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Controversy In Skeletal Biology: The Use Of Pathological And Osteological Markers As Evidence For Activity Patterns, Anna Alioto

The Hilltop Review

One of the most pressing controversies today within a multitude of disciplines in biological anthropology including bioarchaeology, paleoanthropology and especially skeletal biology is whether or not physical activity patterns of individuals can be inferred from skeletal material and what types of activities can be reconstructed from that data (Jurmain et al., 2011). While many authors have published articles that incorporated the use of pathological and osteological markers as evidence for activity patterns, there is still much dispute within the skeletal biological community on the validity and the accuracy of the techniques used. This paper will discuss what types of markers …