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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating, But a Little Dry, June 29, 2003
This review is from: Written in Bones: How Human Remains Unlock the Secrets of the Dead (Paperback)
"Written in Bones" explains what human remains can tell us about how people lived in the distant past. The book covers natural deaths, deliberate deaths (murders and massacres), burials, mummies and mummifications, as well as how ancient people lived and what they ate, all in 36 chapters. Each chapter is an article written by an expert on the subject, with editor Paul Bahn supplying the overall organization and continuity. Because the chapters are written by different authors, they vary substantially in quality. Some are well-written and provide a context for the stories they tell; others are fairly dry and look as though they were based on academic articles with the footnotes removed. On the whole, however, the book is fascinating-- at times, it's even graphic and unsettling, especially when it deals with child sacrifice, murder, mayhem and (to the modern mind) rather bizarre burial practices. If you are interested in the subjects covered by this book, here are a few other recommendations: Chamberlain & Pearson, "Earthly Remains: The History and Science of Preserved Bodies" (2002); David & Archbold, "Conversations with Mummies" (2000); Wilson, "Past Lives: Unlocking the Secrets of Our Ancestors" (2001); and Richards, "Meet the Ancestors." I found the last two of these books to be especially fascinating, because they devote a substantial amount of space to showing what the owners of the excavated skeletons would have looked like in life (something that "Written in Bones" does only in a few chapters).
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not for the squeamish!, May 4, 2003
This review is from: Written in Bones: How Human Remains Unlock the Secrets of the Dead (Paperback)
A wide-ranging and comprehensive catalog of human burial sites and artefacts, this book explains much about past conditions. Bahn introduces us to many of the tools used in probing human remains. Evidence of the local environment, combined with physical and chemical analysis of the remains indicates the health, life style and sometimes the cause of death. His examinations are taken from a diversity of sites from nearly every continent [Australia is touched lightly through a site on an offshore island]. Along the way, many misconceptions are set aside and a few mysteries resolved. But many enigmatic situations emerge with pointers to work that remains to be done. Given the wealth of information available on many topics, Bahn is yet able to produce a solid, readable text. From the suspected "massacre" at Mohenjo Daro to real ones in Vilnius and Beacon Island, Bahn relates the finds and what they mean. The contorted skeletons of Mohenjo Daro appear to have met violent deaths during a conquest. The real cause was due to a combination of flooding, tainted water and successive waves of building. Other mysteries, such as whether Pharaoh Tutankhamen was murdered, remain unsolved. Mummies from the Western Hemisphere, have proven more expressive. Bahn evokes our sympathy for the Inca children found on Andean peaks. There's clearly more feeling aroused at the sight of a nearly perfectly preserved ancient child than occurs with anonymous skeletons. Even stronger feelings arise when you encounter the image of a young man wearing a helmet - and a rope around his throat. Why was he murdered? Even more poignant is the blindfolded girl with partially shaved head. She was purposely drowned. Even where the deaths were likely natural, Bahn gives us glimpses of inexplicable burial practices. Many cultures have cremated their dead, but to pack the remains in urns placed in straw models of the living is unique. For many centuries various societies disarticulated skeletons, choosing some bones for internment while discarding others. Leg, arm and other large bones may be found but toes, fingers and ribs were thrown away. The skull, of course, retained prominence, sometimes collected in large numbers. Respect doesn't necessarily mean stability - many skulls seem to have been transported from place to place. According to Bahn this suggests the living may have hoped to invoke the accumulated wisdom of the departed even if the external environment forced relocation. As indicated, much of this book is devoted to images. The photography is excellent, with images ranging from broad vistas to close-up analysis of disease-damaged bones. Some of the illustrations depict reconstructions of faces built up from skulls. Star Trek buffs will find the image on page 82 startling! There are also many good drawings that amplify the photographs. In fact, the only missing element in this book is maps. Another near-omission is Bahn's bibliography. There are references to specific sites and topics, all deeply academic. For the general reader, the obvious target of this book, some additional general recommended reading might have helped enlarge the picture. "Gray's Anatomy", while highly informative, is unlikely to occupy a place on your shelf. These are minimal aspects of a truly worthwhile book. Bahn's choices and presentation is a fine accomplishment at many levels. Much of our past is revealed and questions needing attention are detailed. There's more digging and analysis to do. Start with this book to see what's been done. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
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17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Broad-based regionally and by period, August 24, 2003
This review is from: Written in Bones: How Human Remains Unlock the Secrets of the Dead (Paperback)
Written in Bones is a multi-authored volume of articles edited by Paul Bahn, who coauthored along with Colin Renfrew my favorite book on archaeology, Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice. I had therefore expected something a little more cutting edge in this department and so was a little disappointed. Other readers will probably not be. As with any book with several authors the quality of the writing varies from chapter to chapter according to the abilities of the various sources. In some instances the word choices and grammar suggested that a foreign language speaker or his translator had make an awkward word selection, in others it might have been an editing failure, but the overall style is very lucid and rapidly read. I took about an afternoon to read it. Some of the material was already known to me from other sources; other information was new and fun to read. Because most of my study has been conducted in ancient history, in particular the Near East, Greece and Rome, I found the studies of modern remains and those in Chinese and Andean sites were of more interest. Vilnius and the Ghosts of the Grande Armee was particularly arresting, describing as it does the tragic fate of the bulk of Napoleon's army during his ill-conceived Russian campaign. High-mountain Inca Sacrifices updated me on the discovery and examination of the freeze-dried remains of children sacrificed in the Andes Mountains. The find given the name Juanita was known to me, but much research has been done since her discovery almost a decade ago. Since I have recently taken an interest in post-conquest English history (inspired by a particularly good series of murder mysteries) I found the article Anne Mowbray and the Skeletons in the Tower, a discussion of the murders of the nephews of Richard III, enjoyable. It filled in a knowledge gap and extended my period of interest a little. Most of the stories are simple, general descriptions of human remains and their relevance to the historical record of human kind. They should appeal to the casual reader with junior high school reading skills or above, and require no prior study in archaeology. They will not bog the reader down in professional jargon or differences and might even inspire the reader to do further reading on a particular period of interest.
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