Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-mwx4w Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-02T02:44:56.145Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Considering Conservation of Human Skeletal Remains in Archaeological Contexts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 March 2019

Carolyn Freiwald  and
Katherine A. Miller Wolf Open the ORCID record for Katherine A. Miller Wolf [Opens in a new window]
Carolyn Freiwald*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Mississippi, 544 Lamar, 615 Grove Loop, University, MS, 38677, USA
Katherine A. Miller Wolf
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Geography, Indiana University East, Tom Raper Hall, Richmond, IN, 47374, USA
*
(crfreiwa@olemiss.edu, corresponding author)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The articles in this issue present bioarchaeological case studies from across the globe, including North and Central America, East Asia, Europe, and the Near East. Some bioarchaeology projects are new and others are decades old, but common challenges emerge as researchers apply conservation standards to real situations in the field: a lack of training or resources for long-term curation of human remains, the lag between excavation and analysis of remains, and environmental challenges that include melting permafrost, tropical storms, and a variety of pests such as molds, fungi, bats, snakes, and insects. The studies also address ethical considerations about the use of digital images of human remains, molecular and isotopic methods that require the destruction of human tissue samples, the ability of fast-paced cultural resource management (CRM) projects to address the needs of descendant communities, and the responsibility that we have to the people we study. Techniques for addressing these challenges include new computer programs, more advanced photographic software, and research on the effects of conservation techniques that provide new “standards” for bioarchaeologists. We highlight the importance of each contribution and discuss the future of conservation in bioarchaeology.

Los estudios en esta edición presentan estudios bioarqueológicos de todo el mundo, incluyendo Mesoamérica, los Estados Unidos, Europa, y China y Mongolia. Aunque algunos proyectos de bioarqueología son nuevos y otros tienen décadas de antigüedad, desafíos comunes surgen a medida que los investigadores aplican los estándares de conservación a situaciones reales en el campo: falta de capacitación o de recursos para la conservación a largo plazo y de alta calidad de restos humanos; el desfase entre la excavación y el análisis de los restos; y desafíos ambientales que incluyen derretimiento del permafrost, tormentas tropicales y una variedad de plagas como moho, hongos, murciélagos, serpientes e insectos. Los estudios también abordan consideraciones éticas cruciales sobre el uso de imágenes de restos humanos, avances moleculares y de isótopos que requieren cada vez más la destrucción de muestras de tejido humano, la capacidad de proyectos de rescate de recursos culturales (CRM) de ritmo rápido para abordar adecuadamente las necesidades de las comunidades descendientes, y la responsabilidad básica que tiene un osteólogo para con las personas que está estudiando. Las técnicas para abordar estos desafíos incluyen nuevos programas informáticos, software fotográfico más avanzado e investigación sobre los efectos de las técnicas de conservación que pueden proporcionar nuevos “estándares” para los bioarqueólogos. Destacamos la importancia de cada contribución en el contexto de la literatura desde perspectivas museológicas, arqueológicas y éticas. Finalizamos con algunas reflexiones sobre el futuro de la conservación en contextos bioarqueológicos.

Keywords

Curationbioarchaeologyphotogrammetryburialosteologyconservationethicscuraciónbioarqueologíafotogrametríaentierrososteologíaconservaciónética
Type
Articles
Information
Advances in Archaeological Practice , Volume 7 , Special Issue 1: The Practice and Ethics of Skeletal Conservation , February 2019 , pp. 3 - 9
Copyright
Copyright 2019 © Society for American Archaeology 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

1

Both authors contributed equally to the manuscript.

