ABSTRACT
As editors, we hope that this volume has achieved its main aim to provide a starting point for anyone wanting to undertake research on or work with human remains outside their country of origin, and to offer insights into different systems and practices within the discipline of physical anthropology. Biological and physical anthropology have a long tradition on the European continent in
particular, starting with studies of ‘race’ and the origins of man mainly during the 19th century, as well as seeing the beginnings of some extensive skeletal collections. A common trend has been noted with regard to the type of research questions and research methods (e.g., craniometry) prevalent in the early studies, the development of increasingly more varied palaeopathological studies, the consideration of the biocultural approach and the variety of new biomolecular techniques (such as stable isotope analysis) applied to many studies today. The wealth of bibliographical data included in this volume may also be of benefit to those researchers seeking comparative material, and the mention of a considerable number of skeletal collections may stimulate future research questions. Increasingly, there are a number of universities and courses that teach physical anthropology to students from a variety of backgrounds, at both undergraduate and graduate level. The information on legislation regarding human remains, their excavation, curation and
analysis, will undoubtedly be of help to commercial archaeological companies, museums, universities and freelance researchers who want to undertake work abroad. Many guidelines and standards governing the excavation, analysis and curation of archaeological human remains still operate at a local or national level and are very specific to a particular region. In many countries there certainly appears to be an increasing and appreciative need to involve and employ physical anthropologists as much as possible from the excavation stage onwards, but only government and heritage institutions can ensure that this need becomes a legislatively enforced requirement. It also appears crucial for anyone coming in from an outside institution to establish links with researchers and curators in the country of their proposed work and to pay special consideration to any sensitive issues specific to that country, whether religious, ethical or political that may have impeded the excavation, analysis or exhibition of archaeological human remains. The section on country-specific methods, while providing standardization and enabling comparison between assemblages, is clearly useful beyond the context of physical anthropology. In cases of missing people in a modern or forensic context, population-specific standards for age-at-death, sex and stature assessment are vital for victim identification.
