Archaeologists are well situated for the study of disability because social expectations about normative ability and behavior are embedded into buildings, landscapes, material culture, and daily practices. Archaeologists can destabilize norms by investigating how expectations changed over time, and archaeological research is a way of exploring the intersection between embodied experiences, agency, and identification. Archaeological research into embodied and social experiences of disability and institutionalization can inform current debates about accessibility and healthcare inequality. Window glass at an early twentieth-century tuberculosis sanatoria is an example of how ideas about the body are embedded in the landscape and built environment.

考古学家非常适合研究残疾，因为对规范能力和行为的社会期望已嵌入建筑物、景观、物质文化和日常实践中。考古学家可以通过调查期望如何随时间变化来破坏规范，而考古研究是探索具身体验、代理和身份识别之间交叉点的一种方式。对残疾和制度化的具体和社会经验的考古研究可以为当前关于可及性和医疗保健不平等的辩论提供信息。二十世纪早期结核病疗养院的窗玻璃就是一个例子，说明关于身体的想法是如何嵌入景观和建筑环境中的。