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22 - Assessing Age-Related Mortality at Petra, Jordan, Using Cementochronology and Hazard Modeling

from Part III - Applications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2022

By
Akacia Propst ,
Michael Price  and
Megan Perry
Edited by
Stephan Naji ,
William Rendu  and
Lionel Gourichon
Stephan Naji
Affiliation:
New York University
William Rendu
Affiliation:
University of Bordeaux (CNRS)
Lionel Gourichon
Affiliation:
Université de Nice, Sophia Antipolis
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Summary

Age-at-death mortality profiles provide an important supplementary record of mortality risks that archaeological populations faced. We use hazard modeling to calculate the risk of death by age for adults to establish a mortality profile for the Petra North Ridge sample. Age-at-death estimates were generated using cementochronology from 66 individuals, which not only provides more accurate age estimates but increases our sample size due to the fragmented and commingled nature of the Petra assemblage. Our results indicate that the mortality profile from Petra resembles that of an attritional sample. The regional and local political-economic, physical and social environments resulted in age-specific mortality risks lower than that typically expected for an ancient, urban population and potentially reflected immigration of young adults into Petra.

Keywords

CementochronologyParametric Hazard ModelingGompertz-MakehamPetraNorth Ridge ProjectMortality Risk
Type
Chapter
Information
Dental Cementum in Anthropology , pp. 351 - 363
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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