The Body as Material Culture
The Body as Material Culture
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Skeletal remains are a vital source of evidence for archaeologists. Their interpretation has tended to take two divergent forms: the scientific and the humanistic. In this innovative study, Joanna Sofaer Derevenski argues that these approaches are unnecessarily polarized and that one should not be pursued without the other. Exploring key themes such as sex, gender, life cycle and diet, she argues that the body is both biological object and cultural site and is not easily detached from the objects, practices and landscapes that surround it.
- Investigates one of the most intriguing aspects of archaeology, archaeological remains
- Bridges the two traditionally distinct and separate approaches to the subject, namely the scientific approach and the social theoretical approach
- Presents a significant model for the study of the subject which merges the two distinct approaches
Reviews & endorsements
"I would recommend this book to any archaeologist or bio-archaeologist seeking an alternative view for the interpretation of osteological material"
Heather Robertson, Simon Fraser University, Canadian Journal of Archaeology
Product details
March 2006Hardback
9780521818223
208 pages
229 × 152 × 16 mm
0.48kg
10 b/w illus. 3 tables
Available
Table of Contents
- 1. Bodies and boundaries
- 2. The body as an archaeological resource
- 3. The body and convention in archaeological practice
- 4. Material bodies
- 5. Gender
- 6. Age.
