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inkdeathinbloom 's review for:
Skeleton Keys: The Secret Life of Bone
by Brian Switek
This was another book I was really disappointed by, and it wasn't totally the book's fault. Here's the thing: the description of this book is a bit misleading. It indicates cultural perspectives on bone and skeletons, and it does not follow through on that one.
To quote: "In this delightful natural and cultural history of bone...Bone is as embedded in our culture as it is in our bodies. Our species has made instruments and jewelry from bone, treated the dead like collectors' items, put our faith in skull bumps as guides to human behavior, and arranged skeletons into macabre tributes to the afterlife... Bridging the worlds of paleontology, anthropology, medicine, and forensics, Skeleton Keys illuminates the complex life of bones inside our bodies and out."
The book discusses physical anthropology rather than cultural. Even when veering closer to cultural items- phrenology, contested remains--it is always interpreted through the lens of the physical, rather than the various lenses of cultural interpretation and meaning. This really boils down to two things:
One, I was super disappointed and kind of irked with the book the whole time that it kept giving culture the shaft (pun intended). Had the book never promised me culture, I probably would have enjoyed the book more. Nonetheless, this is an entirely personal gripe which doesn't reflect on the book too much. (Although cultural historians and anthropologists beware, this is not the book you are looking for). The high point for cultural discussion (from a physical perspective) was definitely the chapter on black market trade, and the discussion on the Kennewick Man.
Two, I learned a lot about the physical and evolutionary history of bones that I was not aware of. The first few chapters held a lot of new information for me, and I enjoyed them (admittedly quite disappointed and surprised at the time) quite a bit. This was still a good book- it just isn't really the book it describes itself as.
If you'd like to learn a ton about the evolutionary history of bone, and how bones have been pivotal to our growing understanding of history, this is definitely a book for you. As a physical resource and commodity, there's a ton to learn, and this book is chock-full of information. I'd recommend it for the above information.
To quote: "In this delightful natural and cultural history of bone...Bone is as embedded in our culture as it is in our bodies. Our species has made instruments and jewelry from bone, treated the dead like collectors' items, put our faith in skull bumps as guides to human behavior, and arranged skeletons into macabre tributes to the afterlife... Bridging the worlds of paleontology, anthropology, medicine, and forensics, Skeleton Keys illuminates the complex life of bones inside our bodies and out."
The book discusses physical anthropology rather than cultural. Even when veering closer to cultural items- phrenology, contested remains--it is always interpreted through the lens of the physical, rather than the various lenses of cultural interpretation and meaning. This really boils down to two things:
One, I was super disappointed and kind of irked with the book the whole time that it kept giving culture the shaft (pun intended). Had the book never promised me culture, I probably would have enjoyed the book more. Nonetheless, this is an entirely personal gripe which doesn't reflect on the book too much. (Although cultural historians and anthropologists beware, this is not the book you are looking for). The high point for cultural discussion (from a physical perspective) was definitely the chapter on black market trade, and the discussion on the Kennewick Man.
Two, I learned a lot about the physical and evolutionary history of bones that I was not aware of. The first few chapters held a lot of new information for me, and I enjoyed them (admittedly quite disappointed and surprised at the time) quite a bit. This was still a good book- it just isn't really the book it describes itself as.
If you'd like to learn a ton about the evolutionary history of bone, and how bones have been pivotal to our growing understanding of history, this is definitely a book for you. As a physical resource and commodity, there's a ton to learn, and this book is chock-full of information. I'd recommend it for the above information.