Bioarchaeology in Canada: Origins and Contemporary Issues

Abstract

The earliest practitioners of human skeletal studies in Canada (1848–1958) brought knowledge from England and Scotland and some influence on later works. It was in the 1960s, however, that a tradition of Canadian bioarchaeology took root, nurtured by interactions between Canadian and American archaeologists and physical anthropologists. A commonality of research interests in aboriginal cultural areas bordered by Canada and the USA—the Arctic, the Northwest Coast, and the Northeast (Great Lakes)—stimulated similar approaches to the studies of past peoples. Methodological traditions developed in the 1960s by James E. Anderson are evident in much of contemporary Canadian bioarchaeology. Population relationships studied through the analysis of non-metric skeletal and dental traits are being supplemented by ancient DNA studies. Today’s palaeopathology includes modern diagnostic approaches and classical descriptive methods. Modern histological and morphometric approaches have been added to the traditional gross anatomical methods of physical anthropology. International collaborations have enriched studies of Canadian collections as well as the research questions and methodological approaches of Canadian scholars elsewhere. Ethical approaches to the study of human remains form an integral part of Canada’s bioarchaeological landscape through collaboration and cooperation among archaeologists, physical anthropologists and contemporary indigenous and non-indigenous communities.