Advanced Osteology

Catalog description

This laboratory-based course will focus on the inference of life history traits from human skeletal material. Topics will include hands-on training in biological profile assessment (age, sex, stature, ancestry) and pathology, diet, and activity level analyses. Students will be able to complete an independent full skeletal report by the conclusion of the course and think critically about the analyses that are applied to the human skeleton. The ethics of using human skeletal remains in research will be discussed throughout the semester. Prior anatomy or functional morphology coursework is recommended.