Abstract
Indicators of the lived experience of disease are frequently found in archaeologically recovered human remains. Where evidence suggests a period of survival with pathology likely to have compromised an individual’s ability to function independently, or to participate appropriately, within their lifeways setting, it can be inferred that this person likely received a level of health-related care to assist them in managing disease impact – and the characteristics of this caregiving may offer insights into important aspects of community and culture. The bioarchaeology of care is a recently developed, case study-based approach for identifying and interpreting instances of past disability and associated care responses within the corresponding archaeological context, and it is supported by the Index of Care, an online application designed to assist in working systematically through the four stages of bioarchaeology of care analysis. This chapter is an introduction to bioarchaeology of care theory and practice for readers who are not already familiar with these and serves as background for the following chapters in this volume. Drawing on the examples of two prehistoric individuals (Man Bac Burial 9, from Neolithic Vietnam, and Romito 2, from Epigravettian Italy) thought to have received very different forms of care, the chapter describes the bioarchaeology of care methodology, summarising the principles shaping its design, its scope and its limitations. It outlines both the most commonly voiced objections to the archaeological inference of care and the conceptual foundations on which the new approach was constructed. In closing, the chapter briefly considers why it is important for archaeology to acknowledge the implications of the giving and receipt of care wherever evidence permits – in terms of enriching academic knowledge; realising our ethical obligations to the individuals whose remains we analyse and whose lives we (re)produce; and providing a perspective on past life and behaviour that may help inform debate on behaviours in the present.
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Acknowledgements
All the contributors to this volume have been magnificent colleagues and collaborators, and I thank them from the bottom of my heart. This book grew from a symposium at the 2015 Society for American Archaeology annual meeting; the person who originally proposed the symposium was my co-editor, Alecia A. Schrenk, and I am very grateful for this brainwave – and her comradeship in making things happen. I would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers of this chapter for their helpful suggestions, and those colleagues, in particular Robyn Longhurst, who have read and commented on early drafts. I have thanked David Frayer previously for providing me with images and information in relation to Romito 2 , and I thank him again. Finally, and as usual, I want to thank Tony Cameron for his help in producing my images, for his work on the Index of Care , and for his unwavering support in general.
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Tilley, L. (2017). Showing That They Cared: An Introduction to Thinking, Theory and Practice in the Bioarchaeology of Care. In: Tilley, L., Schrenk, A. (eds) New Developments in the Bioarchaeology of Care. Bioarchaeology and Social Theory. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39901-0_2
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