This chapter examines some of the analytical procedures and practicalities of work with archaeological wood, aside from wood identification (Chapter 5). The categories and variety of primary data commonly used and reported in archaeological wood analysis are reviewed, including concerns inherent to work with ancient material. Anatomical observations and morphometric data collection at the larger, macroscopic scale are elaborated, including observations and procedures concerning sample selection for radiocarbon dating purposes. Some of the coverage relates directly to the broader research involving growth-ring variation, that is, dendroclimatology and related fields, some of which is described in earlier chapters. The general analytical approaches that are nowadays commonly used to report and compare among archaeological wood assemblages are overviewed, as are issues involving temporal and spatial resolution, including discrepancies, results that deviate from expectations. The chapter concludes with a view toward the future, directing attention to the relevance of archaeological wood in the modern world, not the least being as a record of past climate dynamics and global change.

This chapter emphasizes the role of wood as an information source in view of modern archaeological and paleobiological research and practice. Tree-ring-based applications and other uses of archaeological wood data sets are overviewed. The fundamental nature of wood as a vital plant tissue system, valuable natural resource, and forest product are additional themes, drawing especially from plant biology and wood science (what is wood?). As an exceptionally versatile and almost infinitely adaptable biological material, wood has long served human needs for illumination, cooking foods, heating dwellings, firing ceramics, and a host of other subsistence and technological purposes. It has been manufactured into countless utilitarian and non-utilitarian objects and has formed the basic structural and finishing elements for dwellings and other construction of nearly all forms and types, on land as well as to navigate the planet’s waters. The forms and variety of preservation states in which wood occurs archaeologically are overviewed in this opening chapter, along with initial discussion of the inherent complexities and some of the difficulties involved in work with ancient material. This chapter also provides suggestions and guidance on education and training for work with archaeological wood, emphasizing the importance of understanding wood from both humanistic and plant biological standpoints to enhance archaeological interpretation.

The final chapter is a warning against over-interpretation in palaeopathology and considers the concept of ‘wrong-end epidemiology’ and how to avoid it.

Primary and secondary osteoarthritis are described, and an operational definition is given to aid in its diagnosis. Other diseases associated with osteoarthritis are also discussed.

Metabolic diseases including Paget’s disease, osteoporosis, rickets and scurvy form the main topics for this chapter. Some less common conditions are also mentioned.

The main part of this chapter is given over to a consideration of the four major bacterial diseases of bone: osteomyelitis, tuberculosis, syphilis and leprosy. A brief account is also given of some viral and parasitic diseases

Caries, ante-mortem tooth loss, dental calculus and periapical lesions form the bulk of this chapter. There are also short accounts of dental anomalies and dental tumours.

Fractures and dislocations form the bulk of this chapter, which also includes sections on accidental and intentional wounding, legalised trauma, amputation and the autopsy.

This chapter describes the so-called erosive arthropathies and gives accounts of the main types likely to be encountered in the skeleton.

The art of diagnosis is considered in this chapter in both its historical and modern contexts. It is suggested that palaeopathologists should use operational definitions to make diagnoses in human remains.