ABSTRACT
The reconstruction of the behaviors and lifestyles of prehistoric peoples from their skeletal remains and archaeological contexts constitute primary goals of bioarchaeology. Today bioarchaeologists attempt to meet these goals through a combination of biomechanical analyses, studies of osteoarthritis and trauma, and other observations (Larsen, 1997; Bridges, 1992, 1994b, 1996; Ruff, 1992, 2000; Hawkey and Merbs, 1995). The effort to use such data to produce an impression of prehistoric lifeways has become increasingly visible over the last three decades, owing its popularity to the influential work of a host of earlier researchers. J. Lawrence Angel was one of the earliest advocates of what has become the current approach, as illustrated by his description of three 9000-year-old skeletons from Hotu Cave, Iran:
Angel’s work on other skeletal samples such as the Archaic period remains from Tranquillity, California, further exemplified this holistic approach to behavioral reconstruction and allowed Angel to paint a detailed portrait of at least some of these people’s activities and to advance informed speculation about others:
Much of the recent work by bioarchaeologists to reconstruct the activity patterns and lifestyles of prehistoric peoples has followed Angel’s lead, but with attempts to incorporate improved methods, new approaches, and a wider comparative framework of populations for which homologous data are available. It should not be forgotten, however, that Angel also stood upon the shoulders of giants, and the roots of behavioral reconstruction are to be found much earlier in time.
