Bioarchaeology: A Body of Knowledge
Bioarchaeology: A Body of Knowledge
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| Elizabeth Mills, a graduate student in bioarchaeology at the University of Central Florida, measuring a cranium. |
Archaeologists learn about people and cultures from the past by studying
the “stuff” they leave behind and the remnants of the places they used to live.
Often, archaeologists are able to analyze artifacts and ecofacts
(natural objects that are meaningful to the site: such as animal
bone, plants, charcoal from a fire…etc.) to learn about a prehistoric diet or
lifestyle. There are some limits, however, to what we can learn about ancient
populations through looking at these things. Archaeologists who are concerned
with learning about the health of a population, or the life history of an
individual, can turn to the population itself to gain some answers to these
questions and many more.
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| A skeleton with selected bones labeled. From: http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/ |
Archaeologists who specialize in the study of human
remains from archaeological sites are called bioarchaeologists. The human body
is an excellent record-keeper. Even after thousands of years body tissues such as bone, hair, nails, and even preserved skin can yield
invaluable information about a person’s life history, such as:
- What kinds of food did they eat? Did they get adequate nutrition?
- Were they healthy as an adult? As a child?
- Did this person migrate during their lifetime?
- Did this person suffer from any major injuries during their life?
- What kind of work did this person do?
They can also ask questions about the culture the person was a part of:
- Did men and women perform similar jobs?
- Did the culture have advanced medical technology? Could they mend bones, perform surgery?
- Did the culture have any unique ideas about beauty that are reflected in the skeleton or on the body?
Believe
it or not, if a bio-archaeologist was to study your bones, they could answer a
lot of these questions about you! But how? Here’s the shorthand version:
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| A skeleton being excavated by bioarchaeologists. Image from: ancient-origins.com |
Bone can be preserved for thousands of years. Bioarchaeologists
have many techniques to study bone to answer specific questions, including: gross analysis, microscopic analysis and chemical analysis.
When they simply
hold a bone and inspect it by looking at it (with no microscope) to evaluate
its shape and condition, it is called “gross analysis” (don’t worry, it’s not
really gross). There are many things a bio-archaeologist can see on bone
through gross analysis. For starters, it is possible to establish whether the person was a male or female, whether they were an adult or a child, and what the person's ancestry may have been. The bioarchaeologist can also discover evidence of disease, nutritional deficiency,
injury, and even purposeful changes to bone for purposes of beauty through this type of analysis!
Bio-archaeologists who specialize
in Florida archaeology have done a lot of research to determine the impact that
European colonization and missions had on the health and lifestyle of the Native
American populations who once lived here. The book “Bioarchaeology of Spanish
Florida” edited by Clark Spencer Larsen is a great source of information if you
are interested in learning about the effects that colonization had on the
Native People of Florida from a bioarchaeological perspective. I highly
recommend checking it out (literally!)
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| Image from: Amazon.com |
That's all for this time, but next time tune in to learn a little about bioarchaeological excavations.
Works Referenced:
"Artifacts and Features." Learning Center of the American Southwest. 18 September 2013. Web. 31 March 2016.
Hutchinson DL, Larsen CS. 2001. Enamel Hypoplasia and Stress in La Florida. In: Larsen CS, ed. Bioarchaeology of Spanish Florida: The Impact of Colonialism. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida.