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7-1999 Review Article: Marshall Joseph Becker West Chester University of Pennsylvania, [email protected]

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Recommended Citation Becker, M. J. (1999). Review Article: Bioarchaeology. American Journal of , 103(3), 528-531. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/ 506974

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changes through time is found in the summary chapter of get beyond one discipline delivering to the other, so as to the book. become truly interdisciplinary? These six new show a trend, a need, and a funda- mental question. There is a strong interest in geoarchaeol- ogy among archaeologists. The books reviewed here are DEPARTMENT OF GEOSCIENCES mostly written and edited by geologists and targeted for UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-KANSAS CITY the archaeologist. Where are the textbooks that outline 5100 ROCKHILL ROAD the basic techniques and questions of archaeology that are KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI 64110-2499 targeted for the geologist? Can ever really [email protected]

Bioarchaeology

MARSHALL JOSEPH BECKER

BIOARCHAEOLOGY: INTERPRETING BEHAVIOR FROM During the past quarter century, human skeletal studies in the Mediterranean area, where most of my own work THE , by Clark Spencer Larsen. has concentrated, have become into Studies in effectively integrated (Cambridge broad archaeological research. Scholars increasingly value 21.) Pp. xii + 461, figs. 59, tables 16. Cambridge the interpretive potential provided by studies of human University Press, New York 1997. $85. ISBN 0- and other organic remains for a viable reconstruction and 521-49641-1. understanding of past behaviors and the cultural history of this region. The sophisticated excavators with whom I THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF HUMAN BONES, by Simon worked decades ago have now been joined by most of the archaeological community in their concern for the recov- Mays.Pp. xiii + 242, figs. 120, tables 22. Routledge, ery, curation, and analysis of human skeletal remains, and London 1998. ISBN 0-415-17407-4. $32.99. in using the perspectives of . The once common but skeletal re- SKELETONS AND SOCIAL COMPOSITION: BAHRAIN generally incomprehensible ports that appeared as independent and unintegrated ap- 300 B.C.-A.D. 250, by Judith Littleton. (BAR-IS pendices have been replaced by synthetic analyses. Now 703.) Pp. x + 154, pls. 6, figs. 39, maps 2, tables these data are often used by excavators as a primary basis for as well as other as- 64. Archaeopress, Oxford 1998. ?27. ISBN 0- interpreting mortuary programs, of life in ancient communities. and sex 86054-886-4. pects Age analyses remain the fundamental goals of most skeletal studies, but, when with data from TROUBLED TIMES: AND WARFARE IN THE integrated archaeological contexts, bones can also tell us a great deal about specific individuals edited Debra L. Martin and David PAST, by and the in which they lived. col- W. Interdisciplinary Frayer(War and 3.) Pp. xxv + 376, pls. 32, laboration increasingly clarifies our views of past societies. figs. 51, tables 27. Gordon and Breach, Amster- The impressive results of several studies, such as A.M. Bietti Iron dell'Osa: Socio- dam 1997. $29. ISBN 90-5699-534-0. Sestieri, Age Communityof Osteria Study of political Development in Central Tyrrhenian Italy (Cambridge MATERIAL HARM. ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDIES OF 1992), have encouraged excavators to call on ever greater numbers of specialists, resulting in a vast increase in the WAR AND VIOLENCE, edited by John Carman. quality of publications using this approach. Pp. x + 246, figs. 63, plans 2, tables 2. Cruithne The seven volumes reviewed here reflect the extent to Glasgow 1997. $32. ISBN 1-873448-10-4. which skeletal studies have developed as a point of depar- ture for the investigation of archaeological problems. THE CAMBRIDGE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN PALEO- While none of these works specifically focuses on the classi- cal each offers of PATHOLOGY, by Arthur C. Aufderheide and Conrado world, something importance to all ar- Two of these volumes overviews of xviii + 478, 283, chaeologists. provide Rodriguez-Martin.Pp. pls. figs. 17, the field of and a third a detailed tables 9. bioarchaeology, presents Cambridge University Press, Cam- study of human remains from excavations in Bahrain. A bridge 1998. $100. ISBN 0-521-55203-6. pair of edited volumes offers insights into human behavior by examining past acts of violence as seen in the skeletal , DISEASE AND ANCIENT ed- CULTURES2, record. The last two volumes reviewed deal with paleopa- ited by Aidan Cockburn, Eve Cockburn, and The- thology and mummies-topics of interest to readers who can marvel at how our survived before the odore A. Reyman. Pp. xxii + 402, 146, tables species advent figs. of modern medicine. 23. Cambridge Press, University Cambridge Bioarchaeology,C.S. Larsen's important contribution to 1998. ISBN $29.95. 0-521-58954-1. the field, emphasizes studies of pathologies and injuries.

