Anonymous
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First they can tell where they lived. Second they can tell sometimes how they died. Its possible to find tools and even find fireplaces and they can tell how long ago they lived by radiopotassium and radiocarbon dating.
The bones tell if it was male, female, child. The full skeleton can give you a pretty story about how many times was the individual sick(idicated by bone growth reduction that is a way of measuering density of bones ....in short a special method), what injuries he sufferd.
The teeth tell us what was the individuals diet(meat, plants) they also tell us how healthy and strong the individual was when alive, and also if he_she used the teeth as a tool when working.
You can measuer the bones and tell how long the were and get a picture how they looked alive, also how tall they were. You can also tell if they walked upright or used hands occasionaly. The skull gives us the brain volume and we can tell what shape was the brain. etc. etc. etc.
there are 100 of things the science can tell about a skeleton.
jeff m
Before written histories, they give all the clues. From bones you can find out about early surgical practices, eating habits from the wear on their teeth (or, like in the case of ancient hominids, the size and shape of their teeth will tell what types of food they were inclined to eat), how muscular or slight the people were from the muscle attachments, the average age of the people, etc...
From the other artifacts you can find out a great deal as well. What tools they used, what those tools were influenced by, and thereby, who they traded with. The style of housing, the method of currency or bartering system, the hierarchy of government or lack thereof, etc...
Potentially, you can learn nearly everything from artifacts and bones. Some ancient peoples explained many things in there ceramics. A good example would be the Moche people of ancient Peru. Very detailed pottery depicting everything from the heads of leader of conquered nations, sacrificial techniques, and even sexual acts.
Anonymous
well from what i have seen they can determine lots of different things,the type of person age diet,depending what exactly they have,the enviroment they lived in area etc.what else i am not to sure as i have never studied it.but thats a bit of the basics.