The Study of Growth in Skeletal Populations
Classically, the study of skeletal growth in earlier human populations has involved the study of long-bone lengths versus dental age, making comparisons between archaeological groups or between archaeological and modern populations. Although this continues to be an important avenue of scholarly enquiry in archaeological growth studies, some important new directions have recently been explored. There has also been an increased diversity to the statistical methods used to model and investigate skeletal growth in archaeological populations, and increased recognition of some of the limitations of growth studies using archaeological populations. This chapter outlines developments in these areas and discusses prospects for the future of archaeological studies of human skeletal growth.