Agency, Identity and the Bioarchaeology of Care

Abstract

Whatever the origins of the impulse to care for others, canvassed in Chapter 4, the elements involved in providing health-related care are indisputably the products of conscious, purposeful, goal-directed behaviour by caregivers. The content and outcomes of this care will also be shaped by the care-recipient, through their actions in negotiating and cooperating (or not) with those offering this care. Chapter 5 elaborates the central role of theory from the archaeologies of agency and identity in bioarchaeology of care analysis. In doing so, it explicates the theoretical foundations of Stage 4 of the bioarchaeology of care methodology, which proposes a framework for organising and understanding the decision-making practices and interpersonal relationships that underlie the giving and receiving of care.