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Re: Early Amerind assimilation (Was: Re: Romans in the New World?)
Anthony West (aawest@CritPath.Org)
Tue, 6 Aug 1996 21:46:17 GMT
In article <4u4iri$ppv@sjx-ixn4.ix.netcom.com> mbwillia@ix.netcom.com(Mary Beth Williams) writes:
>
>Just because a dig is *professionally* handled DOES NOT mean that the
>physical remains were suitably analyzed by physical anthropologists,
>particularly in relation to the information that you seek. Moreover,
>I've had it beaten into my brain by my bioarchy mentors (Charles and
>Buikstra) that you cannot rely upon other peoples analyses of remains
>when carrying out this kind of research, as then you're dealing with a
>haphazard array of interpretations, methods, and technologies. I've
>worked on two sites where my analyses of the physical remains paint a
>very different picture from the preceding researcher (in one case, the
>remains were not even cleaned.) Hence, it becomes very important for
>the physical anthropologist to have direct access to the remains in
>question. THAT is why I have made such a fuss over the availability of
>European/African remains, which, unlike Native American remains, are
>seldom left on institutional shelves for future anthropologists to
>study.
>
>MB Williams
>Dept. of Anthro., UMass-Amherst
>
Hmm. A good point.
-Tony West
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