Theme:
4. People of the Present – Peopling the Past
Session format:
Regular session
Title:
Human Stories and Histories in the Era of Integrated Science
Content:
Archaeologists can study ancient people in more detail than ever before. Bioarchaeological methods have rapidly developed in four key directions: (i) skeletal investigations of new ways of studying health and activity; (ii) Biomolecular approaches, including genetic ancestry, kinship and disease, isotopic studies which increasingly address incremental analyses of life trajectories, and emerging proteomic and metabolomic analyses; (iii) taphonomic studies providing new insights into ritual and post-mortem trajectories, and (iv) grounding these in their specific archaeological context. For studying social life, the real breakthrough comes not from a single technique, but from the nuanced pictures that emerge when multiple techniques are combined. On an individual level, these result in increasingly multidimensional biographies. On the group level, this may give us a chance to see how people of different kinds related or experienced different life risks and social opportunities. This session explores the detailed human histories that we can create through multidisciplinary bioarchaeological approaches: stories of gender differentiation, kinship dynamics, differential activity, health and nutrition, and social values associated with different kinds of people.
Multidisciplinary bioarchaeology clearly provides exciting opportunities, but the field is still emerging. This session focuses both upon the gains of integrated multidisciplinary bioarchaeology, and reviews the landscape and challenges of the field so far. We are interested in hearing from projects–both small- and large-scale–across all regions and periods which have integrated multiple analytical approaches to reveal nuances in past social formation and identities. Asides from past human histories, papers might reflect on current practice, for example: how do we coordinate work across specialists with different frames of reference? How is such research funded and organised, and what filters does this impose? What are the practical and ethical considerations, and how can we maximise information from multiple source methods rather than from a single approach?
Keywords:
bioarchaeology, ancient DNA, isotopic analysis, osteobiography
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Session associated with CAA:
no
Session associated with DGUF:
no
Session associated with other:
Main organiser:
Jess Thompson (United Kingdom) 1
Co-organisers:
John Robb (United Kingdom) 1
Mary Anne Tafuri (Italy) 2
Silvia Soncin (Italy) 2
Affiliations:
1. University of Cambridge
2. Sapienza University of Rome
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