Showing That They Cared: An Introduction to Thinking, Theory and Practice in the Bioarchaeology of Care

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.