Bioarchaeology is the study of human remains in archaeological contexts.
An enormous amount of information about both the deceased individual and their society is stored in the human skeleton.
Information on the age and sex of the deceased individual is recorded in the skeleton.
Evidence of disease or illness is also embedded in bone.
Diet, too, may be reflected in the chemical composition of bone.
Field Recording
Studies of human skeletal remains usually begin in the field.
Human skeletons are often poorly preserved and fragile.
Information can be lost when the remains are removed from the ground.
The position and relationships of the individual bones provides evidence on burial posture and condition.
An initial distinction is made in the treatment of the corpse between cremation and inhumation (burial of the body).
Bodies can be buried, either intentionally or accidentally, in a variety of positions.
Intentional inhumation usually involves an extended burial with the body laid out in a natural position.
Burials may be primary or secondary.
Primary burials were interred as a complete corpse.
Secondary burials were likely moved to the burial site some time after death.
Primary burials are usually either extended or flexed.
Secondary burials are usually disarticulated.
Preparation and Sorting
A surprising amount of information can be obtained from the observation and measurement of various features of bones and teeth.
Bones and teeth must be prepared for analysis once they are taken to the laboratory.
Preparation involves cleaning and, in some cases, restoration or reconstruction.
Not all bones of the skeleton always survive or are present.
Cortical bone is the hard, dense bone that provides support and strength in the skeleton, and is more common in the limbs.
Trabecular bone is the spongy bone tissue that makes up the interior of ribs, vertebrae, the pelvis and other bones.
The Human Skeleton
At birth, the human skeleton consists of 270 different bones.
Some of the bones fuse together as an individual grows.
Adults have a total of 206 bones on average.
One way to simplify learning skeletal anatomy is to divide the bones into the axial skeleton and the appendicular skeleton.
There are four major shapes of bones, not including the skull and mandible: long bones, short bones, flat bones and irregular bones.
Example: Cannibalism
There are a number of examples of cannibalism in archaeology.
At the cave of Krapina in Yugoslavia, the bones of at least 13 Neanderthal individuals were found.
They had been burned, split to extract marrow, and treated just like those of other animals at the site.
The Aztecs were reported by the Spanish to have killed, butchered, and eaten thousands of their enemies as sacrificial victims.
Fragments of small, broken and weathered human bones were found throughout the temple precinct of the Aztec capital.
Another example of cannibalism comes from the Southwest U.S.
Skeletal remains from 76 sites in the prehistoric Southwest had indications of cannibalism at more than 40.
One example of the evidence for cannibalism comes from the Mancos Anasazi Pueblo ruin in southwestern Colorado.
Skeletal remains revealed that nearly thirty men, women, and children were butchered and cooked there around A.D. 1100.
Detractors have argued that there are other possible explanations.
A coprolite was found at another site and revealed human myoglobin, proving that human tissue had been eaten.
Several suggestions as to why cannibalism was practiced have been made.
Sex, Age, and Stature
The sex of the skeleton can usually be estimated by examination of the size and shape of the pelvis and the skull.
Adult males are generally taller than females with more robust bones.
The female pelvis is broader and slightly different in shape, with a wider sciatic notch and subpelvic notch, and a larger pelvic outlet.
Females have smaller teeth and mandible and more rounded foreheads.
In males the zygomatic arch tends to be heavier and the eye orbits more square than round.
Tooth eruption and wear are the most reliable indicators of age.
The age of children and adolescents is relatively simple to determine from teeth.
The deciduous teeth of children are replaced by permanent teeth and the timing of the eruption of permanent teeth is well known.
The size and condition of the bones of the skeleton can also be used to estimate age at death.
Body size, as indicated by the length of long bones, is one clue.
The age of epiphysis fusion varies for different bones, and this information can be used to determine the age of death.
Skeletal features used for adult ages include the pelvis and skull, and degenerative changes in bone tissue.
These estimates are usually only reliable within five to ten years.
In adulthood certain bones continue to join together.
Stature can be estimated from measurements of the long bones of the arm or leg.
Archaeological Thinking: Maya Stature
The collapse of the Maya remains one the mysteries of archaeology.
