Bones of Complexity : Bioarchaeological Case Studies of Social Organization and Skeletal Biology

Drawing on wide-ranging studies of prehistoric human remains from Europe, northern Africa, Asia, and the Americas, this groundbreaking volume explores how social structure can be reflected in the human skeleton. Contributors identify many ways in which social, political, and economic inequality have affected health, disease, metabolic insufficiency, growth, and well-being.

"Provides data and information that can be used for comparative analysis and as a foundation for further exploration. Inviting research from various geographic, cultural, and temporal locales from around the globe, the editors present a complex snapshot of the past."--Anne L. Grauer, editor of A Companion to Paleopathology"This cohesive collection of empirically based studies integrates biological and archaeological data in order to investigate social behavior and its linkages with human health. Relevant to anyone interested in the intersections of culture, health, and biology."--Jaime M. Ullinger, codirector, Quinnipiac University Bioanthropology Research InstituteDrawing upon wide-ranging studies of prehistoric human remains from Europe, northern Africa, Asia, and the Americas, this groundbreaking volume unites physical anthropologists, archaeologists, and economists to explore how social structure can be reflected in the human skeleton. Contributors identify many ways in which social, political, and economic inequality have affected health, disease, metabolic insufficiency, growth, and diet. The volume makes a strong case for a broader integration of bioarchaeology with mortuary archaeology as its distinctive approaches offer new ways to look at power, resources, social organization, and the shape of human lives over time and across cultures.Haagen D. Klaus, associate professor of anthropology at George Mason University, is coeditor of Ritual Violence in the Ancient Andes: Reconstructing Sacrifice on the North Coast of Peru. Amanda R. Harvey is a doctoral candidate in anthropology at the University of Nevada, Reno. Mark N. Cohen, University Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Distinguished Teaching Professor of Anthropology at SUNY Plattsburgh, is coeditor of Paleopathology at the Origins of Agriculture.A volume in the series Bioarchaeological Interpretations of the Human Past: Local, Regional, and Global Perspectives, edited by Clark Spencer Larsen