In anthropology, demography, and archaeology, a catastrophic age profile is a population structure pattern observed in skeletal assemblages that reflects a sudden, mass-death event rather than normal mortality.
🌍 Definition
- Catastrophic Age Profile: An age distribution of skeletal remains that mirrors the living population at the time of death, showing individuals of all ages (infants, juveniles, adults, elderly) in proportions similar to a living community.
- Contrast:
- Attritional (or “normal”) profile: Shows selective mortality, often with more infants and elderly, reflecting long-term deaths over time.
- Catastrophic profile: Indicates a single, sudden event (famine, epidemic, battle, natural disaster).
🔑 Anthropological & Archaeological Contexts
- Archaeological Sites:
- Mass graves with catastrophic profiles often point to warfare, epidemics, or disasters.
- Example: Assemblages from plague pits in medieval Europe.
- Zooarchaeology:
- Herd animals killed in a single event (e.g., hunting drives) show catastrophic profiles, with all age classes represented.
- Paleodemography:
- Used to reconstruct population dynamics and distinguish between everyday mortality and catastrophic events.
- Cultural Interpretation:
- Catastrophic profiles can reveal social responses to disaster (mass burials, ritual practices).
📚 Importance in Anthropology
- Mortality Analysis: Helps anthropologists identify whether skeletal assemblages represent normal attrition or sudden catastrophe.
- Social Organization: Catastrophic events often reshape kinship, settlement, and ritual practices.
- Comparative Value: Distinguishes between gradual demographic processes and abrupt historical ruptures.
- Critical Lens: Anthropologists also examine how catastrophic events are remembered and embedded in cultural narratives.
In short: A catastrophic age profile is an age distribution in skeletal assemblages that reflects sudden mass mortality, contrasting with attritional profiles that show long-term, selective death patterns.
