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A major problem in the archaeological study of human remains is how to classify and interpret burials either interred in an unusual fashion (face‐down, hands tied, etc.) or found in non‐normative contexts (i.e. without churchyards in the Christian period). There are many possible explanations for such ‘deviant’ burials, and this chapter seeks to provide a careful archaeological consideration of how, for example, murder victims might be distinguished from battle‐ or massacre victims, and in particular, how execution victims and cemeteries might be identified. The chapter examines in detail the nature of previous interpretations and advances a set of archaeologically attested criteria as an aid to future study of ‘deviant’ human remains.

Human remains provide a fund of data for documenting and interpreting the quality of life, living conditions, and the costs and benefits of the foraging-to-farming transition and the dependence on domesticated food sources, especially those related to the adoption and spread of plant staples that today feed much of the world’s population, including the superfoods—wheat, rice and maize. This chapter presents comparative results of human bioarchaeological research programmes where human skeletal samples are large and well documented and where archaeological context (settlement systems, dietary reconstruction) is comprehensive: west and east Asia, Europe, and North America. These investigations reveal largely similar but variable health outcomes relating to the foraging-to-farming transition. The record shows a general picture of compromised health either with the shift from foraging to farming or with intensified farming.

The Aztalan site sits on the banks of the Crawfish River in Jefferson County, Wisconsin, and has been protected as a state park for more than fifty years. Prominent architectural features such as a substantial stockade and platform mounds are believed to date to the Mississippian Period. The first excavations at Aztalan took place in 1838 and were carried out by W. T. Sterling in an attempt to ascertain the nature of the “ruins” of the stockade. Although no cemetery has been documented at Aztalan, human remains have been found in one of three sets of contexts on the site proper indicative of Aztalan mortuary practices: eleven adult individuals were recovered from what was originally described as a “crematorium” on the second stage of the northwest pyramidal mound; primary inhumations are limited in number and usually consist of a flexed or partially flexed individual placed in a burial pit with few or no grave goods; scattered pieces of human bone recovered from refuse pits, storage pits, so-called firepits, or general habitation debris.

This chapter deals with the question of the place of origin of the inhabitants in the Campeche cemetery by undertaking isotopic examination of the human remains. It focuses specifically on the African inhabitants of the cemetery and includes data on new burials as well as information on their diet. This study uses its own methods and procedures along with the results of several analyses. To this end, the isotopic methods used in these investigations are described. Strontium isotopes are employed to examine the place of origin of these individuals. Relevant information on the geology of the Yucatan and surrounding regions is provided to enhance the context of the strontium isotope investigations. Carbon and nitrogen isotopes in bone and teeth are measured to obtain information on diet and ethnicity. In conclusion, the findings are discussed in terms of broader issues of place of birth, diet, local ethnic integration, and social interaction.

This chapter examines the patterns and diversity in Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age mortuary practices from North-East England. In particular, it looks at the deposition of human remains along with various artefacts and materials. By identifying artefacts and burials as belonging to certain types, the chapter reproduces inversions or packs objects into black boxes so they can circulate productively in the rest of the study. It also considers the shift from the deposition of corpses to cremation prior to deposition, along with changes in the attendant furniture and architecture of mortuary deposits resulting in different effects, experiences, and identities. In addition, it traces the chronological patterns in mortuary practices such as the continuing and changing uses of pottery, cists, graves, and pits. Finally, the chapter analyses the inclusion of flint and bronze knives and daggers with the dead from c.2200 BC and the use of burnt or burning wood at the site of deposition.

This chapter discusses the history of paleopathology in the UK (England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland). Paleopathology is considered a field within bioarchaeology, which is the study of human remains from archaeological sites with emphasis upon archaeological and historical contextualization. The chapter focuses on the study of skeletal and cremated human remains with few references to the more complete bog bodies. It covers the following periods: the early years (late nineteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries), milestones of the 1950s–1980s, and from the 1980s onward. It also considers developments in paleopathology training, data recording standards, databases, skeletal collections, and research funding.

