The lifestyles of Bronze Age Zagros highlanders at Deh Dumen, Iran: Insights from midshaft femur cross-sectional geometry and histology

Late Bronze Age multiple human burials from Deh Dumen, Iran, were uncovered in the Zagros Mountains. Using cross-sectional geometry and histology, a sample (n = 23) of fragmented femora from these burials was examined to test for possible adaptation to transhumant pastoralism. Midshaft femur remodelling and modelling characteristics examined across males, females and age-at-death groups partly indicated sex-specific pastoralist behaviours and possible experiences of walking on rugged terrain in this small sample. We discuss the value of combining histology and cross-sectional geometry techniques when attempting to reconstruct past human behaviours in multiple burial contexts.