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Beginning with the general effects of stress on human de- by a half-page conclusion. While the goals of this work are velopment, Larsen goes on to review dental, periodontal, noble, readers will find themselves swimming in unedited and other infectious problems that leave their traces on masses of numbers and seas filled with grammatical whirl- bones and teeth. He then reviews skeletal evidence for in- pools. Pages of statistics are provided, but no simple list- juries and violent death, a subject to which we will return. ing of what constitutes a "tomb" or a "chamber" and how Chapters 5 and 6, on human activity patterns and struc- many individuals were in each. Littleton's description of tural adaptations, are followed by a chapter focusing on the lives of these ancient Bahraini may be an accurate re- craniofacial adaptations. Summaries of isotopic and ele- construction, but the work is marred by the poor presen- mental signatures of diet and nutrition, notes on tracing tation of data. The benefits of rapid and extensive publi- genetic relationships, and some brief comments concern- cation through the BAR series here is offset by minimal ing changes and challenges in bioarchaeology complete editorial oversight. the volume. The 89 pages of references reflect the careful An important part of Littleton's work is her clear state- documentation that makes this book important to all spe- ment regarding the potential destructiveness to the skele- cialists. It should be added to all library collections for the tal record of archaeological recovery itself. She points out light that it sheds on the field. (23) that the time allotted to the recovery of skeletons, the Larsen's two brief citations of DNA analysis do not re- personnel involved, and the aims of the excavations are all flect the state of the art, but this should not be seen as a factors contributing to the success or failure of skeletal re- failing. Although the public hears a great deal about DNA covery. Her estimate that up to 50% of the information analysis, employed almost daily in various forensic studies, available when skeletons are identified in the ground is the recovery of DNA from ancient bone and its use in an- lost by the time the bones reach the laboratory is remark- swering the basic questions of population dynamics are ably similar to my own. Excavators need to be provided just beginning to have an impact on the field. Studies in- with information that helps them to recover skeletal mate- corporating DNA and related aspects of human biology ap- rials more efficiently, and in turn need information useful pear with increasing frequency in the anthropological in their reconstruction of culture history. journals. Within a few years, this line of research will become The editors of TroubledTimes correctly note that modern a of the but mainstay profession, for now old-fashioned bone urban violence, with which we are all too familiar, has a long work involving macroscopic evaluation remains the basis and varied history. Violence can be found in all parts of the for most human skeletal studies. world and at all times. These papers, from a 1992 American One of reasons for my many recommending Simon Anthropological Association symposium (in Washington, Mays's clearly written The Archaeologyof Human Bones is its D.C.), try to flesh out the ethnographic record with direct inclusion of an and impressive current discussion of stud- skeletal evidence for violence. The