Synopses & Reviews
This book is entirely devoted to the study of children's skeletons from archaeological and forensic contexts. It provides an extensive review of the osteological methods and theoretical concepts of their analysis. Non-adult skeletons provide a wealth of information on the physical and social life of the child from their growth, diet and age at death, to factors that expose them to trauma and disease at different stages of their lives. This book covers the factors that affect non-adult skeletal preservation; the assessment of their age, sex and ancestry; growth and development; infant and child mortality including infanticide; weaning ages and disease of dietary deficiency; skeletal pathology; personal identification and exposure to trauma from birth injuries, accidents and child abuse; providing insights for graduates and postgraduates in osteology, palaeopathology and forensic anthropology.
Synopsis
This book is the first to be entirely devoted to the study of children's skeletons from archaeological and forensic contexts. It outlines the methods used to age and sex their remains and covers issues such as infanticide, physical abuse, trauma, diet and disease. Providing an extensive review of the current analytical methods used in the analysis of child skeletal remains, this will be useful to graduates and postgraduates in osteology, palaeopathology and forensic anthropology.
Synopsis
This book is devoted to the study of children's skeletons from archaeological and forensic contexts. It outlines the methods used to age and sex their remains and covers issues such as infanticide, physical abuse, and diet and disease, and will be of interest to osteologists, palaeopathologists and those in forensic anthropology.
About the Author
Mary E. Lewis is a lecturer at the University of Reading and has taught palaeopathology and forensic anthropology to undergraduate and postgraduate students for over ten years. Mary is also an advisor to the police and is currently a registered Forensic Anthropologist for Ministry of Defence.
Table of Contents
1. The bioarchaeology of children; 2. Fragile bones and shallow graves; 3. Age, sex and ancestry; 4. Growth and development; 5. Difficult births, precarious lives; 6. Little waifs: weaning and dietary stress; 7. Non-adult skeletal pathology; 8. Trauma in the child; 9. Future directions; References.