Biodistance studies in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East: An overview and future prospects

Abstract

Biodistance studies have a long presence in Eastern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern (EMME) bioarchaeology. In line with trends seen in North America and elsewhere, such studies were originally typological and were often adopted to explore mass migrations, while after the advent of New Archaeology in the 1960 s, the research questions started covering issues of past population structure and short-distance mobility, and the statistical methods adopted became increasingly sophisticated. Nowadays, despite the revolution in ancient DNA and isotope studies, biodistance analyses are still broadly applied in EMME assemblages to address an ever-expanding range of topics. This paper provides a brief overview of biodistance studies in this region, with a focus on their temporal evolution. In addition, it discusses the directions in which such studies should move in the near future, with an emphasis on the need for even more studies, association of the results with other bioarchaeological, material cultural, historical and ecological information, and methodological standardization.