Part of the answer may lie in diet and nutrition.
Individuals buried in stone tombs at the site of Tikal were taller and more robust than those buried in simple graves, indicating a nutritional advantage for the elite.
The hypothesis was that stature declined among the Maya until the collapse around AD 800.
The collapse was arguably due to reduced yields from exhausted agricultural fields and a decline in nutrition.
The actual data, however, do not support this hypothesis.
Stress, Disease, and Trauma
Paleopathology is the study of medical disorders and injury in human skeletal remains.
The health status of past populations can be investigated by recording the nature trauma that affects the skeleton.
Such diseases and injuries include bone fractures, arthritis, and periodontal diseases.
Nutritional problems may be reflected in poorly developed bones and a low average height for the population.
Cause of death can only be determined in a small percentage of burials, but violence is not infrequently reflected in the human skeleton.
Stress during one's lifetime is also revealed in the skeleton.
Malnourishment in childhood causes the disruption of bone growth.
Tooth enamel also reflects childhood stress and malnourishment in an irregular series of lines.
Arthritis results in an accumulation of bone tissue around an afflicted area.
Various infectious diseases may result in bone loss and pitting or the deformation of the skull and other bone surfaces.
Example: Abu Hureyra
The site of Abu Hureyra lies along the Euphrates River in northern Syria.
The ancient settlement is one of the oldest farming villages in the world.
A few hundred burials were examined from the site.
There were signs of unusual disease or wear seen in the skeletal material.
The neck vertebrae were enlarged, suggesting the inhabitants had carried heavy loads on their heads.
Collapsed vertebrae and arthritic big toes were seen only among the young and adult women at the site.
These problems were likely caused by the preparation of the plant foods like wheats and rye.
The roughly ground grain had a damaging effect on the inhabitants' teeth.
Teeth were often fractured and heavily ground down.
Many people lost their teeth at an early age.
Teeth were used for purposes other than eating.
Several individuals exhibited worn grooves on the front teeth associated with working fibers when making baskets.
Heavily developed jaw musculature indicated that teeth were used to chew plant stems to make fiber string and rope.
Example: Raising the Dead: The Mary Rose
The Mary Rose sank at the beginning of a battle against the French on 19 July 1545 on the south coast of England.
The ship was one of the first built intentionally as a warship to carry heavy guns.
Most of the crew of 415 individuals lost their lives.
Many human bones were found during the excavation of the ship, often scattered and jumbled between the decks.
The study of these human remains was a major undertaking.
The scientists were able to determine that approximately 179 individuals were represented among the skeletal remains.
The 92 fairly complete skeletons were used for the determination of age of the members of the crew.
The average member of the crew was a young man in his late teens or early 20s about 5' 7" in height.
The bones provided a great deal more information on the health and activities of the crew.
The presence of several deficiency diseases is suggested in some of the skeletal remains.
Seven percent of the individuals exhibited evidence of childhood dietary deficiency or stress.
The members of the crew suffered from various fractures.
Skeletal evidence for activity was also analyzed.
A pattern of shoulder deformity is associated with the lifelong use of a heavy English longbow as a weapon.
The vertebra of the crew of the reflect the heavy labor that would have been involved in shipboard activities.
Protecting the Past: The Mary Rose Today
Today the ship is being restored and on display in the Mary Rose Museum at the Historic Dockyard at the home of the Royal Navy in Portsmouth England.
Genetic Information
Cells carry the genetic material DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid).
DNA is a long molecular chain of nucleotides, each made up of one of four base units (adenine, cytosine, guanine, or thymine).
These long chains of molecules are called chromosomes.
There are an estimated 50,000 genes in the DNA of a single human being.
Modern DNA
Living populations today are studied to identify genetic differences and the time at which groups of people diverged in the past.
These studies are used to determine how similar or different various groups of people are to each other genetically.
Genetic studies can also provide information on the point in time when humans became a species distinct from an apelike ancestor.
A "molecular clock" estimates the time at which different species or groups separated from a common ancestor.
Humans, chimps, and gorillas indicates diverged between six and four million years ago.
Studies of mitochondrial DNA revealed that Homo sapiens first appeared in southern Africa between 130,000 and 170,000 years ago.
