ANT200H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Laetoli, Exostosis, Handedness
Document Summary
Joint biological and cultural study of human remains to reconstruct and interpret human experience. Significance of the discernible variability within populations. Relationships among the death and between the death and the alive. Changes of bone microstructure as humans grow older sequence dental eruption the years at which bone epiphyses fuse or a group of bones join. Identifying migrations isotope analysis: oxygen isotopes to determine the geographic origin strontium and lead isotopes to understand population movements. Challenge: we don"t know the ancient local levels of any of these isotopes. Example of a burial (of an unclear family): four grouped burials: man: 40-60, woman: 35-50, boys 4-5, 8-9. No adolescence or young adults among the dead few grave goods: stone axes for men and boys, flint tools or animal tooth pendants for the women and girls. And what evidence should we look for? isotope analysis suggest men and children are local, while women had a different origin.
