INTERPRETING THE HUMAN SKELETON:
BIOARCHAEOLOGY
BIOARCHAEOLOGY

Anthropology 370
Anthropology 370

PH 311
PH 311
Grading
Grading

Grading Your grade will be based on class participation, short reading reports, 2 papers, laboratory exercises, and in-class exams.
Reading reports........10 %; Laboratory Exercises........20 %
Participation..............10%; Papers................20 %;
Midterm Exam (03/23)........20 % Final Exam (TBA)........20%

      Participation is worth 10 % of your grade. For each class meeting you can gain 2 semester points by asking questions and actively contributing to discussion. Participation points for a class that you miss can be made up by submitting a 2-3 page paper summarizing the assigned readings.
Reading reports Each reading report should be approximately 2/3 of a page long, typed in Times New Roman, 12 pt, single spaced. It should begin with a proper bibliographic citation of the literary source and should provide a brief summary and critique of the paper, article, or book chapter. Late reports are accepted for 60% of the total credit. By the end of the semester you will be expected to have submitted reports for a total of 10 papers, articles, or book chapters.

Laboratory Exercises Four laboratory exercises based on the material covered in class will help you to master methods used in the field by bioarchaeologists. All laboratory exercises will involve analysis of human skeletal and /or dental remains.

Papers Two separate papers, each with a focus on specific questions, will be assigned during the semester. In order to answer these questions you will need to perform an independent literature search using WILEY Interscience and JSTOR, as well as browsing journals available in the library. Each paper is expected to be 5-7 pages long (Times New Roman 12pt, 1'' margins, double spaced. Name and title should appear on a cover page (not part of text). References should be properly cited in-text and listed after the main body of the paper, following the AJPA format: In text: (Coppa et al. 1998) or ... as Coppa and Brown (1965) suggested ...
In "References Cited" section: Coppa A, Cucina A, Mancinelli D, Vargiu R, Calcagno JM. 1998. Dental anthropology of central-southern Iron Age Italy: the evidence of metric versus nonmetric traits. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 107:371-386. In-class discussions of the paper topics will follow on the due dates. Consequently, ALL papers that are turned in late will receive no more than 80% of the total possible credit.

Paper Topics: (1) Did Neanderthals use their teeth as tools? Due: 3/11
(2) Was cannibalism common in the pre-contact Americas? Due: 4/20


Midterm and Final Exams are not cumulative. They will be focused on in-class evaluation of human skeletal materials, as well as theoretical essays on material covered in class during the semester.

Schedule
Schedule

week dates topic readings assignments, exams
1 1/28 Introduction: Bioarchaeology and a subfield    
2
3
2/2
2/4
Human skeleton, an overview
Using skeletal remains to estimate sex and age at death
Human skeleton
Anatomical planes
White and Folkens 2005

Reading Report 1
4
5
2/9
2/11
Sex and age assessment of juveniles
Laboratory exercise 1: sex and age
Lewis 2007
Estimateing Age
Reconstructing Sex
Walker and Cook 1998

Reading Report 2
6
2/16
2/18
Sex vs. gender, accuracy and precision of estimating age
No class, Monday schedule
Eng et al. 2009 Reading Report 3
7
8
2/23
2/25
Paleodemography and life-tables
Dental anthropology: introduction, oral pathology
Buikstra et al. 1986
Hillson 1979

Lab 1 is due (2/25)
9
10
3/2
3/4
Oral health in Pre-industrial communities
"Teeth as tools" - types and patterns of dental wear
Laboratory Exercise 2: Oral Health
Littleton and Frohlich 1993
Eshed et al. 2006
Lukacs and Pastor 1988
El-Zaatari 2010
Reading Report 4
Reading Report 5
11
12
3/9
3/11
Effects of sex and age on oral health
Discussion: Did Neanderthals use their teeth as tools?
Lukacs and Lagaespada 2006
Independent literature search
Reading Report 6
paper 1 is
due on 3/11
13

14
3/16

3/18
Reconstructing diet from the chemical analysis of human remains;
stable isotope vs. trace element analysis
Stable isotope analysis; Review
Larsen 1997, Ch 8
Tykot et al. 2006
Pechenkina et al. 2005
Lab 2 is due (3/16)

15
3/23
3/25
MIDTERM EXAM
Biomechanical analysis of archaeological human skeletons

Ruff 2000; Larsen 1997, Ch 5
3/30-4/1    Spring Recess
16
17
4/6
4/8
Activity patterns: articular and muscular adaptations
Activity induced traumas; Activity vs. violence
Bridges 1995; Merbs 1983
Lovell 1997; Standen and Arriaza 2000
 
18
19
4/13
4/15
Laboratory exercise 3: activity, trauma, ageing
Patterns of violence around the world - discussion
Hershkovitz et al. 1996
Tayles 2003
Larsen 1997, Ch 4
Discussion (4/15)
20
21
4/20
4/22
Was cannibalism common in the pre-contact Americas?
Artificial body modifications
Independent literature search
Clark et al. 2007
paper 2 is
due on 4/20
22
23
4/27
4/29
Artificial body modifications, cntd.
Biological distances, group structure
Levy 1966: Ch. 1, 8
Stojanowski 2006; Del Papa and Perez 2007
Lab 3 is due on 4/27

24
25
5/4
5/6
Recognizing disease from human remains
The individual in archaeological context
Mulbern 2009
Pechenkina and Delgado 2006; Robb et al. 2001
Lab exercise 4
26
27
5/11
5/13
Social status and health, continued.
Review

Cannon 2006
FINAL EXAMINATION :
TBA