Bioarchaeology in southwestern North America has a long and rich history, having contributed greatly to our understanding of the pre- and postcolonial inhabitants of this ecologically and culturally diverse region. Through analyses of osseous remains recovered from archaeological contexts, bioarchaeologists have investigated many topics important in Southwest archaeology, including population health, growth and development, subsistence, activity patterns, demography, migration/gene flow, violence, mortuary behavior, and social organization—all within a social and cultural context provided by the archaeological record. The two-volume Bioarchaeology of the Southwest, edited by Ann L. W. Stodder and Dawn M. Mulhern, addresses almost all these topics in chapters written by scholars with regional and methodological expertise. Not including introductory and concluding chapters, there are 17 chapters covering eight broadly defined archaeological cultures or culture regions (Ancestral Pueblo, Mogollon, Salado, Sinagua, Hohokam, Trincheras, Casas Grandes, and the Lower Pecos) comprising seven subdivisions corresponding to specific archaeologically defined culture groups (Mimbres, Kayenta, Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde) or subregions such as the Middle San Juan, Northern Rio Grande, and Middle Rio Grande. In their introduction, the editors explain that Volume 1 provides a context for synthesizing work presented in a range of sources and that the chapters in both volumes are not theoretically oriented. The coeditors intend for these volumes to serve as a foundational resource for future work by bioarchaeologists, archaeologists, and Indigenous scholars.

The chapters are generally well contextualized by the authors in terms of geographic placement, chronology, and environmental setting. Most chapters provide not only a description of previous work but also detailed archaeological and bioarchaeological research histories of the cultures or regions examined. In Volume 1, chapter 2, Charles E. Hilton provides a summary and synthesis of the archaeological and bioarchaeological work done on the Archaic period hunter-gatherers of the Lower Pecos region of southwestern Texas; it includes a section on the morphology and cross-sectional properties of the limbs as they relate to activity patterns. In chapter 3, in addition to examining aspects of health and demography, Mulhern and Rachael M. Byrd present results of their analysis of craniometric variation among Western and Eastern Basketmaker II populations from the San Juan River Valley of Colorado, Utah, and Arizona. Stodder and Kristin A. Kuckelman provide a comprehensive treatment of bioarchaeology of the Mesa Verde region, as well as a detailed history of previous archaeological and bioarchaeological work, in chapter 4. Similarly, in the following chapter, Lexi O’Donnell and Genevieve Woodhead present an excavation and research history for their synthesis of the bioarchaeology of Chaco Canyon, along with a comprehensive and well-referenced summary of a wide range of topics. The authors also present a biodistance analysis based on dental morphological data that suggests a Mesoamerican connection for Pueblo Bonito. Chapter 6 is a multiauthored review of the Middle San Juan region, including the Navajo Reservoir District and the watersheds of the Animas and La Plata Rivers. This chapter is notable for its extensive consideration of violence and “processing” of human bodies, in addition to presenting another biodistance study based on dental morphological data. Chapter 7 by Nancy J. Akins, Ann M. Palkovich, and Catrina Banks Whitley examines the bioarchaeology of the northern Rio Grande region during the transition from pithouses to aboveground pueblos. This chapter is organized into subsections reviewing the bioarchaeological work conducted at six ancestral Puebloan communities or subregions, much of which is derived from CRM projects. In chapter 9, the last one in Volume 1, Robin M. Cordero and Cherie K. Walth examine health, disease, trauma, stature, and more in the Middle Rio Grande region.

Volume 2 primarily covers culture area subdivisions or cultures of Arizona and northwestern Mexico, including Kayenta, Sinagua, Salado, Hohokam, Trincheras, and Casas Grandes—with the addition of the Mimbres of southwestern New Mexico. Included in this volume are four special-topic chapters. Chapter 2 by Kimberly Spurr not only covers the bioarchaeology, culture history, and archaeology of the Sinagua but also touches on more recent NAGPRA-related repatriation efforts; it presents as well an in-depth treatment of mortuary practice, including cremation. Debra L. Martin’s and Claira Ralston’s chapter 3 on the Kayenta region is comprehensive, covering everything from health to paleodemography to violence. In chapter 4 Kathryn M. Baustian and Darrell Creel provide useful background on Mimbres bioarchaeology, including its research and excavation history. Lorrie Lincoln-Babb and colleagues present in chapter 5 a detailed description of the mortuary behavior, health, disease, demography, dental modification, and violence of the Hohokam and Salado cultures of south-central Arizona. The culture history, mortuary patterns, and skeletal health of the Trincheras tradition of northwestern Mexico are described by James T. Watson and Maria Elisa Villalpando in chapter 6. In the following chapter, Kyle D. Waller provides a description of the bioarchaeology of the Casas Grandes culture of north-central Mexico, including its mortuary practices, paleodemography, health, violence, and biological affinity.