contributors' goal was ies of DNA from ancient bone. This brief but excellent in- to formulate theories of conflict and violence from recent troduction should be read by archaeologists who know data, and to compare these data with evidence for violence nothing about human remains in order to gain a good un- as it existed in preindustrial societies. of the of information that bone derstanding range special- C. Ember and M. Ember examine ethnographically ists can provide. This volume also should be considered seri- known cases of violence, from war and other contexts, as an course in ously by anyone teaching introductory human recorded in the Human Relations Area Files. This The text is well linked to the book's biology. extremely many of the literature is followed by three papers discussing pat- and illustrations, useful references abound. terns of violence against women in three cultures from an- with a basic of Mays begins description bones and teeth. cient North America: R.G. Wilkerson's for prehistoric Mich- The second "The chapter, Nature of an Archaeological igan, D. Martin's from the precontact American Southwest, Human Bone summarizes information Assemblage," de- and P.M. Lambert's from California's south coast. John which bones tend to survive under scribing relatively good Robb (ch. 5) shifts the focus to Europe in "Violence and conditions. This benefit from a brief discus- chapter might in Early Italy." He examines several types of sion of human and other activities that create the tapho- trauma identified in skeletons from excavations at the site nomic to jigsaw-puzzles commonly presented specialists, of Pontecagnano with the goal of identifying gender corre- to let readers know that the just inhumations so well illus- lations. Other authors survey the world literature for wife- trated 2.2, 2.4) are not what at an (figs. normally appears beating, review the bone data from a Mesolithic-period archaeological site. Mays offers basic summaries of the pro- massacre in Bavaria, evaluate skeletal evidence for human cess of determining age and sex, on the uses of metric and sacrifice and cannibalism in Mexico, and find skeletal indi- nonmetric variation, and on observing bone and dental cations for warfare in Archaic period Tennessee. The evo- diseases. Chemical analysis of bone and DNA studies are the lution of warfare on America's Northwest Coast from 3,000 foci of 9 and 10. The final chapters chapter deals with cre- B.C. to modern times, and important data interpreted as mations, a subset of mortuary activities that restricts, but evidence for warfare between Mesolithic farmers and tradi- does not eliminate, the potential for productive analysis. tional foragers in northwestern Europe are also reviewed. Skeletons from two cemeteries on Bahrain are the sub- Brian Ferguson wraps up TroubledTimes with an excellent ject ofJ. Littleton's monograph. The evolution of her the- overview of these important papers, but with full recogni- oretical model (2) and a review of the cultural context on tion of the limited extent of the evidence from which con- Bahrain Island open this study. Included are chapters pro- clusions have been drawn. viding basic skeletal data (age, sex, pathologies). Chapter John Carman, the editor of Material Harm, also provides 10 attempts to describe what it was like to on grow up Bah- a long introduction to the subject of violence, focusing pri- rain the during period from 300 B.C. to A.D. 250, followed marily on war in its modern forms. This volume differs

