Colonized Bodies, Worlds Transformed - (Bioarchaeological Interpretations of the Human Past: Local,) by Melissa S Murphy & Haagen D Klaus

Book Synopsis

"Breaks new ground regarding how to think about colonial encounters in innovative ways that pay attention to a wide range of issues from health and demography to identity formations and adaptation."--Debra L. Martin, coeditor of The Bioarchaeology of Violence

"Amply demonstrates the breadth and variability of the impact of colonialism."--Ken Nystrom, State University of New York at New Paltz

European expansion into the New World fundamentally altered Indigenous populations. The collision between East and West led to the most recent human adaptive transition that spread around the world. Paradoxically, these are some of the least scientifically understood processes of the human past. Representing a new generation of contact and colonialism studies, this volume expands on the traditional focus on the health of conquered peoples by considering how extraordinary biological and cultural transformations were incorporated into the human body and reflected in behavior, identity, and adaptation.

By examining changes in diet, mortuary practices, and diseases, these globally diverse case studies demonstrate that the effects of conquest reach further than was ever thought before--to both the colonized and the colonizers. People on all sides of colonial contact became entangled in cultural and biological transformations of social identities, foodways, social structures, and gene pools at points of contact and beyond. Contributors to this volume illustrate previously unknown and variable effects of colonialism by analyzing skeletal remains and burial patterns from never-before-studied regions in the Americas to the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. The result is the first step toward a new synthesis of archaeology and bioarchaeology.

Contributors: Rosabella Alvarez-Calderón Elliot H. Blair Maria Fernanda Boza Michele R. Buzon Romina Casali Mark N. Cohen Danielle N. Cook Marie Elaine Danforth J. Lynn Funkhouser Catherine Gaither Pamela García Laborde Ricardo A. Guichón Rocio Guichón Fernández Heather Guzik Amanda R. Harvey Barbara T. Hester Dale L. Hutchinson Kristina Killgrove Haagen D. Klaus Clark Spencer Larsen Alan G. Morris Melissa S. Murphy Alejandra Ortiz Megan A. Perry Emily S. Renschler Isabelle Ribot Melisa A. Salerno Matthew C. Sanger Paul W. Sciulli Stuart Tyson Smith Christopher M. Stojanowski David Hurst Thomas Victor D. Thompson Vera Tiesler Jason Toohey Lauren A. Winkler Pilar Zabala

Review Quotes

"Pushes the boundaries of colonial studies. . . . Scholars of all levels, from undergraduates to advanced professionals, should consult this volume in pursuit of excellent examples of biocultural and theory-driven explorations of bioarchaeology."--Antiquity

"Provides a nuanced, empirical examination of the effects of colonialism on the bodies of the colonized . . . and builds on and adds diversity to earlier studies that focused on contact between Europeans and Indigenous Americans."--Choice

"Illustrate[s] the historical depth of situations in which people encountered, resisted, adapted to, and changed each other."--Journal of Anthropological Research

"An excellent and diverse range of studies that provide a fine representation of the current state of affairs and a solid foundation for future research."--Cambridge Archaeological Journal

"A diverse, well written collection of essays that use multiple lines of evidence to explore contact and colonialism from regions around the globe. . . . Does an excellent job of highlighting wide-ranging research and its large scale comparative possibilities."--Southeastern Archaeology

"With clear, concise writing and a strong grasp of the material, the editors integrate a call for contextual work with the benefits of applying contemporary theoretical thought. . . . Contribute[s] not only to our understanding of these significant cultural shifts, but do[es] so by integrating bioarchaeology, or skeletal approaches, with different data sets from archaeology, history, and demography."--American Journal of Human Biology

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