Human skeleton. What kinds of information can human skeletons give us about past lifestyles - Essay Example

?Human skeleton Essay 1165 words Human Skeleton Introduction Human skeletons are one of the important subjects of study that help archeologists to study the past human lifestyle. They are involved in doing scientific studies of the past human behavior and culture of the past human lifestyle to the recent lifestyle. To effectively study the past human lifestyle, archeologists examine human remains of ancient societies and this where the human skeletons comes handy. Such human materials such as the skeletons, food remains, wrecks of buildings, and human artifacts help the archeologists to rebuild the human past lifestyle. All the information recorded about the human materials such as the human skeletons are referred to as archeological records. These records comprise of all the humans occupying the areas of interest and the remains of human material in those areas. These records are used for study through laboratory examinations of the materials and excavations and field studies. Archeologists have to excavate human graveyards and get the human skeleton to their study stations for the development of their research on the human past lifestyle. The skeletons excavated are an important source of information about the human past lifestyle. The previous and medieval burials are generally unspecified. However, they give important information on average human being that is otherwise uncommon in historical findings. They are in information about the past beliefs, handling of the dead and ritual behavior. Skeletons can provide relevant kinds of information for one to study the past human lifestyle. As a result of this fact, the archeologists have to first of all examine the physical vestiges of real people. Study of the human skeleton gives a new dimension of the human past life such as their health, and the form of their population which constitutes to their lifestyle. To study the past human lifestyle, the fundamental requirements by the archeologists include; the sex and age composition of the population, the ailments of the past, the common strains and stresses of daily life, and the appearance and physical size. Skeletons help archeologists in their study about the past human life by giving hints or actual age information about the fossils. It is not a reliable and valid method to determine age just by the size of the skeleton. Skeletons can give age information by studying the trimmings of long bones and other sections of the bones separated in the children’s skeleton. The detachments give room for the bone to grow. The separated bones, called epiphyses, all combine at distinct ages. The phase of bones combining is used by the archeologists to age an adolescent. Skeletons also provide the relevant information on age by studying the teeth system. Permanent molar grows at the age of six. However, studying the ageing skeletons to give age information is more challenging. Such information provided by the skeletons is helpful in providing information on the different diets eaten by the people in the past. From a closer look of the tooth wear in the skeletons, one can understand the kinds of foods by the past people and this closely gives the researcher the lifestyle lived by the past people. The archeologists then classify the skeletons into three pre-established categories namely; old, middle age, and young. Such information is vital in studying the different past human lifestyle according to the various age class that existed in the past age class. Another important type of information the human skeleton can provide for a comprehensive study of the past human lifestyle is the information on sex. It is challenging to use the skeletons to determine the sex of a child that had not reached the puberty stage. To easily determine the sex of an adult, archeologists look at the pelvis having in mind that, women have bowl-shaped and wide pelvis while that of men is narrow and tall. By looking at such differences in the skeletons, relevant information about the sex orientation of the past human beings can be studied. Sex is one of the key components when studying human lifestyle. This fact makes the skeleton one of the most an important human remain materials that provide relevant information for the study of the human past lifestyle. Information on sexuality of the skeleton can also be derived from a closer look at the skull of the skeleton. Some slight differences can be observed in the outline of the eye sockets. For women, the forehead is in a vertical angle, smaller mastoids processes and brow ridges with less strong muscle markings. From the skeletons, relevant information about the various diseases and traumas that existed in a given period of the human past life are identified. Pathology and trauma are effectively studied radiographically and morphologically. Understanding the diseases the past human beings endured before death is important for studying the past human lifestyle. Some diseases are associated with a certain lifestyle even to the present human being. Some ailments are associated with the humans leading a rich lifestyle while others associated with those in a rather lower lifestyle. Skeletons give this kind of information hence making them important in studying the past human lifestyle. The ethnic affiliation can also be derived from studying the skeleton. Understanding the ethnic affiliation of the skeletons helps the archeologist to relate the past human to a given lifestyle. This makes the study of the skeletons important due to this kind of information on the ethnic affiliation of the past human beings. The study of the human skeleton is fundamental in providing the kinds of priceless information that are important in studying the human past lifestyle. A study on the skeletons provide information relevant in the assessment of the ethnic affiliation of the past human being, age, the sex, and the physique of a person with more information on the pathological alterations of the teeth and bones. Using such information provided by studying the bones, further specialized skills like DNA analysis, are performed to gather more insight information about identity, diet, and diseases. This information is vital in the exploration of the various social aspects of human behavior and life in a past population. An example, is a connection between sex and age with the types of graves gives more insights on the past humans funeral customs. Diet and health provide relevant information on the social status which is handy in the spatial analysis of burials. Diseases provide relevant information on the various environments inhabited by the past people. This helps the archeologists to understand the interaction of the ancient people with their surroundings and lifestyles1. Conclusion The study of the skeleton is basic and important in archeological studies aimed at understanding the human past lifestyle. The skeleton study provides information like, information on age, information on the die and health patterns, information on ethnic affiliation, and information on the stature of the past humans. These kinds of information are important in understanding the kinds of lifestyle. References Molleson, T. and Cox, M. The Middling Sort, THe Spitalfields Project, Vol 2: The Anthropolgy London: CBA Research Reports. 1993 Read More