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from Troubled Times in that few of its papers are derived from offering an exhaustive review of the work available specifically from the skeletal evidence. Since the basic skel- within the field. Individual pathologies are not uniformly etal evidence is often subject to multiple interpretations, J. presented, and inconsistencies tend to reflect some of the Wakely's consideration of how to distinguish violent from basic problems of differential diagnosis. Many entries are nonviolent etiologies relating to skull injuries provides an not listed in the index. A traditional anatomical emphasis important opening chapter. J.M. Filer's examination of an- is supplemented by studies of conditions related to plague, cient Egyptian and Nubian skeletons for direct information cholera, and other diseases that may leave no evidence regarding "violence" also offers useful cautions. L.J. Zim- aside from possible traces of the DNA of the pathogens merman's study of the Crow Creek massacre is an excellent themselves. No clear reference is made to the general im- summary of classic publications related to an ancient con- pact of DNA studies on this field. flict between Native American groups in South Dakota. Despite the difficulties of making differential diagnoses Material Harm then shifts from examining skeletal evi- using the rarely complete skeletal record in the evaluation dence for violence to studies of contexts within which vio- of , studies of ancient disease have evolved lence might be expected. Irish Bronze Age swords may be enormously during the past 30 years. Conferences and far more plentiful than the osteological evidence for any specialized journals have led to increasing agreement in damage that they may have done. Bridgford's excellent diagnosis. Digitized illustrations now improve data dissem- survey of these weapons, used for self-defence as well as for ination, and, when added to future DNA studies, our un- war, needs serious consideration of status variables and derstanding of this aspect of the past will develop even other possible uses. Other studies deal with Chalcolithic more rapidly. hillforts throughout the western Mediterranean, and an The second edition of Mummies, Disease and Ancient Cul- intrusive Viking boat-burial on the Isle of Man (ca. A.D. tures has expanded from the original 243 pages (in 1980) 900), which are interpreted as reflecting a violent expres- and now includes the work of nearly twice as many authors. sion of a "negotiation or discourse" between populations The clear illustrations also represent a significant improve- One (141). may also interpret the placement of later buri- ment. The six chapters of Part I deal entirely with Egyptian als over, or into, earlier interments a normal and common mummies. Four chapters in Part II discuss mummies reuse of a cemetery, and not necessarily intended to make known from North and South America. This is the most ex- statement. any political Archaeological and documentary panded part of this edition, perhaps offering the most sig- research T. provide Way with evidence for violence possibly nificant contributions. John Verano's impressive review of related to the formation and use of "parks" in England diseases identified in Andean mummies merits special during the late Middle Ages. M. Nikolaidou and D. Kok- note. The five contributions in Part III relate to mummies kinidou that is the suggest gender most important variable from other parts of the world, many of them from quite in their of violence as seen in Late study Minoan iconogra- surprising locations. The section on the Mawangtui-type P. Beavitt phy. examines the relationship between warfare cadavers in China by Peng and Wu is a welcome new addi- and the of in spread agriculture Borneo, a subject parallel tion. The final section recounts the many new investigative to in Troubled Times. In the Keeley's paper concluding techniques employed in studies, including non- Carman reviews the chapter, archaeological evidence for intrusive procedures. Good coverage is given to DNA stud- its various and which violence, levels, aspects may be in- ies, with Nielsen and Thuesen's section on "Paleogenetics" volved in medical procedures that are traumatic, but not providing a well-written summary. "violent" (227). The efforts of two new authors in producing a com- The role of in contemporary archaeol- pletely new version ofJames Harris's earlier work ("Dental remains to discussion. considerable ogy open Despite pop- Health in Ancient Egypt") have not resolved several prob- ular interest, research often focuses on individuals and lems. The wire dental appliance in their fig. 3.6a (printed their rather than on specific disorders, what those ailments upside down) is here given a very early date, whereas the tell us about a or how may person's role, diseases or infir- earlier publication noted the Roman-period disturbances mities relate to the as a whole. The society sufferings en- that certainly introduced this material into an early con- dured the ancients be as is the knowl- by may fascinating, text. All of the wire prostheses are relatively late (M.J. that their diseases were shared all classes of each edge by Becker, Berytus 42 [1995/6] 71-102). No citation is pro- but what do tell us about those societ- society, they actually vided for an interesting appliance depicted in fig. 3.6b. (p. ies? How, in fact, does relate to academic paleopathology 67). John Nunn's important Ancient Egyptian Medicine discourse? (Norman, Oklahoma 1996), cited in the previous chapter, The illustrated and profusely clearly written Cambridge is not noted here, and phytolith-induced dental wear is not Encyclopedia of Human Paleopathology provides a means by discussed. The brief final chapter reviews seven "conditions" which scholars may compare cases with useful summaries of unknown or hereditary origins. The last of these-the from the literature. Included in the various "parts" are a presence of "Harris lines," often suspected to result from ar- history of paleopathology and important data on a wide rested growth-is very clearly treated. Since Harris lines of- range of subjects, including pseudopathology, traumatic ten are used as "stress" indicators, this review questioning conditions, congenital anomalies, circulatory disorders, their etiology is an important contribution to this volume. disorders of infectious and origin, skeletal dysplasias. This review of these seven works can neither provide Part "Diseases 14, of the Dentition," contributed by O. sufficient commentary on each nor do justice to the efforts Langsjoen, is followed by a concluding section on mis- of individual contributors to the edited volumes. All these cellaneous conditions. contributions reflect both the enhanced ability of the field as it is, this Impressive Cambridge Encyclopedia is far archaeologist to interpret finds, as well as signaling the ex-

