Writing Bioarchaeological Stories to Right Past Wrongs

Abstract

Part of humans’ primate heritage is the tendency to distinguish members of in-groups and out-groups. This distinction can be reinforced by behaviors and language that distance and dehumanize the out-group. One of the goals of anthropology is to “make the world safe for human differences” (arguably in the words of Ruth Benedict). Anthropologists explore humans’ biological and cultural diversity across space and time while also acknowledging that this represents variations on a theme of common evolutionary origins. Ironically, the way that bioarchaeologists write about these explorations from the perspective of past human bodies actually distances us from some of the people with whom we are trying to communicate. We must do a better job explaining and sharing the outcomes and importance of our research to the public. Research by social psychologists suggests that affective modes of interpretation and accounts of single, identified individuals, successfully elicit empathy from readers. Because fictional, yet evidence-based, osteobiographical narratives about past persons combine these approaches, they should achieve similar effects. This chapter reviews the benefits and challenges of, and procedures for, writing osteobiographical narratives, ultimately arguing that they can rehumanize both the subjects of our research and the discipline itself.