This chapter looks at another of Alexander and Kellogg's major trips, where they visited several countries in Europe. It begins by noting Alexander's restlessness upon returning to the ranch after their Mojave Desert excursion, along with her increasing interest in human evolution. Alexander planned a trip to Europe after several early human remains were unearthed there. Their first stop was England, where they visited the British Museum, Westminster Abbey, and even the local Citroën dealership. It was here that Alexander went in search of the Kégresse, which was an automobile that had caterpillar treads instead of rear wheels. After their trip to England, the two women traveled to France, where they were given a demonstration of the Kégresse, and finally to Spain.

Weiss and Springer provide historical summary with specific case examples of American Indian legislation and court decisions. The most important of these for the study of human remains is NAGPRA, which was enacted in 1990.

A striking feature of debates concerning the disposition of Native American human remains is their invocation of the conventional domains of science, property, and kinship. Strong political claims about repatriation tend to assert the primacy of one domain over the others. Yet in contemporary North American social contexts, these domains have heterarchical relations, in which no single perspective dominates, rather than hierarchical relations organized by a fixed ranking system. Resolving disputes in heterarchical systems requires negotiation across domains rather than privileging a single domain. This requires the participants in these debates to understand how and why competing claims are fashioned. Yet deconstructing the terms of reference in heated debates may result in political backlash even when the goal of the analysis is to identify common ground.

This chapter presents conclusions about the physical, social, demographic and health circumstances surrounding the end of a period of Indian prehsitory known as the Deccan Chalcolithic (2200–700 B.C.). Paleoclimate research demonstrates that there was no large-scale climate shift at the end of this period in Indian prehistory and that, in fact, civilization has flourished in India within the context of a semiarid environment for at least 5,000 years. Local environmental degredation is supported by the archaeological record. Soil salinization due to unsustainable agricultural practices to feed growing settlements provides an adequate explanation for the abandonment of the majority of Chalcolithic settlements around 1000 B.C. The biodemographic profiles of the human population at Inamgaon suggest that socio-sanitation problems and starvation were an increasing problem. The chapter challenges previously accepted models for understanding the Deccan Chalcolithic period and presents a new synthetic model for understanding human–environment interactions in Indian prehistory.

This chapter discusses how bioarchaeologists understand humans’ past activities, biology, health, diseases, and culture. It focuses on the study of human remains from the Paleoindian period, including Kennewick Man, Browns Valley Man, the Buhl Burial, and others.

This chapter discusses the history of paleopathology in Southeast Asia. The discipline of paleopathology in the region has a short history, which is reflected in the limited availability of human skeletal remains for analysis due to the relatively late development and sporadic history of archaeology. Despite early archaeological activity by nineteenth-century European colonists in countries such as French Indochine, Malaysia, Burma, Indonesia, Philippines, and Taiwan, a perception persisted until the 1970s among Western scholars that Southeast Asia was rather a late developer, with its position at a crossroads between the major civilizations of India and China resulting in the development of an “Indo-Chinese amalgam” rather than deserving of rigorous research in its own right. Until the mid-twentieth century, research on available human skeletal remains focused on the interminable exercise of morphological description with the aim of creating a human taxonomy.

This chapter examines the funerary practices in Brittany. It highlights the scarcity of preserved human remains and discusses evidence for multiple burials and collective tombs and the model for the development of Neolithic funerary practices proposed by Christine Boujot. It also describes the collected human remains from the Neolithic burial south of the Loire and the Normandy passage graves.

In this introductory chapter, Weiss and Springer introduce the two basic themes of the book: 1) the value of the study of human remains, and 2) the barriers or limitations they see to that study within the parameters of NAGPRA (the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act).

This book investigates the archaeology of Early Bronze Age mortuary practices in North-East England from a ‘relational realist’ perspective. It shows how archaeologists undertaking regional synthesis study an assemblage or entanglement along with prehistoric bones, objects, materials, and structures, as well as practices, materials, technologies, people, and ideas generated in subsequent periods. It also explores the mortuary deposits of human remains, materials and artefacts, together with the associated features and architecture, with emphasis on how each changed over time. In this introductory chapter, the value of relational realism in studying mortuary deposits from the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age North-East England (2500–1500 BC) is explained.