Wilkinson, CM, Lee, WJ, Oh, CS, Yoo, JA, Kim, YS, Hong, JH, Ju, JO, Choi, SJ, Lee, SD and Shin, DH (2016) Bio-anthropological Studies on Human Skeletons from the 6th Century Tomb of Ancient Silla Kingdom in South Korea. PLoS One. ISSN 1932-6203

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Abstract

In November and December 2013, unidentified human skeletal remains buried in a mokgwakmyo
(a traditional wooden coffin) were unearthed while conducting an archaeological investigation near Gyeongju, which was the capital of the Silla Kingdom (57 BCE– 660 CE) of ancient Korea. The human skeletal remains were preserved in relatively intact condition.
In an attempt to obtain biological information on the skeleton, physical anthropological, mitochondrial
DNA, stable isotope and craniofacial analyses were carried out. The results indicated that the individual was a female from the Silla period, of 155 ± 5 cm height, who died in her late thirties. The maternal lineage belonged to the haplogroup F1b1a, typical for East Asia, and the diet had been more C3- (wheat, rice and potatoes) than C4-based (maize, millet and other tropical grains). Finally, the face of the individual was reconstructed utilizing the skull (restored from osseous fragments) and three-dimensional computerized modelling system. This study, applying multi-dimensional approaches within an overall bio-anthropological analysis, was the first attempt to collect holistic biological information on human skeletal remains dating to the Silla Kingdom period of ancient Korea.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	MD Multidisciplinary
Subjects:	C Auxiliary Sciences of History > CC Archaeology Q Science > QH Natural history > QH301 Biology
Divisions:	Art & Design
Publisher:	Public Library of Science
Date Deposited:	08 Jul 2016 08:15
Last Modified:	04 Sep 2021 12:51
DOI or ID number:	10.1371/journal.pone.0156632
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/3714

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