Main description:

In Skeleton Keys: An Introduction to Human Skeletal Morphology, Development, and Analysis, Second Edition, Jeffrey H. Schwartz presents a detailed yet highly accessible introduction to the study of the human skeleton. This unique volume examines the skeleton from its developmental basis to the expression of individual variation. It reviews a variety of different approaches used to determine an individual's sex, age, and pathological history and challenges
readers to think critically about how to analyze a human skeleton rather than learning formulas for quick results. An ideal text for courses in human osteology, skeletal analysis, and bioarchaeology, this book is also a helpful reference for professionals.

Thoroughly revised and updated, the second edition of Skeleton Keys features:

* The companion website contains hundreds of color images of skeletons and skeletal elements-demonstrating morphology, pathology, and nonmetric variation-that can be used as classroom projections or for individual study. * Coverage of the most recent developments in the field, including the molecular regulation of bone and tooth formation
* Expanded studies in each area of analysis: sex, age, nonmetric variation, pathology, biodistance and bioarchaeology, and stable isotope analysis
* Additional photographic images, especially in the pathology and sexing chapters
* Two separate and extensively illustrated chapters on the skull, one dealing with articulated elements and one with isolated bones (these topics were covered in one chapter in the first edition)
* Integration of material-such as anthropometric landmarks-from appendices in the previous edition into relevant chapters as tables
* More accessible language throughout and an extensive glossary

Contents:

1. AN INTRODUCTION TO SKELETAL ANATOMY AND THE DEVELOPMENT, PHYSIOLOGY, AND BIOCHEMISTRY OF BONE; 2. THE SKULL; 3. INDIVIDUAL BONES OF THE SKULL; 4. THE POSTCRANIAL AXIAL SKELETON: VERTEBRAL COLUMN, SACRUM, STERNUM, AND RIBS; 5. THE UPPER LIMB; 6. THE LOWER LIMB; 7. TEETH; 8. AGING; 9. DIFFERENTIALLY EXPRESSED MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTER STATES: NONMETRIC VARIATION, SEX DETERMINATION, POPULATIONS, AND A DISCUSSION OF BIODISTANCE ANALYSIS; 10. PATHOLOGY: DISEASE, TRAUMA, AND STRESS; APPENDIX A: OSTEOMETRY; APPENDIX B: COMPARATIVE OSTEOLOGY: HUMAN, DEER, BEAR, PIG