Bones reveal the forces they have borne and the injuries they have sustained; this volume decodes those signals. It links form to function using biomechanical principles and practical methods for stress and load analysis. The paleopathology sections interpret disease signatures in skeletal remains and distinguish antemortem from perimortem changes. Forensic chapters present case-oriented workflows for trauma assessment, taphonomy, and time-since-death estimation. Each topic is grounded in reproducible protocols and illustrated with annotated cases to bridge theory and practice. Readers gain tools for responsible interpretation in archaeological and medicolegal contexts.