Abstract
Techniques for the analysis of bone and teeth that get below the anatomical surface to utilize preserved collagen and apatite have become central to understanding aspects of ancestry, kinship, health, diet, disease, growth, and development for ancient and historic groups. Ethical issues abound in this area because it entails genetic and biomedical research using tissues from human remains, and this comes with all the attendant complexities of informed consent and weighing the costs and benefits. A very brief synopsis of what some of these special applications can provide in terms of additional information about identity, ancestry, and migration is provided.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Agarwal, S. C., Glencross, B. A., & Beauchesne, P. (2011). Bone growth, maintenance and loss in the Neolithic community of Çatalhöyük, Turkey: Preliminary results. In Archaeological research facility laboratory reports (pp. 1–33). Berkeley: Archaeological Research Facility, UC Berkeley.
Blakely, R. L. (1989). Bone strontium in pregnant and lactating females from archaeological samples. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 80(2), 173–185.
Brodwin, P. (2002). Genetics, identity, and the anthropology of essentialism. Anthropological Quarterly, 75(2), 323–330.
Coltrain, J. B., Janetski, J. C., & Carlyle, S. W. (2007). The stable- and radio-isotope chemistry of western basketmaker burials: Implications for early Puebloan diets and origins. American Antiquity, 72(2), 301–321.
Deloria, V., Jr. (1997). Red earth, white lies: Native Americans and the myth of scientific fact. Golden: Fulcrum Publishing.
Drabiak-Syed, K. (2010). Lessons from Havasupai Tribe v. Arizona State University Board of regents: Recognizing group, cultural, and dignitary harms as legitimate risks warranting integration into research practice. Journal of Health and Biomedical Law, 6, 175–225.
Echo-Hawk, R. C. (2000). Ancient history in the new world: Integrating oral traditions and the archaeological record in deep time. American Antiquity, 65(2), 267–290.
Harry, D. (2009). Indigenous peoples and gene disputes. The Chicago-Kent Law Review, 84, 147.
Katzenberg, M. A. (2001). Destructive analyses of human remains in the age of NAGPRA and related legislation. In Out of the past: The history of human osteology at the University of Toronto. Ontario: CITD Press. Retrieved from http://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/citd/Osteology/Katzenberg.html. Accessed February 15, 2013.
Kemp, B. M., & Schurr, T. G. (2010). Ancient and modern genetic variation in the Americas. In B. M. Auerbach (Ed.), Human variation in the new world: The integration of archaeology and biological anthropology (pp. 12–50). Carbondale: Occasional Papers, No. 38, Center for Archaeological investigations, Southern Illinois University.
Los Angeles Times. (1991). A tribe reveals its deadly secret from the grave: Sophisticated new tests indicate Omahas were decimated in the last century by poisoning caused by handling of lead. December 18, 1991.
Malhi, R. S., Kemp, B. M., Eshleman, J. A., Cybulski, J. S., Smith, D. G., Cousins, S., et al. (2007). Haplogroup M discovered in prehistoric North America. Journal of Archaeological Science, 34, 642–648.
Marks, J. (2005). Your body, my property: The problem of colonial genetics in a post-colonial world. In L. Meskell & P. Pels (Eds.), Embedding ethics: Shifting boundaries of the anthropological profession (pp. 29–46). New York: Berg.
Martin, D. L., Akins N. J., Goodman A. H., & Swedlund A. C. (2001). Harmony and discord: Bioarchaeology of the La Plata Valley. Totah: Time and the rivers flowing excavations in the La Plata Valley (Vol. 242). Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico, Office of Archaeological Studies.
Martin, D. L., & Harrod, R. P. (2012). New directions in bioarchaeology, special forum. The SAA Archaeological Record, 12(2), 31.
O’Rourke, D. H., Hayes, M. G., & Carlyle, S. W. (2005). The consent process and aDNA research: Contrasting approaches in North America. In T. R. Turner (Ed.), Biological anthropology and ethics: From repatriation to genetic identity (pp. 231–240). Albany: State University of New York Press.
O’Rourke, D. H., & Raff, J. A. (2010). The human genetic history of the Americas: The final frontier. Current Biology, 20(4), R202–R207.
Papathanasiou, A., Larsen, C. S., & Norr, L. (2000). Bioarchaeological inferences from a Neolithic ossuary from Alepotrypa Cave, Diros, Greece. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 10, 210–228.
Pfeiffer, S. (2000). Palaeohistology: Health and disease. In M. A. Katzenberg & S. R. Saunders (Eds.), Biological anthropology of the human skeleton (pp. 287–302). Hoboken: Wiley.
Reinhard, K. J., & Ghazi, A. M. (1992). Evaluation of lead concentrations in 18th-century Omaha Indian skeletons using ICP-MS. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 89, 183–195.
Robling, A. G., & Stout, S. D. (2008). Histomorphometry of human cortical bone: Applications to age estimation. In M. A. Katzenberg & S. R. Saunders (Eds.), Biological anthropology of the human skeleton (2nd ed., pp. 149–182). Hoboken: Wiley.
Ruff, C. B. (2008). Biomechanical analyses of archaeological human skeletons. In M. A. Katzenberg & S. R. Saunders (Eds.), Biological anthropology of the human skeleton (2nd ed., pp. 183–206). Hoboken: Wiley.
Schurr, M. R. (1998). Using stable nitrogen-isotopes to study weaning behavior in past populations. World Archaeology, 30(2), 327–342.
Schwarcz, H. P., & Schoeninger, M. J. (1991). Stable isotope analyses in human nutritional ecology. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology, 34, 283–321.
Secter, B. (1991). A Tribe Reveals Its Deadly Secret From the Grave: Sophisticated new tests indicate Omahas were decimated in the last century by poisoning caused by handling of lead. Los Angeles Times. Accessed October 15, 2012.
Swanton, T., Varney, T., Coulthard, I., Feng, R., Bewer, B., Murphy, R., et al. (2012). Element localization in archaeological bone using synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence: Identification of biogenic uptake. Journal of Archaeological Science, 39(7), 2409–2413.
TallBear, K. (2003). DNA, blood, and racializing the tribe. Wicazo Sa Review, 18(1), 81–107.
Whiteley, P. (2002). Prehistoric archaeology and oral history: The scientific importance of dialogue. American Antiquity, 67, 405–415.
Zimmerman, L. J. (2001). Usurping Native American voice. In T. L. Bray (Ed.), The future of the past: Archaeologists, Native Americans, and repatriation (pp. 169–184). New York: Routledge.
Zuckerkandl, E. (1963). Perspectives in molecular anthropology. In S. L. Washburn (Ed.), Classification and evolution (pp. 243–272). Chicago: Aldine.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Martin, D.L., Harrod, R.P., PĂ©rez, V.R. (2013). Special Applications in Bioarchaeology: Taking a Closer Look. In: Bioarchaeology. Manuals in Archaeological Method, Theory and Technique. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6378-8_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6378-8_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-6377-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-6378-8
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawSocial Sciences (R0)