Articulating the past : an osteosocial analysis
Date
1992
Authors
Littleton, Judith
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Abstract
This thesis proposed a model of skeletal analysis aimed at the reconstruction of past
social composition. The model comprises five basic steps: recording of age, sex and
pathology; analysis of demographic structure using life tables; identification of
pathological conditions through differential diagnosis; analysis of the causes of death;
and finally, interpretation of these results in terms of the experience of each age class.
The end result is an analysis aimed beyond the comparison of percentages between
skeletal samples to a reconstruction of the living society. This picture is then open to
comparison with ethnographic as well as archaeological sources of evidence.
In order to test this analytical model and its ability to address questions of
biocultural adaptation, two groups of skeletons from Bahrain, the Arabian Gulf, were
examined. These date from c 300 BC to AD 200 and come from two cemeteries: DS3
and Saar. Analysis of burial practices indicates that the Saar sample could be biased
towards older ages but that the DS3 sample is representative of the past population.
Analysis of palaeodemography and palaeopathology indicates that these two
populations faced difficulties due to the agricultural environment in which they lived.
Levels of morbidity and mortality were high during early childhood and later again in the
young adult ages. The older age groups were affected by skeletal fluorosis. This
particular combination of disease and causes of death determines a population structure
which, despite higher mortality levels (particularly amongst adults) does not vary greatly
from small agricultural populations today. Such a population, however, is extremely
vulnerable to economic and environmental crises suggesting that the evident regional
continuity is based upon discontinuous local histories.
The application of the model demonstrates that an osteosocial analysis upon a
single skeletal population can result in a reconstruction of the past living society; that
skeletal analysis can present a dynamic model of past social and environmental
networks.
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Thesis (PhD)
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