Results of III National Workshop in Archaeology and Paleopathology

Abstract

This paper presents the main results and discussions carried out during the Third National Workshop on Bioarchaeology and Paleopathology, held at the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the National University of La Plata, on May 19-20, 2016. During the workshop, oral communications about the study of skeletal and dental remains were presented, focusing on the advantages, disadvantages and feasibility of the implementation of complementary or alternative research methods and techniques. The oral presentations were organized in scientific sessions along different thematic lines. The first session focused on Dental anthropology; the second one, that included expositions about Paleopathology, paleoparasitology and taphonomy, included research that discussed about the use of the body, health and cultural alterations. In the third session, concerning Microscopic and densitometric analysis, the scope and difficulties of conducting these studies were considered. Finally, the last session focused on Sex determination methodologies; in this case, archaeological adult samples were analyzed, and proposals for immature sex determination were conducted. During the meeting, the need to define criteria that contribute to the institutions responsible for the care of the collections of skeletal remains to provide authorization for analysis with specific equipment was expressed. Also, the need to emphasize the divulgation of the results of bioarchaeological and paleopathological studies in academic and non-academic areas was strongly argued.
Keywords: complementary techniques, anthropology, Argentina.