2 The study of metabolic bone disease in bioarchaeology

The types of information that can be used to assess the metabolic bone diseases in bioarchaeological investigations are set out and reviewed. Sources such as collections of human and animal remains, from various contexts, and clinical and biomedical data are considered alongside the contributions that come from other branches of anthropology. Approaches to the diagnosis of the metabolic bone disease that can be applied in each of the chapters are set out providing a framework that will be referred to the chapters that follow. Techniques that can be applied to archaeological human remains are briefly reviewed alongside theoretical approaches that will enable more to be learned on past groups. A series of bullet points are used to summarise the core concepts covered.