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BIOARCHAEOLOGY – a discipline that encompasses the past, present and future of mankind

In the past, archaeology was less concerned with the study of human skeletons than with the analyses of the artefacts recovered from archaeological sites. Over time, the importance of a targeted scientific research of the recovered human remains has become apparent leading to the development of different scientific disciplines dealing with the analysis and interpretation of human skeletal remains. One of these is bioarchaeology – a branch of physical anthropology that studies human remains recovered from archaeological sites. This review article presents the main differences between bio archaeology and other physical anthropology branches, and offers a glimpse into current methods and concepts in bioarchaeology. The second part of the review deals with the development of the discipline in Croatia. Besides offering a historical review of the individuals that con tributed to the development of this field, we also highlight important current bioarchaeological resources, particularly the rich Osteological collection of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts. This collection currently con tains the remains of over 6500 skeleton dated from the Neolithic to the Modern Period with important examples of traumatic and pathological cases and thus represents an irreplaceable study material for current and future bioarchaeological projects and collaborations. Finally, in the closing part of the paper we reveal and discuss the preliminary results of ongoing bioarchaeological research that deals with the effects that endemic warfare had on the health of Historic period populations in Croatia and through this highlight the importance of bioarchaeology and its unique ability to, through the study of our past, allow a better understanding of the present, and therefore better planning of our future.