Between Biology and Culture

Humans adapt to their environment through a unique amalgamation of culture and biology. Both are intrinsic to our existence and constitute the dual aspect of human nature. This 2008 book addresses topics and themes exploring this close inter-relationship by presenting principles and applications of scientific approaches to human remains. Their appreciation within a human ecological context, incorporating conditions of the natural environment as well as cultural, social and political circumstances of the past, provides the framework for the detection and interpretation of our biocultural identity. Written for academic researchers and students alike, Between Biology and Culture assembles chapters that encompass topics from taphonomy to individual life histories, from seasonality to food, from well-being to disease, from genetics to mobility, and from body theory to forensic individualization. In doing so, the contributions probe the potential of skeletal analysis to look beyond the face value of observations and to detect the biological outcomes of cultural strategies encoded in human remains.Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction Holger Schutkowski; 2. Historic dimensions to the study of human populations Don Brothwell; 3. Forensic anthropology serving justice Sue Black; 4. Biological measures of the standard of living Richard H. Steckel; 5. Ecology, culture and disease in past human populations Donald J. Ortner and Holger Schutkowski; 6. The fossil evidence of seasonality and environmental change Gabriele A. Macho; 7. Thoughts for food - evidence and meaning of past dietary habits Holger Schutkowski; 8. Ancient proteins: what remains to be detected? Matthew Collins, Enrico Cappellini, Michael Buckley, Kirsty E. H. Penkman, Rebecca C. Griffin and Hannah E. Koon; 9. Enamel traces of early lifetime events Louise Humphrey; 10. Using DNA to investigate the human past Beth Shapiro, M. Thomas Gilbert and Ian Barnes; 11. Isotopes and human migration: case studies in biogeochemistry T. Douglas Price; 12. From bodies to bones and back: theory and human bioarchaeology Kirsi Lorentz.