Ancient DNA
Ancient DNA in the nucleus of cells, extracted from archaeological plants and animals, can also be studied.
In many cases, molecules of ancient DNA have been badly degraded by decay over time.
This breakdown of the molecule makes it more difficult to reconstruct the original genetic information.
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) can clone large quantities of material for analysis.
Science In Archaeology: Neanderthal Genealogy
The Neanderthals lived in Europe and the Near East from approximately 200,000 years ago.
They completely disappeared after 30,000 years ago, replaced by Homo sapiens.
Neanderthals were robust, with heavy bones, thick skulls and larger teeth than our own.
The fate of these Neanderthals is open to question.
The archaeological evidence is equivocal.
Evidence from the Near East shows that Neanderthals and modern humans co-existed for a long time.
In Europe, Neanderthals and were replaced by modern-looking humans between 43,000 and 32,000 years ago.
Ancient DNA has been extracted from several Neanderthal bones from several places.
Analysis suggests there was no mating between humans and Neanderthals.
The genetic evidence is far from conclusive as yet and the jury is still out in this scientific trial.
Mortuary Analysis
Mortuary analysis is the study of graves and their contents to learn about past societies and individuals.
Human burials are purposeful deposits of materials placed together in a grave for specific reasons.
Various attributes and relationships that characterized the deceased individual in life may be restated in the grave.
Grave goods, the items buried with individuals at death, are an important source of information about the social organization of prehistoric groups.
Larger, more complex societies with marked social differentiation usually have a greater degree of mortuary variation than less hierarchical groups.
The kind of status relationships operating in a society may be determined from mortuary analysis.
Tomb contents, structure, and location may indicate whether a person held achieved or ascribed status.
Mortuary analysis today frequently includes human taphonomy.
This is the study of the placement and decomposition of the body in the grave in order to better understand the treatment of the dead.
Human taphonomy is a variety of forensic anthropology.
Example: LBK Cemetery at Nitra
The Linearbandkeramik (LBK) is the name given to certain archaeological materials that appear very quickly across Central Europe in the Early Neolithic between 5500 and 5000 B.C.
The sites often have burials either among their long houses or in adjacent cemeteries.
The LBK settlement of Nitra is one of the earliest, found in the country of Slovakia, and dating to ca. 5500 B.C.
Men, women, and children were buried in shallow graves, usually on their back or sides and often facing to the east.
Grave goods are limited and include materials such as heavy stone axes and spondylus shell bracelets or ornaments.
The data from the Nitra cemetery suggests that there was no ascribed status in this population.
Example: Roy Mata
Retoka (or Hat Island) is a small coral atoll some 1.2 miles long and 1/3 mile wide.
The island has been uninhabited since the burial there of a chief named Roy Mata around AD 1265.
Roy Mata is considered the greatest hero of the region.
There are accounts which suggest that people were buried along with the chief.
They were either killed shortly before burial or buried alive.
Excavations were conducted at the island to find the grave of this famous chief.
A collective tomb contained several individuals, including Roy Mata in the center.
More than 35 individuals were buried in some 20 shallow graves to the west and north of the tomb of Roy Mata, as part of his funeral entourage.
The archaeological results from Retoka tallied very closely with the legends and oral history from the area.
Example: Moundville
Moundville is a major prehistoric center that flourished after AD 1300.
Some 800 years ago, Moundville was probably the largest community in North America.
The site itself, located in central Alabama, covered 370 acres and had a population of perhaps 1000 people.
The focus of the site is a set of 20 large platform mounds placed symmetrically around a huge 75 acre plaza.
Highly skilled craftspeople at Moundville produced pottery, stonework, and embossed copper artifacts.
More than 3000 burials were recovered at the site in the mounds, under house floors, and in the general area of the town.
Mortuary analysis clearly reveals evidence of social inequality and ascribed status among the Moundville graves.
Rare and exotic items were buried with individuals of both sexes and all ages.
Grave goods indicate that status for commoners was determined according to sex and age.
Protecting the Past: Moundville Archaeological Park
Today, Moundville is an archaeological park and an important tourist attraction in west-central Alabama.
