New Directions in the Skeletal Biology of Greece
Scheparts LA, Fox SC, Bourbou C (eds.). 2009. New Directions in the Skeletal Biology of Greece. The American School of Classical Studies at Athens; Princeton, New Jersey. 284 pp. ISBN 978-0-87661-543-0.
Contributors:
V Aleporou, C Bourbou, J Buikstra, P Charlier, L Preston Day, S Descamps, SC Fox,SJ Garvie-Lok, M Georgiou, M Goubard, K Harvati, S Hillson, C Iezzi, L Kolonas, S Kousoulakos, A Koutselinis, A Lagia, MA Liston, KO Lorentz, SK Manolis, S Miller-Antonio, JMA Murphy, C Papageorgopoulou, A Papathanasiou, EI Petroutsa, J Poupon, MP Richards, LA Schepartz, MP Schultz, S Kirkpatrick Smith, C Spiliopoulou, E Stravopodi, A Tsilipakou, NI Xirotiris, E Zachou, GD Zouganelis.
Description:
This edited volume is part of the Hesperia Supplement Series, which presents studies in the fields of Greek archaeology, art, language, and history. It also forms part of the Occasional Wiener Laboratory Series, a subseries of Hesperia Supplements reflecting the interests of the Wiener Laboratory at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. The volume presents recent research in Greece across a broad temporal range, spanning from the Middle Paleolithic through the Bronze Age to historical times, and is equally divided between prehistoric studies and examinations of later societies. Following an introduction by the editors, the book begins with an overview chapter by Buikstra and Lagia that explores the range of bioarchaeological approaches to studying past peoples and cultures in the Aegean. The next chapter examines the morphological position of the Petralona cranium relative to other European and African Middle Paleolithic remains. This is followed by a temporally-mixed series of case studies, describing a Greek cremation, a case of successful trephination, cases of cultural headshaping, and traumatic evidence for militarism. Following this, the works turn to more population based questions, focusing on urban trauma, studies of growth and development, paleodiets and health, mobility and kinship patterns. Again, these population studies range across both recent and prehistoric times, and the volume would have benefited from a summary chapter pulling together the different studies for a better understanding of each time period and of change through time. Regardless, as a whole, the volume presents a good overview of current research in Greece, and is a fine resource for those interested in the people and peopling of this region.
