This first volume in the series Trends in Biological Anthropology presents 11 papers. The study of modern baboons as proxies to understand extinct hominin species’ diet and the interpretation of skeletal degenerative joint disease on the skeletal remains of extant primates are presented as case studies using methods and standards usually applied to human remains. The methodological theme continues with an assessment of the implications for interpretation of different methods used to record Linear Enamel Hypoplasia (LEH) and on the use and interpretation of three dimensional modelling to generate pictures of the content of collective graves. Three case studies on palaeopathology are presented. First is the analysis of a 5th–16th century skeletal collection from the Isle of May compared with one from medieval Scotland in an attempt to ascertain whether the former benefitted from a healing tradition. Study of a cranium found at Verteba Cave, western Ukraine, provides a means to understand inter-personal interactions and burial ritual during the Trypillian culture. A series of skulls from Belgrade, Serbia, displays evidence for beheading. Two papers focus on the analysis disarticulated human remains at the Worcester Royal Infirmary and on Thomas Henry Huxley’s early attempt to identify a specific individual through analysis of skeletal remains. The concept and definition of ‘perimortem’ particularly within a Forensic Anthropology context are examined and the final paper presents a collaborative effort between historians, archaeologists, museum officers, medieval re-enactors and food scientists to encourage healthy eating among present day Britons by presenting the ill effects of certain dietary habits on the human skeleton.
The Trends in Biological Anthropology Series, Piers D. Mitchell
Introduction, Karina Gerdau-Radonić and Kathleen McSweeney
1. Can Extant Primates Serve as Models to Determine the Dietary Ecology of Hominins? The Case of Paranthropines
Gabriele Macho
2. Recording Primate Spinal Degenerative Joint Disease Using a Standardised Approach
Diana Mahoney Swales and Pia Nystrom
3. Enamel Hypoplasia in Post-Medieval London: A Reassessment of the Evidence for Childhood Health
Brenna Hassett
4. Archaeoanthropology: How to construct a picture of the past?
Géraldine Sachau-Carcel, Dominique Castex, and Robert Vergnieux
5. The Palaeopathology of the Isle of May
Marlo Willows
6. First evidence for Interpersonal Violence in Ukraine’s Trypillian Farming Culture: Individual 3 from Verteba Cave, Bilche Zolote
Malcolm Lillie, Inna Potekhina, Alex G. Nikitin and Mykhailo P. Sokhatsky
7. Beheading at the Dawn of the Modern Age: The Execution of Noblemen during Austro-Ottoman Battles for Belgrade in the Late 17th Century
Nataša Miladinović-Radmilović and Vesna Bikić
8. The Remains of a Humanitarian Legacy: Bioarchaeological Reflections of the Anatomized Human Skeletal Assemblage from the Worcester Royal Infirmary
Gaynor Western
9. Thomas Henry Huxley (AD1825-1895): Pioneer of Forensic Anthropology
Stephanie Vincent and Simon Mays
10. The Concept of Perimortem in Forensic Science
Douglas Ubelaker
11. You Are What You Ate: Using Bioarchaeology to Promote Healthy Eating
Jo Buckberry, Alan Ogden, Vicky Shearman and Iona McCleery