Bioarchaeology of Ancient Northern Vietnam

Abstract

This volume represents the first major bioarchaeological investigation of human health and behaviour in ancient northern Vietnam. Using dental and skeletal samples excavated by Vietnamese archaeologists from the 1960s through to 1990s, this study compares and contrasts the human condition in two key temporal periods in Vietnamese prehistory: mid-Holocene sedentary hunter-gatherers and the emerging Bronze and Iron Ages. Specifically, osteoarthritis, oral health, markers of physiological stress in childhood (enamel hypoplasia and cribra orbitalia), general disease and traumatic injury are explored and discussed in detail. The wealth of data provided by the author will furnish the interested reader with a solid comparative basis from which to explore other aspects of health and behaviour in ancient Southeast Asia specifically, and the broader region in general.