Introduction: Interpreting Violence in the Ancient and Modern World When Skeletonized Bodies are All You Have

If this collection of studies on interpreting violence has a single raison d'être it is that bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology make good bedfellows in thinking about the reasons and context for interpersonal violence. Bioarchaeology has emerged as an important and integrated approach to understanding human skeletal biology in the past. It combines analysis of skeletonized human remains with archaeological reconstruction of the grave and habitation site, and other aspects of the application of methods from bioarchaeology, but usually in a more recent historic or contemporary setting. The data from the skeleton are usually used in a legal setting while working with police, coroners, or human rights organizations. Both bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology share complex methodologies for gleaning every piece of scientific data from the human remains and the context in which they are found. Yet these two subdisciplines within biological anthropology often are separated in edited volumes, within departments, and across national conferences.