The Bioarchaeology of Violence

by Martin, Debra L; Harrod, Ryan P.; Perez, Ventura R.; Larson, Clark Spencer

• ISBN13: 9780813041506
• ISBN10: 0813041503
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-08-19
• Publisher: Univ Pr of Florida

Summary

Violence has played an essential role in human social relations. Violence and conflict often have the ability to unite, create stability, and be a productive force while at the same time generating the antithesis of these positive influences. Previous perspectives on the subject have been narrowly conceived, and this volume aims to broaden theoretical paradigms within violence studies. The Bioarchaeology of Violenceprovokes readers to imagine acts of violence not as a necessary evil or an abhorrent behavior but rather as a response to certain problems. It provides different ways to think about the relationship between violence and lived experience, and lived experience and cultural processes. Experts on a wide range of ancient societies describe how violence can become ritualized over time, describe why and how certain forms of violence emerge, and explore both the costs and the benefits of violence throughout human prehistory. The contributors ultimately aim to explain why violence persists in the world today and offer insights into the factors that can disrupt and transform violence into less deadly activities.

Author Biography

Debra L. Martin is professor of anthropology at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and coeditor of Troubled Times: Violence and Warfare in the Past. Ryan P. Harrod is a doctoral candidate in biological anthropology at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Ventura R. Prez is assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and editor-in-chief of the peer-reviewed, open access online journal Landscapes of Violence.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	p. vii
List of Tables	p. ix
Foreword	p. xi
Introduction: Bioarchaeology and the Study of Violence	p. 1
Method and Theory
The Politicization of the Dead: Violence as Performance, Politics as Usual	p. 13
The Bioarchaeology of Structural Violence: A Theoretical Model and a Case Study	p. 29
Deciphering Violence in Past Societies: Ethnography and the Interpretation of Archaeological Populations	p. 63
Small-Scale Conflict
The Social and Cultural Implications of Violence at Qasr Hallabat	p. 83
Community Violence and Everyday Life: Death at Arroyo Hondo	p. 111
Bioarchaeological Signatures of Strife in Terminal Pueblo III Settlements in the Northern San Juan	p. 121
Warfare
The Space of War: Connecting Geophysical Landscapes with Skeletal Evidence of Warfare-Related Trauma	p. 141
Where Are the Warriors? Cranial Trauma Patterns and Conflict among the Ancient Maya	p. 160
Violence against Women: Differential Treatment of Local and Foreign Females in the Heartland of the Wari Empire, Peru	p. 180
Ritualized Violence
Meaning and the Bioarchaeology of Captivity, Sacrifice, and Cannibalism: A Case Study from the Mississippian Period at Larson, Illinois	p. 201
Performances of Imposed Status: Captivity at Cahokia	p. 226
Biological Distance Analysis in Contexts of Ritual Violence	p. 251
Conclusion: Implications and Future Directions	p. 276
List of Contributors	p. 281
Index	p. 283
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