Changing Perceptions of Archaeological Human Remains in Germany

Abstract

Until the end of the First World War, the investigation of archaeological human remains in Germany followed a typological concept that was dominated by attempts to categorize the morphological variability of human skeletons. Until the end of the Second World War, this approach grew more acute because of the pressure imposed by the National Socialists to conform with politically desired “human races.” After Germany’s division into the FRG and GDR, the scientific landscapes in the two parts of Germany again reflected the different political systems although physical anthropologists remained strongly connected with archaeological sciences in both polities. By the end of the twentieth century, new concepts and methods and explicitly contextual research on human remains slowly gained in importance what is reflected by, e.g., the growing relevance of biomolecular research after the German unification. As a result, however, traditional skeletal biology has turned into a small and endangered academic subject.