En este trabajo se realiza una revisión del uso que se ha dado a los restos óseos y piezas dentales para la reconstrucción de patrones de salud en poblaciones humanas prehistoricas, basándose específicamente en el modelo de Goodman (1984).Archaeologists have been, on the whole, left unaware of the new techniques currently being tested on prehistoric skeletal populations. With the development of these new techniques, physical anthropologists are now able to deal with such concepts as population structure, rates of morbidity and mortality, dietary quality and quantity, disease stress and other underlying processes which can affect the growth and development of individuals, and the consequent adaptation of prehistoric human groups. This article is offered as a first step in realizíng the need for more direct cooperation between the methodologies of physical anthropologists and archaeologists.