ABSTRACT
In the USA, the histories of skeletal recovery and analysis are closely intertwined. Many scholars (Buikstra 2006; Milner 2004) trace the roots of professional excavation of human remains to Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) who served as the third president of the United States, between 1801 and 1809. Curious about the presence of mounds spotting the American terrain, Jefferson and others of that era launched excavations seeking information. Jefferson’s efforts at mound archaeology yielded information on the secondary nature of the human bones found within and the presence of layers suggesting that deposits within the mounds were made at different time intervals (Jefferson 1954). His work documented that interpretations involving human remains are enhanced with contextual information only gleaned through careful excavation. As archaeological efforts intensified in the ensuing decades, collections of human remains from
known archaeological contexts began to grow. Key contributors during this period were Joseph Jones (1833-96), Washington Mathews (1843-1905) and Samuel Morton (1799-1851). Joseph Jones received his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1856 and served as the first health officer of Nashville, Tennessee, as well as a Confederate medical officer during the American Civil War. While in Nashville, he excavated various archaeological structures in the vicinity and published his analysis of the human remains, which included assessment of the evidence for syphilis (Jones 1876). Born in Ireland, Washington Mathews (1843-1905) emigrated to the United States, received
his medical degree in 1864 and then worked as a US Army surgeon. While on duty in the western United States, he developed a strong interest in American Indian issues, especially those involving the Hidatsa and Navajo. Through his medical training, he sustained interest in skeletal anatomy and disease. His approach to analysis incorporated archaeological information and assessment (Matthews et al. 1893). Professor of anatomy at the University of Pennsylvania, Morton assembled an important
comparative collection of human skulls from archaeological contexts. His major work focusing on this collection (Morton 1839) contributed to his assessment of worldwide population variation and classification. Earnest A. Hooton (1887-1954) and Aleš Hrdlicˇka (1869-1943) both represent key figures in
the early history of physical anthropology (Howells 2006). Harvard University Professor Hooton
published on American Indian samples and trained many students, who themselves became university professors and advanced the field considerably. As the first curator of physical anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution, Hrdlicˇka conducted excavations but also made major methodological advances to put analysis on a sounder basis. Hrdlicˇka also founded the American Journal of Physical Anthropology in 1918 and the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, which first convened in 1930 (Ubelaker 1999a). From the early work of these pioneers and others, the modern field of physical anthropology involving the excavation and analysis of human remains has evolved. As practised in the United States, bioarchaeology integrates information gleaned from both excavation and analysis to address key issues in anthropology (Buikstra and Beck 2006; Larsen 2001). Training of anthropologists involved in this research primarily takes place in university departments of anthropology where education focuses broadly on all areas of anthropology, including archaeology and social anthropology.
