Graduation Year

2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.A.

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Degree Granting Department

Anthropology

Major Professor

Jonathan D. Bethard, Ph.D., D-ABFA

Committee Member

Diane Wallman, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Katie Zejdlik, Ph.D.

Keywords

Age estimation bias, Biocultural aging, Life course approach, Paleodemography, Szekler region, Transylvania, Demographic Reconstruction

Abstract

The study of aging in past populations lies at the intersection of bioarchaeology and paleodemography, offering insight into both biological processes and lived social experience. Despite this potential, older adults are often rendered “invisible” in skeletal assemblages due to methodological and cultural biases. This thesis addresses this gap through a rare, community-based study of aging among the Székely population of Transylvania. By integrating osteological analysis of individuals (11th–19th centuries) from the archaeological Papdomb church cemetery with demographic data derived from the modern cemetery headstones (ca.1850–present), this research examines patterns of aging, longevity, and elder visibility across a culturally and spatially continuous population. Framed within a life course and biocultural perspective, the study examines how labor, social roles, and historical change shaped aging outcomes, while explicitly calling attention to the limitations of osteological age estimation in bioarchaeology and their implications for the recognition of older adults.

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