Bioarchaeology is the branch of archaeology that deals with the animal and human bones of ancient times, mainly found in the archaeological sites of recent times. It is primarily the study of human biological remains by focusing on the cultural context. The term Bioarchaeology was first coined in 1972 by British archaeologist Graham Clark i.e. the study of animals' bones from archaeological sites. However, the term was refined in the year 1977, and now according to the modern definition, Bioarchaeology actually means the study of the skeletal remains of humans from archaeological sites.
Bioarchaeology, therefore, studies the basic details of all the past remains related to human kinds like their skeletons, bones, and other physical remains if available. This discipline of archaeology also allows the reconstruction of past human activities, diseases, overall health patterns, and much more. By reconstructing the past remains, bioarchaeologists can find similarities between the ancient remains of the past and the present, they can analyze each and every detail of the human remains and then compare them with the present human kinds or civilization.
Bioarchaeologists generally, analyze human burials and prehistoric diets, health, and nutrition, and also they search for clues about the occupation of people and human behavior of the past as knowing the past one can try to change or even change their present lifestyle which can also benefit them in some way or the other. They look for changes in patterns of malnutrition and diseases over many generations of society and try to reconstruct human migration and track the population growth or decline of the past. Through the analysis of past human remains the determination of sex and age can be studied by discovering the archaeological remains of the skeletons of the past. So, through the study of Bioarchaeology one will be able to study all the unique details of the human remains of the past.
Analysis(Bioarchaeology) of the Skeletal Remains of the Past
Bio-archaeology mainly deals with the skeletal remains of the humans of the past and this can be done by focusing on the following ways:
Excavation and Recovery
The excavation of skeletal remains of the past needs to be followed minutely by keeping in mind some of the basic steps like:
⦁During the time of excavation, the bones of the skeleton should be left on the ground until the whole skeleton has been excavated because it can lead to the destruction of some parts of the skeleton which will create a serious problem for the archaeologists.
⦁The excavation site must be carefully examined and analyzed to collect each and every piece of evidence of the past human remains and also the excavated skeleton must be photographed and drawn with the name of the site, and the number of the grave.
⦁At the time of the skeleton excavation, all relevant and important data should be written on the grave so that the archaeologists can get a clear idea of the past remains which will help them in excavating further.
⦁The recovery of the bones should be done in a slow and steady manner so that no mistake is made by the archaeologists at the time of the excavation. A record book of skeletal remains should be kept as work progresses to ensure that nothing is missed.
⦁At the time of excavation if wet bones are discovered then they should be first dried up before transportation but should not be kept in direct sunlight for a long period of time otherwise it might cause certain damage to the skeletal structure.
⦁The skeletal remains of the human including the bones should be kept separately after the excavation as cranial, long bones and short bones should be stored in different paper bags before transportation.
⦁All the relevant data regarding the bones of the human remains (name of the site, grave number, date of excavation, etc.) should be written clearly in the paper bags with waterproof ink to get a clear idea about the excavation remains.
⦁An archaeologist should never pick up the skull of any human remains by inserting fingers into the eye orbits as it might lead to damage to the past evidence which can be a great loss.
⦁Bio archaeologists should handle the skull properly so that no parts of it get destroyed or the teeth get misplaced.
⦁Packaging of the bones of the skeleton should be done very carefully as heavy bones should not be packed with fragile or weak bones as they may break easily.
⦁Use of chemicals is strictly restricted as the harmful substances of the chemical lead to discoloring of the skeleton leading to certain damage.
Humans and Non-human Remains
The archaeological remains of the past consist of both animal and human bones and so the analysis of them should be done in a detailed and clear manner so that distinction should be done in a distinct way without any mistakes.
Differences that can be seen in human and non-human remains are identified as follows:
⦁Articular shapes and surfaces tend to be larger and more carved in non-human remains than in animal skeletons. So, the discovery of the ancient remains of the past should be examined carefully.
⦁Muscle attachment sites are larger and strong in human remains than the animal remains of the past. These differences can be clearly seen after the excavation is done in a detailed manner.
⦁Long bones in humans are straight and less rugged than in other mammals as they are of different sizes and patterns so a comparison between human and non-human bones is a big must.
⦁If fused bones are found from the archaeological sites then it is definitely identified as human remains because animal bones are not fused generally and are mainly in parts.
⦁The thickness of the bones in humans and animals are different in size and pattern so, it can be easily identified from the remains which bones are of animals and other mammals.
⦁Non-human bones show coordinated layers of bones which cannot be found in animals and through this, it can be clearly distinguished whether the bones are of animals or humans.
Age estimation
The human skeletal remains that will be excavated from the archaeological sites can also give a clear idea about the estimation of the age they had during death. The primary assumption in age estimation is that an individual's skeletal age is closely associated with their chronological age. Age can be estimated through various ways like changes in the patterns of growth and developmental changes in the skeleton. For instance, in children age is basically estimated by assessing their dental development or long bone length but it will be difficult to identify and determine the age once the teeth are fully developed. Whereas, age estimation in adults is different which can be identified mainly by the auricular surface of the ilium, the sternal end of the 4th rib, and dental attrition. Also, bio archaeologists might face certain difficulties in excavating the ancient remains of the past because, until the age of 30, the bones keep on growing. Different bones are joined or combined at different stages of life so difficulties may arise during their excavation as some bones might not follow the correct stages of growth which can mess with your analysis.
Sex determination
Differences in male and female skeletal remains excavated by bio archaeologists are used mainly to determine the biological sex of human skeletons. During excavation, it cannot be fully identified which bones are female and which are male as many such differences will be there which will make it difficult to judge. Identifying skeletons is basically based on the observation that biological males and biological females differ most in the skull and pelvis and bio archaeologists mainly focus on these parts of the body when determining sex, although other body parts can also be used. Pelvic and cranial features are considered to be the foremost indicators of the sex of the skeleton. Still, there may be certain loopholes in identifying the exact sex of the skeletons as they are from the prehistoric era and most of their minute features of them might get destroyed or are no more of any importance because of their late excavation.
Significance of Bio-archaeology
Bioarchaeology is a significant discipline of archaeology as it deals with an important aspect by studying in detail the human and non-human remains of the past. Bioarchaeologists employ several modern technologies to aid their work. They made use of X-rays to find the details in both structure and damage in bones and teeth. Also, by identifying the skeletal remains the age and sex of the individual can also be found after excavation. DNA from human remains of the prehistoric era can be used to determine the sex of individuals, and can even be used to infer marriage patterns. Therefore, bioarchaeology plays a very important role in the field of archaeology as one will be able to know as a great deal about the past by excavating different types of skeletal remains and analyzing them clearly and minutely to know each and every detail of the past life.
Bioarchaeology, therefore, is a rich branch of archaeology where bioarchaeologists are often allotted important tasks from the past related to excavation of the human and non-human remains and analyzing them in a detailed way to get a proper idea about their lifestyle, age, sex, etc.
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