If the culture in question inhumates their dead, there is some chance to map the real structure of the population from excavated cemeteries. Exceptions still ap

If the culture in question inhumates their dead, there is some chance to map the real structure of the population from excavated cemeteries. Exceptions still apply (executed criminals or suicides were often buried around the gallows instead of in cemeteries), but this is still a reasonable way to sample populations. Cultures that prefer cremation, uh, that gets really complicated. We can't tell female ashes from male, nor tell the age of the deceased from them, even if the urn makes it through the centuries unscathed. And with cultures that prefer more destructive burials (e.g. Parsis, where the dead are eaten by carrion fowl), there is basically zero chance.