References

REFERENCES

Adams, Bradley, and Crabtree, Pamela 2011 Comparative Osteology: A Laboratory and Field Guide of Common North American Animals. Academic Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Antón, Susan C., Malhi, Ripan S., and Fuentes, Agustín 2018 Race and Diversity in U.S. Biological Anthropology: A Decade of AAPA Initiatives. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 165:158–180.Google Scholar
Association Research, Inc. 2016 Report of the 2016 Needs Assessment. Society for American Archaeology http://ecommerce.saa.org/SAA/SAAMember/Members_Only/2015_Needs_Assessment.aspx.Google Scholar
Baker, Brenda J., Dupras, Tosha L., and Tocheri, Matthew W. 2005 The Osteology of Infants and Children. Anthropology Series No. 12. Texas A&M University Press, College Station.Google Scholar
Bass, William M. 2005 Human Osteology: A Laboratory and Field Manual. Missouri Archaeological Society, Columbia.Google Scholar
Bawaya, Michael 2007 Archaeology: Curation in Crisis. Science 317(5841):1025–1026.Google Scholar
Beaubien, Harriet F. 2019 Field Conservation of Skeletal Remains: Stabilization Treatment Techniques and Implications for Future Analysis. Advances in Archaeological Practice 7:23–29.Google Scholar
Biesaw, April M. 2013 Identifying and Interpreting Animal Bones: A Manual. Texas A&M University Press, College Station.Google Scholar
Boutin, Alexis T., Long, Madison, Dinarte, Rudy A., and Thompson, Erica R. 2017 Building a Better Bioarchaeology through Community Collaboration. Bioarchaeology International 1:191–205.Google Scholar
Brothwell, Don R. 1965 Digging Up Bones: The Excavation, Study, and Treatment of Human Bones. British Museum, London.Google Scholar
Buikstra, Jane E. 1976 Hopewell in the Lower Illinois River Valley: A Regional Approach to the Study of Biological Variability and Mortuary Activity. Monograph No. 2. Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.Google Scholar
Buikstra, Jane E., and Ubelaker, Douglas H. 1994 Standards for Data Collection from Human Skeletal Remains: Proceedings of a Seminar at the Field Museum of Natural History. Research Series 44. Arkansas Archaeological Survey, Fayetteville.Google Scholar
Cassman, Vicki, Odegaard, Nancy, and Powell, Joseph (editors) 2008 Human Remains: Guide for Museums and Academic Institutions. Altamira Press, Lanham, Maryland.Google Scholar
Childs, S. Terry, and Benden, Danielle M. 2017 A Checklist for Sustainable Management of Archaeological Collections. Advances in Archaeological Practice 5:12–25.Google Scholar
Colwell, Chip 2015 Curating Secrets. Current Anthropology 56(S12):S263–S275.Google Scholar
Cox, Margaret, and Mays, Simon (editors) 2000 Human Osteology: In Archaeology and Forensic Science. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Cronyn, Janet M. 1990 The Elements of Archaeological Conservation. Routledge, New York.Google Scholar
Duday, Henri, Courtaud, Patrice, Crubezy, Eric, Sellier, Pascal, and Tillier, Anne-Marie 1990 L'Anthropologie «de terrain»: Reconnaissance et interprétation des gestes funéraires. Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d'Anthropologie de Paris 2(3–4):29–50.Google Scholar
Duday, Henri, and Guillon, Mark 2006 Understanding the Circumstances of Decomposition When the Body Is Skeletonized. In Forensic Anthropology and Medicine: Complementary Sciences from Recovery to Cause of Death, edited by Schmitt, Aurore, Cunha, Eugénia, and Pinheiro, João, pp. 117–157. Humana Press, Totowa, New Jersey.Google Scholar
France, Diane 2008 Human and Nonhuman Bone Identification: A Color Atlas. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida.Google Scholar
France, Diane 2016 Comparative Bone Identification: Human Subadult to Nonhuman. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida.Google Scholar
Freiwald, Carolyn 2019 Excavation and Curation Strategies for Complex Burials in Tropical Environments. Advances in Archaeological Practice 7:10–22.Google Scholar
Geisen, Myra (editor) 2013 Curating Human Remains: Caring for the Dead in the United Kingdom. Boydell Press, Rochester, New York.Google Scholar
Kakaliouras, Anne M. 2012 An Anthropology of Repatriation: Contemporary Physical Anthropological and Native American Ontologies of Practice. Current Anthropology 53(S5):S210–S221.Google Scholar
Keene, Suzanne 2006 Fragments of the World: Uses of Museum Collections. Routledge, London.Google Scholar
