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Article Reference Radiocarbon dating of human remains and associated archaeological material
The Neandertal skeletal material from Spy cave has finally been directly dated by AMS 14C one hundred twenty-five years following their discovery. Fifteen human bones and teeth were dated in order to verify new morphological analyses and determine the age of the Spy Neandertals. Collagen from 14 faunal remains and three bone or ivory artefacts were also dated in order to establish a radiocarbon framework for the three “fauna-bearing levels” defined by the original excavators. Apart from several dates that are clearly too young due to contamination or diagenetic influences, our results show that the three oldest dates (ca. 36,000 uncal BP) for the two Neandertal adults are reliable given that the quality parameters are within the accepted confidence interval. We discuss the results of these new dates and their significance in light of the site's stratigraphy, the local Belgian context, and the wider European framework. Radiocarbon dating of Neolithic human skeletal material is also presented and discussed.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference The fossil mammals of Spy.
The large faunal sample from Spy, a Belgian cave site famous for its Neandertal remains, is for the first time studied in detail. Some 11,600 bones were examined. A wide spectrum of Pleistocene species is present. Horse, cave hyena, mammoth, woolly rhinoceros and reindeer are the primary taxa. Hyena scavenging activities are indicated by the gnawed mammoth and rhinoceros postcranial bones and cervid antlers. Bears used the cave as a hibernation den evidenced by remains of cubs, and of female and male adult bears. Indications of human manipulation (cut marks, ochre traces, worked bone/tooth) occur especially on remains from foxes, mammoth and deer. The age profile of the mammoth is dominated by calves. This selective mortality suggests that they were hunted by prehistoric people. AMS dates range from c. 44,400 BP to c. 25,700 BP. The Spy bone assemblage therefore accumulated through a series of agents over a long period of the Pleniglacial.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Stable isotopes.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Sex determination using the Probabilistic Sex Diagnosis (DSP: Diagnose Sexuelle Probabiliste) tool in a virtual environment.
The hip bone is one of the most reliable indicators of sex in the human body due to the fact it is the most dimorphic bone. Probabilistic Sex Diagnosis (DSP: Diagnose Sexuelle Probabiliste) developed by Murail et al., in 2005, is a sex determination method based on a worldwide hip bone metrical database. Sex is determined by comparing specific measurements taken from each specimen using sliding callipers and computing the probability of specimens being female or male. In forensic science it is sometimes not possible to sex a body due to corpse decay or injury. Skeletalization and dissection of a body is a laborious process and desecrates the body. There were two aims to this study. The first aim was to examine the accuracy of the DSP method in comparison with a current visual sexing method on sex determination. A further aim was to see if it was possible to virtually utilise the DSP method on both the hip bone and the pelvic girdle in order to utilise this method for forensic sciences. For the first part of the study, forty-nine dry hip bones of unknown sex were obtained from the Body Donation Programme of the Universite´ Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). A comparison was made between DSP analysis and visual sexing on dry bone by two researchers. CT scans of bones were then analysed to obtain three-dimensional (3D) virtual models and the method of DSP was analysed virtually by importing the models into a customised software programme called lhpFusionBox which was developed at ULB. The software enables DSP distances to be measured via virtually-palpated bony landmarks. There was found to be 100% agreement of sex between the manual and virtual DSP method. The second part of the study aimed to further validate the method by analysing thirty-nine supplementary pelvic girdles of known sex blind. There was found to be a 100% accuracy rate further demonstrating that the virtual DSP method is robust. Statistically significant differences were found in the identification of sex between researchers in the visual sexing method although both researchers identified the same sex in all cases in the manual and virtual DSP methods for both the hip bones and pelvic girdles.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference First record on the distribution of entomopathogenic nematodes (Rhabditida: Steinernematidae and Heterorhabditidae) in Southern Benin
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Continental nematodes in Belgium: an updated list with special emphasis on compost nematodes
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Taxonomy of Stilbonematinae (Nematoda: Desmosdoridae): Description of two new and three known species and phylogenetic relationships within the family using DNA Cox1 locus
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Effectiveness of different Heterorhabditis isolates from Southern Benin for biocontrol of subterranean termite, Macrotermes bellicosus (Isoptera: Macrotermitinae) in laboratory trials
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Description of Xiphinema castilloi sp.n. (Dorylaimida: Longidoridae) from Iran with its phylogenetic study
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Inproceedings Reference Comparing 3D digitizing technologies: what are the differences?
We tested five 3D digitization systems and one method of 2D+ recording on one object: a human skull from the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences collection (RBINS). We chose a skull because it has both simple and complex structures and different materials such as bone and enamel within the same object. The results obtained with the different technologies were compared for 3D shape accuracy, texture quality, digitization and processing time and finally price. Our results show that the structured light scanner provided the best results to record external structures, CT was found to be the best to record internal structures and is also the best for recording reflecting material such as enamel. Photogrammetry is a very good compromise between portability, price and quality. RTI is a method of 2D+ recording and is a complementary technique, using the same equipment than photogrammetry, which can capture small morphological.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications