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- The physical remains of past peoples provide direct evidence about their lives. Bioarchaeology is the study of human remains from archaeological sites. Though whole human bodies can be preserved in a variety of ways, including mummification and freezing, the vast majority of human remains recovered by archaeologists are in the form of skeletons and bone fragments.
- An important part of the analysis of human remains is the identification of physical attributes. The gender of skeletal remains, for example, can be determined through observing the shape of the pelvis as well as other bones. Teeth can help establish an individual's relative age at death, namely whether they were young, adult or old. It is even possible to reconstruct what an individual looked like through careful analysis of skull features.
- When intact bodies, such as mummies, are found the precise cause of death can sometimes be deduced. For skeletal remains, the cause of death can only rarely be determined as most afflictions leave no trace on bone. Only the effects of violence, accident, congenital deformity, and a handful of diseases can be seen on bones.
- Evidence for early medicine is found through both written and physical sources. Those cultures that developed writing recorded a number of maladies and their respective cures. Physically, archaeological remains can, at times, show the marks of surgery. Surgical equipment has been recovered from contexts all over the world.
- Demographic archaeology utilizes archaeological information to make estimates about the size, density and growth rate of populations. This can be done through analysis of settlement data as well as the richness of a particular environment in terms of its animal and plant resources.
- Much of the best evidence for early population move-ments comes from the analysis of modern genetic material. The genetic analysis of living populations can only tell us about past civilizations that have living descendants.
Key Concept Identifications
You should be familiar with the meaning and importance of each of the following terms:
How Long Did They Live?
How Were They Related?
- Radioimmunoassay, p. 438
- DNA, pp. 440
- Genes, p. 440
When Did Speech Develop?
Examining Bodies
- Computed axial tomography, pp. 448-49
Population Studies
- Demographic archaeology, p.460
- Paleodemography, p. 460
Genetics and Language Histories
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