Bioarchaeology of Native American adaptation in the Spanish borderlands

Most researchers of the European settlement of North America assume that Native American populations were decimated solely and uniformly by introduced disease. Baker and Kealhofer challenge that assumption, demonstrating that Native American societies responded to European encroachment in complex and varied ways.

They draw on data from population case studies in what is now the southern United States to establish convincingly that archaeological and bioanthropological research are powerful tools for cultural interpretation.