Introduction

In this ultimate section we begin by considering other influential 20th-century American approaches to the study of human skeletal remains from archaeological contexts that serve to anchor 21st-century “bioarchaeologies.” These include J. Lawrence Angel’s “social biology,” “Frank Saul’s osteobiography,” and the “biocultural” method championed by workers such as Robert Blakely, Alan Goodman, Thomas Leatherman, and Michael Blakey. We note differences in scope and emphasis, arguing that such diversity should be considered a measure of the vitality within this developing field. Our discussion of the “bioarchaeologies” is followed by an introduction to the final chapters of the volume.