In this Book

  • What Mean These Bones?: Studies in Southeastern Bioarchaeology
  • Book
  • Edited by Mary Lucas Powell, Patricia S. Bridges, and Ann Marie Wagner Mires
  • 2010
  • Published by: The University of Alabama Press
summary

A Dan Josselyn Memorial Publication

Until recently, archaeological projects that included analysis of human remains had often lacked active collaboration between archaeologists and physical anthropologists from the planning stages onward. During the 1980s, a conjunctive approach developed; known as "bioarchaeology," it draws on the methodological and theoretical strengths of the two subdisciplines to bridge a perceived communications gap and promote a more comprehensive understanding of prehistoric and historic cultures.
 

This volume addresses questions of human adaptation in a variety of cultural contexts, with a breadth not found in studies utilizing solely biological or artifactual data. These nine case studies from eight Southeastern states cover more than 4,000 years of human habitation, from Archaic hunter-gatherers in Louisiana and Alabama to Colonial planters and slaves in South Carolina. Several studies focus upon variations in health between or within late prehistoric agricultural societies. For example, the discovery that reliance upon maize as a dietary staple did not result invariably in poor health, as claimed by earlier studies, either for entire populations or, in ranked societies, for the non-elite majority, has fostered a new appreciation for the managerial wisdom of the Mississippian peoples, as well as for their agricultural skills.


 

Table of Contents

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  1. Contents
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  1. Figures
  2. pp. vii-viii
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  1. Tables
  2. pp. viii-x
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  1. Acknowledgments
  2. p. xi
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  1. 1. Introduction
  2. pp. 1-6
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  1. 2. Bioarchaeology and Subsistence in the Central and Lower Portions of the Mississippi Valley
  2. pp. 7-21
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  1. 3. Ranked Status and Health in the Mississippian Chiefdom at Moundville
  2. pp. 22-51
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  1. 4. Health and Cultural Change in the Late Prehistoric American Bottom, Illinois
  2. pp. 52-69
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  1. 5. Mississippian Cultual Terminations in Middle Tennessee: What the Bioarchaelogical Evidence Can Tell Us
  2. pp. 70-88
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  1. 6. Skeletal Evidence of Changes in Subsistence Activities Between the Archaic and Mississippian Time Periods in Northwestern Alabama
  2. pp. 89-101
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  1. 7. Biomechanical Adaptation and Behavior on the Prehistoric Georgia Coast
  2. pp. 102-113
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  1. 8. Sifting the Ashes: Reconstruction of a Complex Archaic Mortuary Program in Louisiana
  2. pp. 114-130
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  1. 9. The Prehistoric People of Fort Center: Physical and Health Characteristics
  2. pp. 131-147
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  1. 10. Status and Health in Colonial South Carolina: Belleview Plantation 1738-1756
  2. pp. 148-164
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  1. 11. Bioarchaeology in a Broader Context
  2. pp. 165-171
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  1. 12. Out of the Appendix and Into the Dirt: Comments on Thirteen Years of Bioarchaeological Research
  2. pp. 172-188
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  1. References Cited
  2. pp. 189-220
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  1. Contributors
  2. pp. 221-223
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  1. Index
  2. pp. 225-229
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