A study was undertaken of musculoskeletal stress markers in the human remains of several ancient populations of the Iberian Peninsula. Frequencies by age group, sex, and side were recorded and compared among the different populations. Results of the study coincide with the available historical and archeological data. The differences observed among these populations are probably due to ecological and socio-cultural factors.

The main aim of this study was to analyze the presence and distribution of cranial trauma, as possible evidence of violence, in remains from the Neolithic to Bronze Age from the SE Iberian Peninsula. The sample contains skulls, crania, and cranial vaults belonging to 410 prehistoric individuals. We also studied 267 crania from medieval and modern times for comparative purposes. All lesions in the prehistoric crania are healed and none of them can be attributed to a specific weapon. In all studied populations, injuries were more frequent in adults than in subadults and also in males than in females, denoting a sexual division in the risk of suffering accidents or intentional violence. According to the archeological record, the development of societies in the SE Iberian Peninsula during these periods must have entailed an increase in conflict. However, a high frequency of cranial traumatic injuries was observed in the Neolithic series, theoretically a less conflictive time, and the lowest frequency was in crania from the 3rd millennium B.C. (Copper Age), which is characterized by the archeologists as a period of increasing violence. The relatively large size and the high rate of injuries in Neolithic crania and the practice of cannibalism are strongly suggestive of episodes of interpersonal or intergroup conflict. The number and distribution of injuries in Bronze Age is consistent with the increase in violence at that time described by most archeologists.

A collection of 1825 vertebrae belonging to 105 individuals from several Argaric Culture sites (Bronze Age, SE of Spain) were studied. Several pathologies that could provide information about activity patterns were analysed, including spondylolysis, compression fractures and Schmorl's nodes. Spondylolysis appears exclusively in men. Compression fractures seem to be more related to age (osteoporosis) and are more frequent in women, but without statistical significance. Schmorl's nodes affect a large number of the individuals studied, with a slight predominance in men; there are no differences by age. The results obtained were compared with the available archaeological and anthropological information, which shows a clear division of activities by sex in the Argaric population. The validity of studying these pathologies as activity patterns is discussed.

A study was conducted on a collection of 123 juvenile skeletons from various sites dating to the Bronze Age (Argar culture) and from the medieval cemeteries of La Torrecilla, Villanueva de Soportilla and San Baudelio, all in the Iberian Peninsula. No cranial trauma was observed. However, four postcranial fractures were found, including three from Castelló n Alto, a typical Argaric village of some urban complexity built on steep terraces in high and rugged terrain. The combination of a hazardous environment and a climate that encourages outdoor play may explain the relatively high frequency of childhood trauma in the burials from the Argar culture.