Review of \u3ci\u3e Skeletal Biology in the Great Plains: Migration, Warfare, Health and Subsistence\u3c/i\u3e by Douglas W. Owsley and Richard L. Jantz

This volume reports the results of studies on skeletal remains throughout the Great Plains from early to recent times. Skeletons from the W. H. Over Museum Collection in South Dakota, excavated by Over, William Bass, and W. R. Hurt, form the volume\u27s analytic core, with other collections providing necessary context. Portions of the Over skeletal collection have been reported on previously. When the collection was mandated for reburial in 1985, however, Owsley and Jantz arranged for comprehensive osteological analysis by numerous specialists, resulting in this volume. Thirty-two chapters by 39 authors are offered on the topics of Great Plains disease and mortality, population variation indicated by morphometric characteristics, subsistence strategies revealed through bone chemistry, and warfare. An introductory section presents an overview of burial contexts. Here, Blakeslee places individual archaeological sites within a cultural- historical framework that will serve as a reference for years to come. Summaries of Southern Plains cultural history (Brooks) and ethnohistorically documented mortuary practices of Northern Plains groups (Snortland) are also included