History of Bioarchaeology

History of
Bioarcheology
ANGEL SARA THANGAMUNI
YR1.2 GR7
What is BIOARCHAEOLOGY?
 Bioarcheology is the study of archived human and animal remains.
 The term was first proposed by the British archeologist Grahame Clark
to denote the investigations of animal bones from archeological sites.
 Since its introduction in 1972, this term has been applied to encompass
additional scientific domains and has also been used for the
multidisciplinary papers collected in this special issue.
 Egyptian archeology has been a widely accepted aspect of

bioarcheology.
 Here a wealth of information has been collected with the applications

of new techniques to ancient tissues such as X-ray analyses applied in
the field to archived human bones
PALEODEMOGRAPHY
 Bioarcheologists sometimes create life tables, a type
of cohort (group exhibiting a particular characteristic of
interest) analysis, to understand the demographic
characteristics (such as risk of death or sex ratio) of a
given age cohort within a population.
 Age and sex are crucial variables in the construction of a
life table, although this information is often not available
to bioarcheologists.
 Therefore, it is often necessary to estimate the age and sex
of individuals based on specific morphological
characteristics of the skeleton.
Bioarchaeology: a multi-disciplinary field
 As technology and archaeological practices have
evolved, so has the field as a whole.
 One specialty is called bioarcheology (a
specialized type of physical or biological
anthropology).
 Bioarcheology is the study of human
skeletal remains from
archaeological sites. This discipline allows us to
reconstruct past human activities,
disease and overall health
patterns, and much more.
 Like a lot of scientific endeavors, bioarcheology is a blend of multiple academic disciplines,
including paleodemography (the study of demography of ancient
populations), paleogenetic (the application of genetics to paleontology) and mortuary
studies (the study of dead bodies).
 People from different countries have various names for bioarcheology, so an extremely precise
definition is elusive.
 European researchers, for instance, often refer to many aspects of bioarcheology with other
descriptors, such as osteoarcheology (the archaeological study of bones)
and palaeoosteology (the study of ancient bones).
 Plus, in European countries, archaeology and anthropology are considered different fields, yet
this distinction doesn't happen in the United States.
HOW DOES BIOARCHAEOLOGY WORK?
 Bioarcheologists analyze burials, as well as prehistoric diets, dental anthropology, health and nutrition,
paleopathology, paleodemography, and even search for clues about a population's occupations and behaviors.
 They look for changes in patterns of malnutrition and disease over many generations of a society, reconstruct
human migration, and track population growth or decline.
 Perhaps most importantly, bioarcheologists expand our understanding all of these variables in a historical context.
 Before they can construct their elaborate theories, though, these scientists have to dig hard for answers.
Sometimes, that means they literally grab a shovel and hit the dirt.
The Bones of Bioarcheology
 Bones and other human remains are often the most important evidence for the theories that
bioarchaeologists construct.
 It would be easy to get swept up in the broad intellectual scope of bioarchaeology, but what it
all comes down to is this -- the bones.
 Human bodies are notoriously fragile in the face of decomposition.
 When we die, our flesh quickly degrades due to environmental conditions and microbes that
feed on our remains.
 For the most part, our hard, durable skeletons are all that's left of us, and even those begin to
break down over time. So bones, in essence, become centerpieces of evidence as
bioarchaeologists work to unravel mysteries about ancient peoples.
UNDERSTANDING THE HUMAN SKELETON
 Reconstructing ancient societies requires meticulous work, especially for bioarchaeologists,

who must balance aspects of biology, archaeology and culture.
 These scientists are getting better at creating a more comprehensive understanding of skeletal
and dental remains, both of which tell stories in and of themselves.
 To experienced eyes, bones are full of clues about the life of a human being.
 A bioarchaeologist can usually determine the sex of an individual due to differences in male and
female anatomy.
 Cranial and pelvic attributes, for instance, often help sex a skeleton. But there's a lot more to
learn.
 An analysis of human teeth can provide all sorts of information about a person's diet and
whether he or she ever suffered from malnutrition.
DETERMINING SEX OF THE SKELETON USING CRANIAL AND PELVIC EVIDENCES
GEEKY SIDE OF BIOARCHAEOLOGY
 DNA analysis can help bioarchaeologists follow a genetic trail that helps them reconstruct
a population's movement and reproduction patterns and find other clues to how ancient
people lived.
 Bioarchaeologists employ several modern technologies to aid their work.
 X-rays, for example, find details in both structure and damage in bones and teeth.
 Scientists can reconstruct diet using techniques such as stable isotope analysis.
 For example, they might use a mass spectrometer to vaporize samples, which break down into
various isotopes, or particles of an element that differ in their molecular weight.
 The ratio of heavier particles to lighter ones for the same element helps determine what sort of
carbon or nitrogen a person consumed in his or her lifetime.
 A high ratio of nitrogen isotopes can point to a meat-heavy diet; a high ratio of carbon isotopes
can indicate consumption of plants like maize or sorghum, while a low ratio of carbon isotopes
can indicate consumption of other plants like potatoes or wheat.

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History of

 Egyptian archeology has been a widely accepted aspect of

 Here a wealth of information has been collected with the applications

 Reconstructing ancient societies requires meticulous work, especially for bioarchaeologists,

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