Acting on what we have learned and moving forward with skeletal behaviour

In this book, biological anthropologists outlined a variety of ways in which they attempt to read and interpret behaviour from the human skeleton. Through the book, authors have touched on important topics that will help the continued development of this area of research, including: the importance of terminology, contextualization, comparative studies, and multi-disciplinary approaches to skeletal behaviour. Some questions raised in each chapter were motivated by a desire to understand human evolution, others more specific behaviours, occupations, or stressors, but they were all united by the aim to keep the biocultural link between humans as both biological and social animals in mind. These chapters have shown how behaviour is more than just our physical motions, but also how we think, react, and interact. Researchers who pursue skeletal behaviour studies should be encouraged to think about the body as an interactive system in which the actions affecting one region also have the potential to impact other regions, while also remembering the existence of biocultural connections between their bodies and the socio-cultural milieus in which they exist.