In chapter 8, the first of four covering special topics, Whitley and Jeffrey L. Boyer examine cancer in precolonial populations. With a focus on the Taos Valley, they explore the etiology of various cancers, particularly exposure to ionizing radiation, thus laying the groundwork, along with their previous research, for a bioarchaeology of cancer. The next special-topic chapter by Corey S. Ragsdale, Heather J. H. Edgar, and Lara K. Noldner presents the results of a biodistance analysis of dental morphological data to examine migration and gene flow for three large Pueblo IV–V period Jemez pueblos in the northern Rio Grande region of New Mexico. This analysis is notable for its incorporation of model-based Mantel tests of biological, linguistic, and geographical distances among populations, as well as a graphical analysis of individual-level distances for the three Jemez pueblo groups collectively. In chapter 10, M. Anne Katzenberg and colleagues provide a very informative introduction on the use of isotopes measured from bones and teeth for dietary reconstruction (carbon and nitrogen) and understanding population movements (strontium and oxygen). This chapter includes a comprehensive review of previous isotope research in the Southwest and a compendium of comparative isotope data from those studies. The final special-topic chapter is a review and synthesis by Karl J. Reinhard and Morgana Camacho of previous parasitology research on archaeologically derived human coprolites from sites in the Southwest (chapter 11). This chapter provides useful background on how such analyses can inform our understanding of parasitism, modes of parasite transmission and infection, sanitation, and health in precolonial Southwest populations.

In the final chapter of Volume 2, rather than simply summarizing common themes among the chapters in both volumes, the editors also address important ongoing and emerging issues for Southwest bioarchaeologists. Among those discussed, the challenges and opportunities relating to data and to descendant communities resonated with me the most. Several of the challenges and limitations surrounding data include potential questions regarding the accuracy of legacy data, including data related to paleopathology; the use of aggregated data such as means and standard deviations, rather than individual measurements; the availability of, and bias against, bioarchaeological data presented in CRM compliance reports; and data sharing. In terms of descendant communities, the editors suggest that bioarchaeology embrace the transition of the field from a primarily scientific endeavor to a more humanistic endeavor that enables empowerment of descendant communities over their ancestors’ remains.

This two-volume set is a significant contribution to the field of Southwest bioarchaeology and will also be of interest to archaeologists and bioarchaeologists seeking information on cultures or culture regions outside their area of focus. Its inclusion of bioarchaeological work done in conjunction with CRM projects is a strength, particularly given the scope of data collection associated with compliance work. In addition to covering topics such as health, paleodemography, violence, and migration/gene flow, each chapter provides a relatively concise, yet adequately detailed, overview of the culture or culture regions being covered, often including research and excavation histories. Many chapters include aggregated data in tables. Additional data and information are provided as supplemental files available on the Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR) website. Most chapters provide both a description of the current state of knowledge on a given subject and some level of synthesis. The chapters are mostly well referenced, allowing for readers to pursue topics more in depth.

I found this two-volume set to be informative, interesting, and engaging, and I am happy to recommend it to others. I was, however, somewhat disquieted by what I perceived to be an inconsistent and one-sided discussion of Native American concerns regarding the excavation and analysis of skeletal remains and the publication of results. On the one hand, the editors welcome a decolonizing empowerment of Native American descendants vis-à-vis their ancestors, but on the other seem to interrogate the notion of data sovereignty. Although it was mentioned in a number of chapters that consultation with Tribes regarding osteological data collection had taken place at some point, there was no discussion of whether that consultation included publication of the data presented in the chapter or of the data archived on the tDAR website. The editors did not invite a Tribal representative or Indigenous scholar to contribute an Indigenous perspective on bioarchaeology or data sovereignty in the second volume as a special-topic chapter or as a closing commentary. Given that many of our colleagues in Southwest archaeology are moving toward adopting a model of practice akin to Sonya Atalay’s Community-Based Archaeology: Research with, by, and for Indigenous Communities (2012), the lack of Indigenous perspectives in this edited volume is unfortunate.