Trends in Biological Anthropology 1

Karina Gerdau-Radonić, Kathleen McSweeney

• Publisher: Oxbow Books for the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology
• Year: 2015
• eBook ISBN: 9781782978398
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Biology
• Index: Social Sciences

This first volume in the series Trends in Biological Anthropology presents 11 papers. The study of modern baboons as proxies to understand extinct hominin species' diet and the interpretation of skeletal degenerative joint disease on the skeletal remains of extant primates are presented as case studies using methods and standards usually applied to human remains. The methodological theme continues with an assessment of the implications for interpretation of different methods used to record Linear Enamel Hypoplasia (LEH) and on the use and interpretation of three dimensional modeling to generate pictures of the content of collective graves. Three case studies on palaeopathology are presented. First is the analysis of a 5th–16th century skeletal collection from the Isle of May compared with one from medieval Scotland in an attempt to ascertain whether the former benefitted from a healing tradition. Study of a cranium found at Verteba Cave, western Ukraine, provides a means to understand interpersonal interactions and burial ritual during the Trypillian culture. A series of skulls from Belgrade, Serbia, displays evidence for beheading. Two papers focus on the analysis disarticulated human remains at the Worcester Royal Infirmary and on Thomas Henry Huxley's early attempt to identify a specific individual through analysis of skeletal remains. The concept and definition of 'perimortem' particularly within a Forensic Anthropology context are examined and the final paper presents a collaborative effort between historians, archaeologists, museum officers, medieval re-enactors and food scientists to encourage healthy eating among present day Britons by presenting the ill effects of certain dietary habits on the human skeleton.

Table of contents

• Contributors
• The Trends in Biological Anthropology Series
• Introduction
• 1. Can Extant Primates Serve as Models to Determine the Dietary Ecology of Hominins?The Case of Paranthropines
• 2. Recording Primate Spinal Degenerative Joint Disease Using a Standardised Approach
• 3. Enamel Hypoplasia in Post-Medieval London: A Reassessment of the Evidencefor Childhood Health
• 4. Archaeoanthropology: How to Construct a Picture of the Past?
• 5. Palaeopathology of the Isle of May
• 6. First Evidence for Interpersonal Violence in Ukraine’s Trypillian Farming Culture:Individual 3 from Verteba Cave, Bilche Zolote
• 7. Beheading at the Dawn of the Modern Age: The Execution of Noblemen duringAustro-Ottoman Battles for Belgrade in the Late 17th Century
• 8. The Remains of a Humanitarian Legacy: Bioarchaeological Reflections of the AnatomizedHuman Skeletal Assemblage from the Worcester Royal Infirmary
• 9. Thomas Henry Huxley (AD 1825–1895): Pioneer of Forensic Anthropology
• 10. The Concept of Perimortem in Forensic Science
• 11. You Are What You Ate: Using Bioarchaeology to Promote Healthy Eating