose age at death can be estimated asbetween 30 and 45 years. Like many other skeletons discovered during the1996 expedition, the bones were greatly disturbed. Only the right armand both legs were in an anatomical position. All the other bones werefound in the east part of the coffin, the great majority against thecoffin wall. The skeleton was lying supine with the arms and forearmsparallel to the body, the head turned towards the east. The artefactsfound with this burial were numerous and similar to those found in theother male burials at Egyin Gol I. Weapons were particularly wellrepresented. The middle and end parts of a bow were found, lyingrespectively against the right thigh and the feet of the skeleton. Aspearhead along the left thigh, two bone spikes between the legs andarrow shafts and heads in the disturbed part were also unearthed.Elements of finery accompanied the deceased: a belt, represented byrings made from the bases of antler tines, and an amber bead. On theupper part of its eastern wall the coffin bore two iron ornaments, onein the shape of a crescent moon and the other circular, possiblysymbolizing the sun. The bones had certainly been disturbed when thetomb was robbed. Probably, the missing part of the top stone covering(FIGURE 3) indicates the access route taken by the robbers, especiallyas that part of the tomb was the most disturbed. Individual 33A This was a woman aged about 30 years at the time of death. Unlikeher companion's, her skeleton was in strictly anatomical positionand the bones were not disturbed. The most delicate joints were in placeleaving no doubt that the initial space of decomposition was filled inwith sediment. The corpse had been laid supine, the arms parallel to thebody and the hands resting on the upper thighs. The legs were parallel.The proximity of the north wall had led to rotation of the arm, theantero-lateral aspect of the humerus humerus:see arm. and forearm appearing upwards andthe hand in pronation pronation/pro��na��tion/ (-na��shun) the act of assuming the prone position, or the state of being prone. Applied to the hand, the act of turning the palm backward (posteriorly) or downward, performed by medial rotation of the forearm. . The skull was slightly raised by a round objectabout 2 cm thick, probably of leather. Because of this, the mandible mandible/man��di��ble/ (man��di-b'l) the horseshoe-shaped bone forming the lower jaw, articulating with the skull at the temporomandibular joint.mandib��ular man��di��blen. layon the thoracic cage thoracic cagen.The part of the skeleton enclosing the thorax, consisting of the thoracic vertebrae, ribs, costal cartilages, and sternum. . The goods found in the tomb were few in number:two bone sticks in a crossed position at the level of the lambda in theposterior part of the cranial vault cranial vaultObstetrics The bones that form the movable part of the fetal skull–bones–2 frontal, 2 parietal, occipital, and mold themselves to the ♀birth canal, allowing passage of a cephalic-presenting infant , demonstrating that these artefactswere used for pinning the hair in a coil and not `chopsticks' ashas sometimes been suggested (e.g. Erdelyi et al. 1967); a bronzefragment of a mirror, lying on the abdomen, against the right lateralpart of the thorax thorax,body division found in certain animals. In humans and other mammals it lies between the neck and abdomen and is also called the chest. The skeletal frame of the thorax is formed by the sternum (breastbone) and ribs in front and the dorsal vertebrae in back. . Probably of Chinese origin, this fragment wassimilar to another previously found at Egyin Gol and to those discoveredat Naima Tolgoy (Ferenczy 1967); lastly, a fragment of lacquered wood onbronze with a black design on a red background was found in the fillslightly above the right elbow. The offering box laid at the head of the man's coffincontained bones of animals (four cattle feet from the same individual,one cattle sacrum sacrum:see spinal column. and four cattle sacral sacral/sa��cral/ (sa��kral) pertaining to the sacrum. sa��craladj.In the region of or relating to the sacrum.sacral,adj pertaining to the sacrum. vertebrae VertebraeBones in the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar regions of the body that make up the vertebral column. Vertebrae have a central foramen (hole), and their superposition makes up the vertebral canal that encloses the spinal cord. , and eight completeor partial sacra sa��cra?n.Plural of sacrum. of sheep/goats), with four pieces of folded birch bark.It also contained -- thus leading to this paper -- a human hyoid bone hyoid bonen.A U-shaped bone at the base of the tongue that supports the muscles of the tongue.hyoid bone (hī´oid),n . Discussion Anatomically, the human hyoid bone consists of an oval body with aconcave posterior surface. Its extremities evince e��vince?tr.v. e��vinced, e��vinc��ing, e��vinc��esTo show or demonstrate clearly; manifest: evince distaste by grimacing. two greater and twolesser horns pointing upwards from the upper extremities of the body.The hyoid hyoid/hy��oid/ (hi��oid) shaped like Greek letter upsilon (?); pertaining to the hyoid bone. hy��oidadj.1. Shaped like the letter U.2. Of or relating to the hyoid bone. has no bony connection with the rest of the skeleton. It isattached to the mandible, to the styloid styloid/sty��loid/ (sti��loid) resembling a pillar; long and pointed; relating to the styloid process. sty��loidn. processes of the temporal bone temporal bonen.Either of a pair of compound bones forming the sides and base of the skull.temporal bone,n and to the tongue by muscles and ligaments. Its anatomical position isbelow the mandible, in an anterior position, at the level of the fourthcervical vertebra vertebra/ver��te��bra/ (ver��te-brah) pl. ver��tebrae ? [L.] any of the 33 bones of the vertebral (spinal) column, comprising 7 cervical, 12 thoracic, 5 lumbar, 5 sacral, and 4 coccygeal vertebrae . (Rouviere 1970). Above all, the hyoid bone discovered in the offering box must beconsidered as related to the removal of the tongue. This is the onlyexplanation for the presence of a hyoid bone in a burial deposit,especially as this part of the anatomy has a place of honour in thisburial site where many deposits of animal tongues (horse, cattle,sheep/goats) have been found in offering boxes. Whatever the symbolicsignificance of deposits of animal tongues, that of a human tongue mustbe linked, in our opinion, with the importance accorded to this part ofthe anatomy. Tongue removal is a procedure well described in the fieldof present-day forensic medicine. It is easy to remove the tongue of aliving or a dead person with simultaneous extraction of the hyoid bonewith no trace of the procedure being visible (Gresham & Turner1979). The hyoid bone discovered in the offering box is complete (FIGURE5). The two greater horns are fused with the body and the two lesserhorns are developed. It is the first tomb at Egyin Gol I where thishuman bone has been found inside an offering box. The origin of the boneremains to be determined. It cannot belong to the man since his hyoidbone was found in the disturbed part of the tomb (FIGURE 6). Moreover,the study of the female's skeleton provides some answers.Theoretically, in a case such as this where the bones of the thorax andthe head were in perfect anatomical position and were not disturbed, thehyoid bone should have been found between the mandible and the cervicalcolumn. The search of this area was fruitless and no hyoid bone wasfound in this tomb. As the bones were perfectly preserved, we canimmediately exclude the hypothesis of a destruction of this bone overtime. In addition, the perfect connection of the entire skeleton and,particularly of the cephalic cephalic/ce��phal��ic/ (se-fal��ik) pertaining to the head, or to the head end of the body. ce��phal��icadj.1. Of or relating to the head.2. and cervical parts, excludes any possiblemovement of this bone `wedged' between the mandible and thecervical column. The hyoid bone was therefore absent when the woman wasburied. [Figures 5-6 ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The hypothesis that the hyoid bone belongs to the woman seems to usthe most plausible. It is based on the following arguments: * The burial was simultaneous and double. * The woman was buried without her hyoid bone. * The offering box must be considered in relation to the coffin ofthe man. * Tongues are an important finding in funerary deposits in thisburial site. * Morphometric analysis of the hyoid bones shows that the one inthe offering box is distinctly smaller than the man's, as are allthe bones of the woman's skeleton (TABLE 1).TABLE 1. Measurements of the hyoid bones.measurements of the hyoid bones (mm) man hyoid bone in offering boxtotal maximum transverse diameter -- 34.3total maximum sagittal diameter -- 31.2transverse diameter of the body 26.75 24.25maximum height of the body 11.45 9.96antero-posterior width of the body 5.30 4.15depth of the posterior concavity 2.50 2.7length of the greater cornu 31.55 26.35maximum height of the greater cornu 7.40 5.01minimum width of the greater cornu 2.00 0.85height of the individual