Large Skeletal Series and New Technologies in Osteo-archaeology: Opportunities or Challenges?

Call for Papers

Raphael Panhuysen¹ | Karin Wiltschke-Schrotta² | Ann Degrave³ | David Bibby⁴
(¹ANTHRO.NL, The Netherlands | ²Naturhistorisches Museum Vienna | ³Urban Brussels, Belgium | ⁴Regierungspräsidium Stuttgart, Germany)

Keywords: large cemeteries, selection criteria, osteo-archaeology

In recent years large infrastructural works and other building projects have resulted in the excavation of large series of burials and human remains. The time consuming documentation and collection of human remains in the field has yielded large skeletal collections (more than 1000 to over 20000 skeletons) from sites like London-Spitalfields (United Kingdom, n=11000) and Sankt Pölten (Austria, n=20000). At the same time new technologies like ancient DNA and isotope analysis have become important new sources of information on past societies. However, these new methods raise the financial costs of research considerably.
Both the large skeletal series as well as the new technological toolkit create opportunities to unravel fascinating stories about past populations. Between countries and sites there are however, large differences in the scale and depth of research that is possible.
Often but not always limitations in financial resources result in a reduction in the number of skeletons that will be examined and a selective application of new technologies. This session invites papers dealing with the whole chain of activities from excavation of burials to the deposition of human remains and the disclosure of the results of the research. Important topics could be the definition of selection criteria for the application of various osteo-archaeological methods and the impact of selection on the final results.

Submission
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