Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
C
HOOSING A COLLECTION: NOT IN A VACUU
M
Context
For bioarchaeological problem solving, the skeletal samples need a context (temporal,
cultural, and subsistence), ideally a large enough sample size for simple statistical analysis
(e.g., chi square or Fisher's exact test), and minimal sampling bias.
14
The premise of bio-
archaeology is that chronic and developmental pathology reflects the stresses of lifestyle
(e.g., status, sex, affluence, enslavement), subsistence (e.g., hunter
e
gatherer, intensive agri-
culturalist, horticulturalist), settlement pattern (e.g., hamlet, urban area, farmstead, ephem-
eral campsite), and environment (e.g., endemic malaria, desert, Little Ice Age). This means
having a comprehensive understanding of the archaeological context both temporally and
spatially. In order for site samples to be effectively evaluated or compared, the scholar needs
to know the factors that may have affected the prevalence or pattern of a pathology. For
example, if the sample is from a nonmalarial environment, then porotic hyperostosis would
not be the consequence of a genetic anemia, such as sickle cell. It is also important to recog-
nize that disease contexts change over time, such as the unequivocal presence of endemic
malaria in the Apennine (i.e., Italian) Peninsula and the southern Balkan Peninsula in clas-
sical Greek and Roman antiquity (
Soren et al., 1995; Sallares et al., 1999; Sallares, 2002
).
Excavation History
It is important to know the excavation history of the site or sites being examined. If the
mortuary context of the culture was differential, that is if social status, age, or family affilia-
tion dictated where an individual was buried, then it is important to know if the sample was
archaeologically derived from one area or context or recovered from various contexts. For
example, if the sample was exclusively recovered from well-constructed mausoleums or
central plazas, the sample may be exclusively composed of persons of status and affluence.
If the comparative sample was recovered from a cemetery of enslaved persons, then an expla-
nation of health status difference needs to begin with analysis of how the social factor of
enslavement affected health, rather than how a broader variable such as settlement pattern
did. Cultures that differentially excluded fetuses or neonates from communal cemeteries
will exhibit an underrepresentation of infant mortality. The opposite may be true if in
a different cultural context infants are interred in house floors and archaeological recovery
protocols are biased in favor of domestic structures over cemeteries. Therefore, the scholar
should be aware of the mortuary context (e.g., grave goods, interment location) of the sample
and the recovery priorities of the excavation.
Sampling Bias
Sampling bias also extends to differential bone preservation within and between exca-
vated sites. Acids in the soil may differentially dissolve infant bones and those of
14
For example, by burial treatment or burial location. See upcoming discussion and further discussion of
bias in DiGangi and Moore (Chapter 2), this volume.
