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10 The Bioarchaeology of Pain and Suffering: Human Adaptation and Survival during Troubled Times
Author(s) -
Martin Debra L.,
Harrod Ryan P.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
archeological papers of the american anthropological association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.783
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1551-8248
pISSN - 1551-823X
DOI - 10.1111/apaa.12080
Subject(s) - bioarchaeology , adaptation (eye) , politics , climate change , history , environmental ethics , psychology , sociology , geography , political science , ecology , archaeology , biology , law , philosophy , neuroscience
Ancient human remains can be analyzed with an eye toward clarifying the limits of human adaptation to many of life's hardships. Data collected from the remnants of skeletonized bodies provides information on the costs of living under trying times and the pain, suffering, and disability experienced. Focusing on the survivors of stressful conditions such as colonization, endemic warfare, climate change, or slavery provides a way to examine the experience of survival as well as the human costs of adapting to the environmental or political‐economic processes creating the condition.