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46 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Bioarchaeology |
the study of human remains from archaeological sites |
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Excavated human remains can tell us what about the person's physical attributes |
sex, age, how the person died, appearance, and relationship. |
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Best indicator of sex is ? |
Shape of the pelvis size of bones |
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Age is established by |
growth patterns of bones, teeth, and bone microstructure |
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Best indicators of age |
teeth, for the first 21 years |
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How are teeth studied |
The eruption and replacement of milk teeth, sequence of eruption for permanent teeth, and the degree of wear |
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Bones are used to assess ? |
age. The sequence in which the articulating ends of bones become fused gives a timescale that can be applied to the remains of young people. |
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The thicker the skull of a specimen |
the older the specimen |
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is it difficult to sex children |
yes |
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In order to understand the role of the individual in past societies we study? |
The remains of people |
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Besides written records what is the best way to learn about them ? |
By study human remains |
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By studying human remains we can infer? |
social and economic status, diet, and occupation. |
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To determine culture wide trends, what must archeologists do ? |
must take data from individual burials. |
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Primary goal of analyzing human remains ? |
is to identify sex, age, and the cause of death of the individual. Greater context is seen by combing remains with artifacts associated with the body. |
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Osteology |
scientific study of bones |
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The easiest job for osteologists with a complete skeleton ? |
sexing of an individual |
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The female pelvis is __________, and females have a ________ rib cage and sternum. |
wider shorter |
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Males have _________ bones. |
thicker
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A common sexual dimorphism for men is
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being taller |
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The eruption of the 1st or 2nd set of teeth can be useful to determine age... |
within a year or two. |
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Does pattern of tooth wear differ from culture to culture? |
yes |
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Hunter gatherers tend to have more or less tooth wear? |
less |
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Age can also be determined by measuring how? |
fused some bones are to others |
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At what age does the humerus fuse at the elbows? |
13-19 |
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At what age does the bones fuse near the shoulder ? |
16-25 |
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The plates in the human skull aren mostly fused at what age? |
2-3 . Process isn't fully completed until adulthood |
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tibia and fibula fuse near the ankle at |
16-20 |
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osteological record can be used to determine ? |
the cause of death or can be a record of injuries or stresses an individual dealt with during their lifetime |
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Common stresses visible in human remains include osteological signs of ? |
disease, joint wear, unique muscle development, bone degeneration, defensive wounds |
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Burials are deliberate depositions of human remains. It shows obvious signs of ? |
care with the addition of grave goods, use of a special location, or a special positioning of the body |
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The first burial dates back to as long as ________ years ago, where a pink axe was found with the remains of 27 individuals. (Homo heidelbergensis) |
350,000 |
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Describe Neanderthal burials |
people were buried with stone tools and flowers. Bodies were covered with red ochre. |
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We see repeated, patterned burials that suggest the concept of afterlife with who? |
modern humans |
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During the upper paleolithic, burials become more? |
frequent with more elaborate burial practices becoming patterned. ex: red ochre is widespread, placement of hands |
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During the Mesolithic what happened to the burials ? |
people began to be buried in the same place over time, and the first cemeteries can be found. |
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During the Neolithic what happened to the burials? |
archeologists find the first constructed or modified places for burials. Tombs or monuments are what people of high ranking get. |
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Interpreting burials |
It helps to reveal more info about the person whose buried. Begin to identify culture specific patterns related to economies, social structure, and ideology |
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1) when was the person buried? |
Trying to identify trends in burial customs over time. Understanding why these customs change over time reveals a lot about the culture that the individual belonged to . |
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When did the use of body bags start and when did it become common? |
after WWII and became common in the 60s
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2) why was this person buried here? Why is location important? |
Locations that are most suitable are chosen for a variety of reason. It reflects status or individual and can reflect a culture's ideology. |
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3) what were they buried with? What does it refect? |
In most societies, people are buried with grave goods. Types and amounts vary from culture to culture . Status and wealth is reflected, in accordance with beliefs about the afterlife. |
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4) how was the body prepared for burial ? What does this say about the culture? |
Different cultures prepare the body in different ways. Bodies may be decorated or positioned in a way to reflect the culture's ideology and thoughts about the afterlife |
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Late Neolithic burials |
Bodies are laid to rest, allowed to decompose and then the bones are collected and buried in an urn (secondary burials) |
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Red ochre is symbolic of |
the individual returning to the womb |
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Is positioning of the body important in most cultures? most bodies are positioned __________. |
yes. 'at rest' |
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Some cultures practice_______ as part of a burial practice. More is left when methods are ancient and doesn't involved closed oven. |
cremation.
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