The Body as Material Culture: A Theoretical Osteoarchaeology

by Joanna R. Sofaer

• ISBN13: 9780521818223
• ISBN10: 0521818222
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-03-06
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Bodies intrigue us. They promise windows into the past that other archaeological finds cannot by bringing us literally face to face with history. Yet 'the body' is also highly contested. Archaeological bodies are studied through two contrasting perspectives that sit on different sides of a disciplinary divide. On one hand lie science-based osteoarchaeological approaches. On the other lie understandings derived from recent developments in social theory that increasingly view the body as a social construction. Through a close examination of disciplinary practice, Joanna Sofaer highlights the tensions and possibilities offered by one particular kind of archaeological body, the human skeleton, with particular regard to the study of gender and age. Using a range of examples, she argues for reassessment of the role of the skeletal body in archaeological practice, and develops a theoretical framework for bioarchaeology based on the materiality and historicity of human remains.

Author Biography

Joanna R. Sofaer is Senior Lecturer in Archaeology at the University of Southampton

Table of Contents

List of illustrations	x
List of tables	xi
Preface	xiii
Acknowledgements	xvii
Bodies and boundaries	1	(11)
The body as an archaeological resource	12	(19)
The body and convention in archaeological practice	31	(31)
Material bodies	62	(27)
Sex and gender	89	(28)
Age	117	(27)
References	144	(37)
Index	181