Human Bone Analysis
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Human Bone Analysis, or osteology, is the scientific study of bones and teeth and is used to gain an insight into past peoples and societies. The purpose of examining a skeleton is to determine information such as the individual's sex, age at death, cause of death, disease or 'pathologies' suffered during life, stress on the bones, trauma from breaks or combat, burial type and burial traditions. Together this information can be used to reconstruct the probable lifestyle of the individual. Analysis of a group of skeletons can be used to assess the skeletal 'population' as a whole in order to enhance our knowledge of what life was like in the past.
ARS Ltd provides a complete service that includes:
- Advice on the excavation procedures of bone.
- Laboratory analysis of human bone.
- Detailed counts of human bone, which are used to ascertain the "minimum number of individuals" present on the site.
- Production of a publication-standard report including interpretation of the human bone evidence.
- Advice on the potential of further study, for example DNA analysis, dietary assessments and dating of the bone.
- Advice on the treatment, storage and/or re-burial of skeletons post-excavation.
All projects and reports are carried out in accordance with PPG 16 (Department of the Environment, 1990), the guidelines produced by The Institute of Field Archaeologists and English Heritage and the Guidance to Standards for Recording of Human Bone (Brickley and McKinley, 2004).