Bioarchaeology
Interpreting Behavior from the Human Skeleton

A synthetic treatment of the study of human remains from archaeological contexts for current and future generations of bioarchaeologists.

Clark Spencer Larsen (Author)

9780521547482, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 30 March 2015

654 pages, 124 b/w illus. 56 colour illus. 16 tables
24.8 x 17.5 x 2.9 cm, 1.3 kg

'In the nearly two decades since the first edition, there have been major analytical and methodological advances in the field of bioarchaeology, and they are clearly reflected in Larsen's new edition. … [this is] a comprehensive and inclusive volume that is definitely worth having, even for those who already have a copy of the first edition. … The new edition includes color images and has many more, higher resolution figures in general; this improvement over the first edition enhances the teaching utility of the book, making it a more self-contained resource than before. … [Larsen] succeeds in representing the huge breadth of the field. Readers will learn not only how much can be learned about life in the past using human skeletal material but also how challenging the reconstruction of past behavior can be. This new edition of Bioarchaeology certainly deserves to be on the bookshelves of all scholars in the field.' American Journal of Human Biology

Now including numerous full colour figures, this updated and revised edition of Larsen's classic text provides a comprehensive overview of the fundamentals of bioarchaeology. Reflecting the enormous advances made in the field over the past twenty years, the author examines how this discipline has matured and evolved in fundamental ways. Jargon free and richly illustrated, the text is accompanied by copious case studies and references to underscore the central role that human remains play in the interpretation of life events and conditions of past and modern cultures. From the origins and spread of infectious disease to the consequences of decisions made by humans with regard to the kinds of foods produced, and their nutritional, health and behavioral outcomes. With local, regional, and global perspectives, this up-to-date text provides a solid foundation for all those working in the field.

Preface
1. Introduction
2. Stress and deprivation during growth and development and adulthood
3. Exposure to infectious pathogens
4. Injury and violence
5. Activity patterns 1: articular degenerative conditions and musculo-skeletal modifications
6. Activity patterns 2: structural adaptation
7. Masticatory and nonmasticatory functions: craniofacial adaptation to mechanical loading
8. Isotopic and elemental signatures of diet, nutrition, and life history
9. Biological distance and historical dimensions of skeletal variation
10. Bioarchaeological paleodemography: interpreting age-at-death structures
11. Bioarchaeology: skeletons in context
12. References
Index.

Subject Areas: Biology, life sciences [PS], Mathematics & science [P], Physical anthropology [JHMP], Sociology & anthropology [JH], Society & social sciences [J], Archaeology [HD], Humanities [H]