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tent to which bioarchaeology has enriched the discipline. available to archaeologists who wish to maximize their While data on age and sex may help us to reconstruct the use of the skeletal record. They provide a view of the use of mortuary areas, and population dynamics often enormous progress that has been made in using human can be inferred, most of these studies take us far beyond bones in archaeological interpretation. Indeed, human these basics, enabling us to gain greater depth of focus in skeletal studies offer an area of research with great poten- our view of ancient societies. Note should be made that tial that can be expanded in ways that are well repre- many unusual situations-such as specialized burial ar- sented by these volumes. eas, age at which children become adults, differential burial treatments, and a host of other cultural factors that DEPARTMENTOF ANTHROPOLOGY can be detected only through the skeletal record-have WESTCHESTER UNIVERSITY not been included in these volumes. Thus these works WEST CHESTER,PENNSYLVANIA 19383 only suggest the considerable range of possibilities now [email protected]

The Roman Army and Fleet in War and Peace COLIN M. WELLS

LA HIERARCHIE (RANGORDNUNG) DE L'ARMEE RO- LES FORCES NAVALES DU BAS DANUBE ET DE LA MAINE SOUS LE HAUT-EMPIRE: ACTES DU CON- MER NOIRE AUX IerX-VIe SI'CLES, by Octavian GRES DE LYON (15-18 SEPTEMBRE 1994), edited Bounegruand Mihail Zahariade.(Colloquia Pon- by YannLe Bohec.(De l'archeologie a l'histoire.) tica 2.) Pp. xii + 124, figs. 30, maps 2. Oxbow Pp. 480, figs. 70. De Boccard, Paris 1995. FF 250. Books, Oxford 1996. $33. ISBN 0-900188-17-1. ISBN 2-7018-0094-3; ISSN 1157-3872. GREEK AND ROMAN OARED WARSHIPS: 399-30 THE ROMAN AND BYZANTINE ARMY IN THE EAST: B.C., Morrison,with contributions byJ.S. byJ.F PROCEEDINGS OF A COLLOQUIUM HELD AT THE Coates.(Oxbow Monograph 62.) Pp. xviii + 403, JAGIELLONIAN UNIVERSITY, KRAKOW IN SEP- figs. xii + 85, plans 7, maps 19. Oxbow Books, TEMBER1992, edited by E. Dabrowa. Pp. 311, pls. Oxford 1996. $120. ISBN 0-900188-07-4. 17, figs. 29. Instytut Historii, UniwersytetJagiel- Modern scholarship on the Roman army originates in lonski, and Krak6w 1994. Enigma Press, $36.00. German: Mommsen, as always, led the way, the work of the ISBN 83-233-0750-4. Reichslimeskommission setting new standards of excava- tion and publication, while von Domaszewski and Ritter- THE ARMYIN THE ROMAN EAST, edited by David L. ling laid the foundations on which all subsequent scholar- Kennedy.(JRA Suppl. 18.) Pp. 320, figs. 18, plans ship has built. Ritterling's article legio, for the period from to in the 34, maps 19, tables 13. Journal of Roman Ar- Augustus Diocletian, published Realencyclopddiein 1924 (RE XII, 1211-1829) remains an work chaeology, Ann Arbor 1996. $89.50 (subscribers indispensable of reference. Eric Birley, himself the leading authority in ISBN ISSN 1063-4304. $59.50). 1-887829-18-0, his own generation on the Roman army, says in his fore- word to the revised edition of von Domaszewski's Die Rang- THE ROMANARMY AT WAR 100 B.C.-A.D. 200, by ordnung des r6mischenHeeres (first published 1908; 2nd edi- Adrian Keith Goldsworthy. (Oxford Classical tion, revised and augmented by Brian Dobson, K6ln/Graz Monographs.) Pp. xiv + 311, figs. 11, maps 2, 1967), "Indeed, there are few works on any branch or as- tables 5. Clarendon, Oxford 1996. $72. ISBN pect of the Roman armed forces or of the upper strata of the administration of the Roman 0-19-815057-1. Empire, published since 1908, which do not presuppose, to a greater or lesser ex- tent, familiarity with Domaszewski's monograph . . . it is FRONTIERS OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, by Hugh Elton. still an essential springboard from which further advances Pp. ix + 150, figs. 17, tables 4. Indiana Univer- can be made." sity Press, Bloomington and Indianapolis 1996. Although the army has always attracted devoted atten- $29.95. ISBN 0-253-33111-0. tion from archaeologists and epigraphers concerned with military installations and military prosopography, they THE LATEROMAN ARMY, by Pat Southern and Karen tend to form their own small world. Excavation reports are often tucked in local R. Dixon. Pp. xvii + 206, pls. 19, figs. 83. Yale away journals, and other army studies appear in the Limes-Congressvolumes or other collections University Press, New Haven and London 1996. of a specialized nature that mainstream historians $30. ISBN 0-300-06843-3. may overlook. Although, as Goldsworthy points out in one of

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