Larsen, Clark Spencer 2015 Bioarchaeology: Interpreting Behavior from the Human Skeleton. 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
LaRoche, Cheryl J., and Blakey, Michael L. 1997 Seizing Intellectual Power: The Dialogue at the New York African Burial Ground. Historical Archaeology 31(3):84–106.Google Scholar
Lee, Christine 2019 Excavation and Conservation Recommendations in Handling Human Skeletal Remains: Case Studies from Desert Oases, Cave Shelters, and Permafrost in China and Mongolia. Advances in Archaeological Practice 7:68–76.Google Scholar
Lyman, R. Lee 1994 Vertebrate Taphonomy. Cambridge Manuals in Archaeology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
MacFarland, Kathryn, and Vokes, Arthur W. 2016 Dusting Off the Data: Curating and Rehabilitating Archaeological Legacy and Orphaned Collections. Advances in Archaeological Practice 4:161–175.Google Scholar
Marquardt, William H., Montet-White, Anta, and Scholtz, Sandra C. 1982 Resolving the Crisis in Archaeological Collections Curation. American Antiquity 47:409–418.Google Scholar
Martin, Debra L., Harrod, Ryan P., and Pérez, Ventura R. 2013 Bioarchaeology: An Integrated Approach to Working with Human Remains. Springer, New York.Google Scholar
Miller Wolf, Katherine A. 2019 Curating Large Skeletal Collections: An Example from the Ancient Maya Site of Copán, Honduras. Advances in Archaeological Practice 7:30–39.Google Scholar
Morell, Virginia 1995 Who Owns the Past? Science 268(5216):1424–1427.Google Scholar
Novotny, Anna C. 2019 Implementing Photogrammetry in Three Bioarchaeological Contexts: Steps for In-Field Documentation. Advances in Archaeological Practice 7:87–96.Google Scholar
Osterholtz, Anna J. 2019 Advances in Documentation of Commingled and Fragmentary Remains. Advances in Archaeological Practice 7:77–86.Google Scholar
Plumer-Moodie, Hannah, Quiroz, Carlos, Miller Wolf, Katherine A., and Musa, Yasser 2019 When Provenience Is Lost: Achievements and Challenges in Preserving the Historical St. John's, Belize, Skeletal Collection. Advances in Archaeological Practice 7:40–46.Google Scholar
Powless, Patricia, and Freiwald, Carolyn 2019 The Challenges of Dealing with Human Remains in Cultural Resource Management. Advances in Archaeological Practice 7:55–59.Google Scholar
Prevedorou, Eleni-Anna, and Buikstra, Jane E. 2019 Bioarchaeological Practice and the Curation of Human Skeletal Remains in a Greek Context: The Phaleron Cemetery. Advances in Archaeological Practice 7:60–67.Google Scholar
Roberts, Catherine, and Mays, Simon 2011 Study and Restudy of Curated Skeletal Collections in Bioarchaeology: A Perspective on the UK and the Implications for Future Curation of Human Remains. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 21:626–630.Google Scholar
Schaeffer, Maureen, Black, Sue, and Scheuer, Louise 2008 Juvenile Osteology: A Laboratory and Field Manual. Elsevier, Burlington, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Sease, Catherine 1994 A Conservation Manual for the Field Archaeologist. Archaeological Research Tools Vol. 4. Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Steele, D. Gentry, and Bramblett, Claud A. 1988 The Anatomy and Biology of the Human Skeleton. Texas A&M University Press, College Station.Google Scholar
Ubelaker, Douglas H. 1978 Human Skeletal Remains: Excavation, Analysis, Interpretation. Aldine, Chicago.Google Scholar
Underhill, Karen J. 2006 Protocols for Native American Archival Materials. RBM: A Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Cultural Heritage 7:134–145.Google Scholar
Voss, Barbara L. 2012 Curation as Research: A Case Study in Orphaned and Underreported Archaeological Collections. Archaeological Dialogues 19:145–169.Google Scholar
White, Tim D., and Folkens, Pieter A. 2005 The Human Bone Manual. Elsevier Academic Press, Burlington, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Whittington, Stephen L., and Reed, David M. (editors) 2006 Bones of the Maya: Studies of Ancient Skeletons. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa.Google Scholar
Wrobel, Gabriel D., Biggs, Jack A., and Hair, Amy L. 2019 Digital Modeling for Bioarchaeologists. Advances in Archaeological Practice 7:47–54.Google Scholar
Zuckerman, Molly K., Kamnikar, Kelly R., and Mathena, Sarah A. 2014 Recovering the ‘Body Politic’: A Relational Ethics of Meaning for Bioarchaeology. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 24:513–522.Google Scholar