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Speaking of bones
MONTEREY - The bones of the dead have a lot to say to the living. They can reveal many traits or characteristics of the body in life.. A bioarchaeologist knows how to read those stories. In addition to the skeletal story, the places where the bones are found can be significant, their position, the items placed with them at burial, and even the trees and plants above the grave all help people understand what may have been.
For most of the historical record, there are written accounts of events and peoples. But a majority of people, and their more mundane daily activities, go unrecorded - women, children, Native and African Americans or the impoverished. Written accounts may often be misleading because they were largely written from the perspective of wealthy Caucasian men. So sometimes a fuller understanding can be gained by examining bones.
Laura Powell Kiser has learned the delicate art of bioarchaeology and as she says, "the stories written by the human body on the tableau of the skeleton are indisputable." Bioarchaeology can help people more fully understand their ancestors with what has been left behind in the skeletal remains. She has worked with some of the finest archaeologists and anthropologists at Flowerdew Hundred and ossuaries on the banks of the James River.
In spite of legal protection, development increasingly threatens many grave sites and the accompanying loss of history. Even small family cemeteries in our area may be unmarked by today's standards, forgotten and their history waiting to be revealed. All graves in Virginia are protected by law whether they are marked or not. Often, well-intentioned cemetery beautification projects result in the removal of trees and plants placed by those left behind to honor and mark the resting sites of their loved ones. This history can easily be lost forever.
Thursday, July 10, at 7 p.m. at the Highland County Public Library, Kiser will discuss her work in bioarchaeology at the regular meeting of the Highlands Chapter of the Archaeological Society of Virginia. The meeting is open to the public and prospective mem-
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