The study of past population dynamics is imperative to our understanding of demographic processes in the context of biology, evolution, environment and sociocultural factors. Retrospective consideration of a population's capacity to resist and adapt to change aims to contribute insights into our past, a point of comparison to the present and predictions for the future. If these aims are to be achieved, the accuracy and precision of palaeodemographic methods are of paramount importance. This article considers the emergence of skeletally based palaeodemographic methods, specifically life tables and demographic proxies, and early controversies and issues. It details the process of methodological development and refinement, and success in addressing many of the historical limitations. The contribution and potential of skeletally based methods are discussed and comparisons and contrasts made with alternative palaeodemographic approaches, and avenues for future research are proposed. Ultimately, it is concluded that skeletal analysis provides unique opportunities to investigate population dynamics with spatial specificity, examine individuals and groups within a population, and integrate demographic and pathological information to evaluate population health in the past.

This article is part of the theme issue ‘Cross-disciplinary approaches to prehistoric demography'.

研究过去的人口动态对于我们在生物学、进化、环境和社会文化因素的背景下理解人口过程至关重要。对人口抵抗和适应变化的能力进行回顾性考虑，旨在帮助我们深入了解我们的过去、与现在的比较点以及对未来的预测。如果要实现这些目标，古人口统计学方法的准确性和精确性至关重要。本文考虑了基于骨骼的古人口统计方法的出现，特别是生命表和人口统计代理，以及早期的争议和问题。它详细介绍了方法发展和改进的过程，以及成功解决许多历史局限性的过程。讨论了基于骨骼的方法的贡献和潜力，并与替代古人口学方法进行了比较和对比，并提出了未来研究的途径。最终得出的结论是，骨骼分析提供了独特的机会来研究具有空间特异性的人口动态，检查人口中的个人和群体，并整合人口统计和病理信息以评估过去的人口健康。

本文是主题问题“史前人口学的跨学科方法”的一部分。