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Searching... Oakdale Library | TEEN 614.17 WAL | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Bright white teeth. Straight leg bones. Awkwardly contorted arm bones. On a hot summer day in 2005, Dr. Douglas Owsley of the Smithsonian Institution peered into an excavated grave, carefully examining the fragile skeleton that had been buried there for four hundred years. "He was about fifteen years old when he died. And he was European," Owsley concluded. But how did he know?Just as forensic scientists use their knowledge of human remains to help solve crimes, they use similar skills to solve the mysteries of the long-ago past. Join author Sally M. Walker as she works alongside the scientists investigating colonial-era graves near Jamestown, Virginia, as well as other sites in Maryland. As you follow their investigations, she'll introduce you to what scientists believe are the lives of a teenage boy, a ship's captain, an indentured servant, a colonial official and his family, and an enslaved African girl. All are reaching beyond the grave to tell us their stories, which are written in bone.
Reviews (4)
Horn Book Review
(Intermediate, Middle School) Few nonfiction authors can infuse history and science with as much suspense as Walker has done-in Fossil Fish Found Alive (rev. 1/03), in Secrets of a Civil War Submarine, and now in Written in Bone. Walker follows a forensic anthropologist and his team of scientists, historians, and archaeologists as they uncover human remains and other artifacts in Jamestown and colonial Maryland. Their excavations take them through a cross-section of society, from wealthy colonial leaders to indentured servants and African slaves. With precise detail and meticulous description, Walker recounts how each grave offers up a set of mysteries, how the archaeological team works to decipher the clues, and how they are often rewarded for their passion and hard work with new insights into the past. It is the sort of book that can inspire future archaeologists, and as such seems like the perfect next step after James Deem's series (Bodies from the Bog, Bodies from the Ash, Bodies from the Ice). The book design, despite some clutter, is unified in its use of layout, color, illustrations, and fonts. Extensive back matter-including notes, bibliography, and index-is appended. From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* This unusual volume, suggested to Walker by a scientist at the Smithsonian Institution, dips into American history to introduce the work of forensic anthropologists. Focusing on colonial-era sites in the Chesapeake Bay region, the large-format book provides detailed discussions and intriguing close-up views of the grave excavations at Jamestown, Virginia, as well as in three Maryland locations: Providence, St. Mary's City, and Harleigh Knoll. With precision of her own,Walker describes the meticulous work of the archaeologists and other scientists who study skeletal remains, using physical clues as indicators of a skeleton's sex, age, birthplace, station in society, and length of time in the colonies. They combine trained observation, background knowledge, and scientific expertise with detective skills to illuminate facets of our history; the final chapter discusses how forensic anthropology has contributed to historians' understanding of colonial times. Nearly every page carries at least one illustration, usually a color photo but sometimes a helpful diagram, a map, or a period document or print. Back matter includes source notes, a source bibliography, a time line, and lists of recommended books and Internet sites. The reading level is relatively high and the quantity of detailed information is not for everyone, but those intrigued by forensics and history will find this absolutely fascinating.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2009 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 6-10-Sally M. Walker's remarkable work of nonfiction (Carolrhoda Books, 2009) explores how archaeology and forensic anthropology reveal secrets written in the bones of people who lived in Jamestown and Maryland during the 1600s and 1700s. When James Fort was excavated in the 1990s, over 30 graves were discovered. Using skeleton JR1225B as an example, Sally Walker describes how scientists examine teeth and bones for particular characteristics to determine age, sex, and ethnic ancestry. Isotope analysis of teeth is used to learn about a person's diet and birthplace. This kind of forensic analysis is applied to several other skeletons. Scientists identify a body found in the basement of a Maryland tobacco plantation as a teenaged indentured servant. Three bodies found in unusual lead coffins beneath St. Mary's City chapel are identified as a prominent citizen, his wife, and their infant daughter. Remains that probably belonged to Maryland slaves reveal clues about their lives of hard labor. The final chapter touches on how facial reconstructions are crafted. The science is meticulously but clearly explained and balanced by the human drama of each skeleton's story. Greg Abbey's narration is pitch-perfect and his tone and pacing capture the painstaking nature of work that leads to heart-pounding discoveries. This first-rate listen is enhanced by a bonus disc that includes photos with audio captions, a time line, the author's notes, and a thorough bibliography. A worthy addition to every audio collection for young adults.-Amy Pickett, Ridley High School, Folsom, PA (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Walker (Secrets of a Civil War Submarine, 2006 Sibert Award) places dedicated young CSI fans right at the elbows of forensic archeologists studying colonial-era burials in the Chesapeake Bay area. Focusing on nine graves, she explains in precise detail how scientists can draw sometimes-surprising conclusions about what these early settlers ate, where they came from and when, their age and sex, how they lived and diedall from subtle clues in the bones, the teeth, the surrounding dirt and, rarely, the sketchy historical evidence that survives. Her examples were all European except for one of African descent and range from a prominent relative of Maryland's founder ceremoniously interred to a teenager who seems to have been hastily buried in a cellar after being beaten to death. Readers will be enticed by both the scientific detective work and by the tantalizing mysteries that remain. Based on interviews and published sources and profusely illustrated with photos of skulls and skeletons, this makes a riveting companion to Karen Lange's 1607: A New Look at Jamestown (2007). (maps, timeline, resource lists) (Nonfiction. 12-15) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Table of Contents
Grave mysteries |
Social status/work/making a living |
Buried in cloth and wood |
Health, nutrition, and cause of death |
The luxury of lead |
The lead coffin people |
Who were these people? |
In the flesh |