The Bioarchaeology of Disaster: How Catastrophes Change our Skeletons

Description

The Bioarchaeology of Disaster examines two dozen disasters occurring around the world over the past 2000 years, ranging from natural and environmental disasters to human conflict and warfare, from epidemics to those of social marginalization--all from a bioarchaeological and forensic anthropological perspective. Each case study provides the social, cultural, historical and ecological context of the disaster and then analyzes evidence of human and related remains in order to better understand the identities of victims, the means, processes, and extent of deaths and injuries. The methods used by specialists to interpret evidence and disagreements among experts are also addressed. It will be helpful in understanding the circumstances of a range of disasters and the multidisciplinary ways in which bioarcheologists employ empirical methods and analytic frameworks to interpret their impacts and consequences. The book is intended for those in the social and biological sciences, particularly archaeology, forensics, history and ethnography. It will also be of interest to those in medical history and epidemiology, ecological studies, and those involved in disaster response, law enforcement and human rights work. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents Figures Acknowledgments Introduction Author's Note Bibliography Part I: Natural Catastrophes: Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Hurricanes, and Floods 1. Eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the Destruction of Pompeii, 79 A.D. Analysis Bibliography 2. Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, 2005 Analysis Bibliography 3. Haitian Earthquake, 2010 Analysis Bibliography Part II: Human Environmental Disasters 4. Ecocide in Norse Greenland, 15th Century Analysis Bibliography 5. Deforestation of Easter Island, 17th Century Analysis Bibliography Part III: Biological Disasters: Epidemics and Famines 6. The Black Death of Europe and the Middle East, 1346-1353 Analysis Bibliography 7. Syphilis Crosses the Atlantic, 15th Century Analysis Bibliography 8. Jamestown, Virginia, Starving Time of 1609-1610 Analysis Bibliography 9. New England's Vampire Panic, 19th Century Analysis Bibliography 10. Irish Potato Famine, 1845-1852 Analysis Bibliography Part IV: Industrial and Occupational Hazards and Calamities 11. Soot Wart Cancer among British Chimney Sweeps, 18th-19th Centuries Analysis Bibliography 12. Accidents in South Africa's Kimberley's Big Hole Diamond Mine, 1880-1890s Analysis Bibliography Part V: Catastrophes of Human Conflict: Terrorism, Genocide, and War 13. Chanka Communal Violence in the Andes, 11th-15th Centuries Analysis Bibliography 14. Smallpox in Colonial America, 16th-18th Centuries Analysis Bibliography 15. U.S. Civil War Amputations and Prosthetics, 1861-1865 Analysis Bibliography 16. Killing Fields of Cambodia, 1975-1979 Analysis Bibliography 17. Crash of Pan Am 103 in Lockerbie, Scotland, 1988 Analysis Bibliography 18. Rwandan Genocide, 1994 Analysis Bibliography Part VI: Calamities and Abuse of the Socially Marginalized: Identity, Stigma, and Persecution 19. Sati, Widow Burning in India, 10th-19th Centuries Analysis Bibliography 20. Eunuchs of China's Ming Dynasty, 16th-17th Centuries Analysis Analysis Bibliography 21. Mutiny of the Batavia, Indian Ocean, 1629 Analysis Bibliography 22. Yakuza of Japan, 17th-21st Centuries Analysis Bibliography 23. Infanticide and Abortion in Five Points, New York, 19th Century Analysis Bibliography 24. Kalawao Leper Colony, Hawaii, 19th-20th Centuries Analysis Bibliography Conclusion Index