ANTH 3405: Human Skeletal Analysis

Like the previous edition, this Second Edition is organized into five parts with contributing chapters written by experts in the field of human skeletal biology: Part One covers theory and application; Part Two discusses morphological analyses of bone, teeth, and age changes; Part Three reviews prehistorichealth and disease; Part Four examines chemical and genetic analysis of hard tissues; and Part Five closes with coverage of quantitative methods and population studies. Each chapter includesa review of recent studies, descriptions of analytical techniques and underlying assumptions, theory, methodological advances, and speculation about future research.

Bioarchaeology is one of the lesser-known fields of physical anthropology and yet it is one of the most researched topics in physical anthropology. Bioarchaeology, an ever-growing dynamic research field, is the study of human skeletal remains from archaeological sites to aid in reconstructing the biology and culture of past populations. Bioarchaeology has gained in popularity around the world and we have a renaissance of anthropological studies coming from both Western and Eastern Europe. North and South American anthropologists continue to make significant contributions to the field of bioarchaeology as well. The emphasis is on helping students understand the most current research coming from both the New and Old World published in the top peer-reviewed journals. Additionally, this book provides a brief history of bioarchaeology, a review of bone biology, and helpful introduction and summary sections at the beginning and end of each chapter. To assist students in studying and to provide discussion points, a list of key terms and chapter questions are provided at the end of each chapter. Finally, there are over 40 illustrations, photos, and graphs to help students grasp key concepts throughout the book.

Osteoarchaeology: A Guide to the Macroscopic Study of Human Skeletal Remains covers the identification of bones and teeth, taphonomy, sex, ancestry assessment, age estimation, the analysis of biodistances, growth patterns and activity markers, and paleopathology. The book aims to familiarize the reader with the main applications of osteoarchaeology and provide the necessary knowledge required for the implementation of a broad range of osteological methods. It is ideal as a complement to existing textbooks used in upper level undergraduate and graduate courses on osteoarchaeology, human osteology, and, to some extent, forensic anthropology. Pedagogical features include ample illustrations, case study material, revision exercises, and a glossary. Additional features comprise macros that facilitate data processing and analysis, as well as an extensive chapter on applied statistics. Contains coverage of nearly every aspect of human osteological macroscopic analysis Presents detailed descriptions of the application of different methods Includes a variety of online resources, including macros designed by the author for the calculation of the number of individuals in commingled assemblages, processing cranial landmarks and nonmetric traits, and more