Much of what we know about how our ancestors lived and died comes to us through decoding their bones. Illustrated with some 250 color photos, this fascinating book follows forensic anthropologists and archaeologists as they examine important case studies of human remains found at archaeological sites around the world, from a Han Dynasty aristocrat in China, preserved in an unknown red liquid, to the headless men and giant wolves of a Mesolithic cemetery in Siberia. Here too are case studies of the Silk Road mummies, the lives of early European farmers, and infant deaths in a Roman brothel.