Activity, Diet and Social Practice: Addressing Everyday Life in Human Skeletal Remains (Bioarchaeology and Social Theory)

Day-to-day activities are important in the development of social identities, the establishment of social standing, and the communal understanding of societal rules. This perspective is broadly referred to as practice theory and relates to the power of an overarching social structure and the individual actors that exist within it. Practice theory has made an important contribution to anthropological and archaeological research as these fields are particularly interested in daily life and the importance of these actions. This volume argues that practice theory can also be used in a bioarchaeological context through the examination of human skeletal remains and the archaeological context in which they were excavated. Bioarchaeology offers a unique perspective on these day-to-day experiences—skeletal tissue is constantly undergoing a process of change and, as a living biological system, it can adapt to external forces. Furthermore, bioarchaeological studies are multi-scalar and can examine individuals, groups, or entire populations. Using osteological indicators of activity patterns (entheseal changes, osteoarthritis) and dietary isotopes (carbon, nitrogen) as examples, this book addresses patterns of everyday life in the ancient past. Physical activities and food consumption are actions that are carried out on a daily basis. While bioarchaeology does not have the ability to recreate specific day-to-day activities, we can assess broad trends in everyday life. The volume illustrates these points using examples from the Ancient Nile Valley. Through the examination of over 800 Egyptian and Nubian individuals from five different archaeological sites, the research addresses patterns of everyday life as they relate to social inequality, agency, and practice. Beyond osteological indicators of activity and dietary patterns, this book also discusses additional methods that can be pursed to draw attention to daily life. Lastly, this book also highlights the applicability of and potential contribution that practice theory can make to this area of research. Dedication 6 Foreword 7 Acknowledgments 9 Contents 10 Chapter 1: The Anthropology and Bioarchaeology of Quotidian Experiences 12 Who Studies the Everyday? 13 Archaeology of the Everyday 14 What Can Bioarchaeology Contribute? 17 Organization of the Chapters 20 References 22 Chapter 2: Social Practice and Theoretical Integration of Everyday Life 29 Bringing Everyday Life to the Fore 29 Situating Practice 30 Bourdieu 31 Giddens 34 de Certeau 35 Embodiment 37 Anthropological and Archaeological Perspectives on Foodways and Labor 40 Foodways 40 Labor 48 Summary 51 References 51 Chapter 3: Bioarchaeological Approaches to Activity Reconstruction 64 Osteoarthritis 65 Characteristics of Osteoarthritis 65 Etiology of Osteoarthritis 69 Previous Bioarchaeological Approaches to Osteoarthritis 72 Lived Experience and Care 76 Impairment and Disability 77 Ongoing Bioarchaeological Debates: Definitions, Data, and Statistics 79 Entheseal Changes 82 The Physiological Structure of Entheses 82 Etiology of Entheseal Change 86 Previous Bioarchaeological Approaches to Entheseal Change 89 Entheseal Changes and Sexual Division of Labor 90 Entheseal Changes and Identified Skeletal Collections 92 Entheseal Changes and Bone Structure 94 Entheseal Changes and Animal Models 95 Ongoing Bioarchaeological Debates: Terminology, Scoring, and Statistics 96 Combination Studies 102 Osteoarthritis, Entheseal Changes, and Everyday Life 104 Summary 117 References 118 Chapter 4: Examining Diet and Foodways via Human Remains 136 Stable Isotope Analysis 138 Other Bioarchaeological Methods of Dietary Reconstruction 141 Compound Specific Isotope Analysis 141 Dental Calculus 142 Dental Wear 143 Dental Decay 144 An Example of Daily Life Foodways 144 How Do We Know What Ancient Egyptians and Nubians Ate? 146 Who Were the C-Group Nubians? 150 What Were the C-Group and Pharaonic Samples Eating? 153 Summary 157 References 158 Chapter 5: Day-to-Day Life in Ancient Nubia 174 Situating Tombos in a Transitional Sociopolitical Landscape 174 Tombos in Context 178 Osteology, Structure, and Agency 181 Osteology 182 Structure and Agency 187 New Kingdom Everyday Life and Habitus 189 Third Intermediate Period/Napatan Everyday Life and Habitus 193 Summary 197 References 198 Chapter 6: Conclusions and Future Directions 203 Future Directions 208 Summary 211 References 211 Index 219 Day-to-day activities are important in the development of social identities, the establishment of social standing, and the communal understanding of societal rules. This perspective is broadly referred to as practice theory and relates to the power of an overarching social structure and the individual actors that exist within it. Practice theory has made an important contribution to anthropological and archaeological research as these fields are particularly interested in daily life and the importance of these actions.0This volume argues that practice theory can also be used in a bioarchaeological context through the examination of human skeletal remains and the archaeological context in which they were excavated. Bioarchaeology offers a unique perspective on these day-to-day experiences - skeletal tissue is constantly undergoing a process of change and, as a living biological system, it can adapt to external forces. Furthermore, bioarchaeological studies are multi-scalar and can examine individuals, groups, or entire populations.0Using osteological indicators of activity patterns (entheseal changes, osteoarthritis) and dietary isotopes (carbon, nitrogen) as examples, this book addresses patterns of everyday life in the ancient past. Physical activities and food consumption are actions that are carried out on a daily basis. While bioarchaeology does not have the ability to recreate specific day-to-day activities, we can assess broad trends in everyday life. The volume illustrates these points using examples from the Ancient Nile Valley. Through the examination of over 800 Egyptian and Nubian individuals from five different archaeological sites, the research addresses patterns of everyday life as they relate to social inequality, agency, and practice Front Matter ....Pages i-xii The Anthropology and Bioarchaeology of Quotidian Experiences (Sarah Schrader)....Pages 1-17 Social Practice and Theoretical Integration of Everyday Life (Sarah Schrader)....Pages 19-53 Bioarchaeological Approaches to Activity Reconstruction (Sarah Schrader)....Pages 55-126 Examining Diet and Foodways via Human Remains (Sarah Schrader)....Pages 127-164 Day-to-Day Life in Ancient Nubia (Sarah Schrader)....Pages 165-193 Conclusions and Future Directions (Sarah Schrader)....Pages 195-210 Back Matter ....Pages 211-213