man: 168 woman: 157 [+ or -] [+ or -] 4 cm 4 cm Any further conclusions must be speculation. The cause of thewoman's death cannot be determined, nor whether the tongue wasremoved before or after death. If this was part of a sacrificialprocess, it could have been either ante or post morterm, and although noproof is possible, the idea of a sacrifice is a tempting one. Such actsare mentioned in the literature on the death of husbands (Roux 1963). Conclusion This study can only be preliminary as it rests on an interpretationbased on the simplest hypotheses. The first hypothesis, that the hyoidbone is in fact that of the buried woman, which is also the most likelyone, will be pursued by genetic study. If DNA extraction is possible,this will provide a definite answer. On the other hand, interpretationcannot be carried on as regards the sequence of events surrounding thedeath of this woman. In the present state of our methods and recording,neither of the two possible scenarios can be affirmed or otherwise.Either there was sacrifice and tongue removal, or there was removalafter natural death. However, the fact that the tomb (pit, structure,deposits of animal remains) is organized around the coffin of the manand that the offering box lies in line with his coffin suggests that inthis funeral rite the man was treated with much more consideration thanthe woman. This gives more weight to the hypothesis of sacrifice, apractice attested by ancient texts on this nomadic culture (Roux 1963:170). Tomb 33 in this burial site differs from the 66 others excavated inthat it is the only simultaneous and double burial (in the same pit).The other tombs are individual and although two pits have sometimes beenfound in the same tumulus, they are quite separate and there is noevidence that they were simultaneous. Tombs with a double coffin areextremely rare in Xiongnu burial sites; for example, they represent only1% in the site at Ivolgi which contains 216 tombs (Davydova 1985). This is the first example of tongue removal in a Xiongnu tomb. Insome ways it confirms what is already known concerning the dichotomybetween men and women in these populations (Roux 1963) but it increasesour knowledge of details of burial practices. It should also be notedthat, whatever the sequence of events which actually took place(sacrifice followed by ablation or ablation after natural death), thewoman was buried with some consideration since a mirror fragment ofChinese origin, which is a precious object, and a coffin ornament inbronze covered with lacquered wood accompanied her in death. (1) Before describing these individuals, it should be noted thatage at death was determined from stages of bone and dental maturation.For adults over 30 years, no method gives a precise and reliableestimate of age of death. However, examination of cranial sutures anddegenerative changes can distinguish between young or aged adults. Sexwas determined by morphological and metric criteria on the pelvic bone,according to the method of Bruzek (1991). Lastly, the variousmeasurements were made according to the standards of Martin (Brauer1988) and height was estimated according to Trotter & Gleser (1952;1958). References BRAUER, G. 1988. 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Frozen tombs of Siberia. London: Dent &Son. TROTTER, M. & G. GLESER. 1952. Estimation of stature from longlimb bones of American Whites and Negroes, American Journal of PhysicalAnthropology 10: 463-514. 1958. A re-evaluation of estimation of stature based onmeasurements of stature taken during life and long bones after death,American Journal of Physical Anthropology 16: 79-124. P. MURAIL, E. CRUBEZY, H. MARTIN, L. HAYE, J. BRUZEK, P.H. GISCARD,T. TURBAT & D. ERDENEBAATAR, Murail, Haye & Bruzek, UMR UMR Unite Mixte de Recherche (French: Mixed Unit of Research )UMR University of Missouri - RollaUMR Upper Mississippi RiverUMR Uniform Methods and Rules (US Department of Agriculture)UMR Unit Manning Report 5809,Laboratoire d'Anthropologie, Avenue des Facultes, 33405 Talence,France. p.murail@anthropologie.u-bordeaux.fr Crubezy, Federationd'Anthropologie, Universite Paul Sabatier, allees Jules Guesde,31000 Toulouse, France. Martin, Groupe de Recherche en Prehistoire,Universite Toulouse-Le Mirail, 31000 Toulouse, France. Giscard, MissionArcheologique Francaise en Mongolie, 76 rue d'Assas, 75006 Paris,France. Erdenebaatar & Turbat, Department of Archaeology of theInstitute of History, Academy of Sciences of Mongolia, Zhulkov Street,Ulan Bator 54, Mongolia. Received 10 October 1999, accepted 19 January 2000, revised 9 May2000.