From Prejudices to Reconstructions: The Study of Human Remains Through the Centuries
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21814/diacritica.5852Keywords:
Bioarchaeology, Intersectional analysis, Living conditions in past populationsAbstract
The study of human remains began in the 19th century, when published works reinforced ethnic and gender prejudices common in society at the time. Since then, there have been many transformations in the objectives and methodologies of the discipline, due to advances in Science, but also to the participation of women and black and indigenous people in the production of knowledge. During this process, a new approach emerged, bioarchaeology, which integrates elements from archaeology, biological anthropology and other areas of knowledge. Bioarchaeology allows us to carry out a more detailed study of the living conditions in past societies. Several elements will determine individuals' access to resources in sufficient quantity and quality for survival, including gender and religion. In this article we discuss how the concepts of gender and religion were treated from the beginning of the discipline to the current period, and how they can be used as elements of intersectional analysis in bioarchaeology.
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