ANT334H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Grave Robbery, Osteology, Paleodemography
Document Summary
Forensic anthropology = focus is on the individual: personal identification of the remains, to clarify the manner and mode of death, and estimating time of death. Archaeological investigations = groups and their cultures: skeletons analyzed individually, information complied to produce demographic/health profiles etc. Define nature of skeletal collection under investigation: this is important to do prior to conducting osteological investigation. Determine if sample is representative of population: level of representativeness, determines how broadly results can be applied. Excavation of portion of site to be destroyed only: you may have a burial site, but only part of it is excavated. Material not randomly sampled from entire site. Not possible to determine nature of site, entire culture/practices: few unrepresentative skeletons, should not make statements about health, demography, burial practices, social organization of society. Bones used by medical school or discarded by hospitals. Limited value for overall demography, health, burial practices of culture: not representative.
