The Anatomy and Biology of the Human Skeleton PDF
51.92 MB PDF
Preface
T-L.HIS anatomy text has developed from our experience in studying human anatomy from an anthropological perspective and teaching human skeletal anatomy to anthropologists and biologists for more than fifteen years. Both authors were introduced to human osteology by Dr. Thomas W. McKern while undergraduates at the University of Texas at Austin. The love of anatomy and the excitement of forensic reconstruction were as integral to Tom’s lab as were the timed bone quizzes that his students feared. The classroom handouts and Osteotnetry for Physical Anthropologists (McKern n.d.) were the beginnings of an osteology book that Tom intended to write. Later, after both authors earned graduate degrees at other campuses, we prepared similar class materials. At the University of Texas, Bramblett used separate guide sheets for each bone that were extensions of Tom’s materials. At the University of Alberta, Steele prepared an elaborate set of handouts with the assistance of G. C. Nicks; this was later distributed in mimeograph as a handbook by R. D. E.MacPhee and D.Gentry Steele (1972). This text follows the chapter formats for describing the human skeleton utilized in that manual.
This volume took shape when two of Tom’s students decided to write the book that his untimely death prevented him from writing. It was undertaken with that special combination of admiration and respect that students have for their professor, and we trust that it contains enough merit to meet, in a small measure, the need that his text would have filled.
In the preparation of the text we have been influenced by several excellent anatomy texts and have taken the liberty of drawing freely from them: Gray’s Anatomy (Lewis 1936), Cunningham’s Anatomy (Brash 1951), A New System of Anatomy (Zuckerman 1981), Color Atlas ofHuman Anatomy (McMinn and Hutchings 1977), Anatomy for Surgeons (Hollinshead 1982), and the excellent description of bone prepared by Trotter and Peterson in Morris’ Human Anatomy (Anson 1966). Many colleagues have assisted with this project. Editorial assistance was provided by Jana R. Hellier, Virginia K. Massey, and Sharon S. Bramblett. Research assistance came from Robert Franciscus, Ben W. Olive, and Diane Young. Illustrations were prepared by Marianne Marek, J. E. Bolkman, and D. Gentry Steele. Graphs were produced by Microsoft Chart (Microsoft Corporation 1984). Photographic assistance was provided by Kevin Dworaczyk, Robert Franciscus, Jana R. Hellier, Richard G. HoUoway, Marianne Marek, and Ben W. Olive. The manuscript was typed by Claud A. Bramblett with the assistance of Sharon S. Bramblett.
Special thanks are extended to Jerome C. Rose, who provided a critical review of the dentition chapter, and to Marcella H. Sorg, who provided a critical review of the complete manuscript. Members of the 1986 class in human osteology (Anthropology 425) at Texas A&M University provided additional critical review of the manuscript, for which we are grateful. Special thanks are also extended to Douglas H. Ubelaker and T. Dale Stewart for granting permission to use illustrations from their published work. Support has been generously provided by the departments of anthropology at Texas A&M University and the University of Texas, Austin.
Any errors or omissions in the contents are solely the responsibility of the authors.
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