AT 5-001_FA21: Course Alias: at5-1-fa@eckerd.edu
How do we understand past peoples through the analysis of their skeletal remains? How do we know what people in the past ate, where they came from, and whether or not they were organized in societies with differential access to resources and status? In what ways did they modify their bodies through tattooing and artificial cranial shaping, and what did these practices signify? This class will discuss the ways in which bioarchaeology, the study of human skeletons in an archaeological context, can be used to the reconstruct the lives of past peoples and the cultures in which they lived. The course will discuss the reconstruction of biological aspects of developmental stress, trauma, and diet. In addition, we will cover how cultural aspects of past societies can be understood through mortuary analysis and the reconstruction of status, body modification, migration, and group identity. The course will also cover methodological issues including preservation biases, and explore ethical and legal issues within the field of bioarchaeology.
How do we understand past peoples through the analysis of their skeletal remains? How do we know what people in the past ate, where they came from, and whether or not they were organized in societies with differential access to resources and status? In what ways did they modify their bodies through tattooing and artificial cranial shaping, and what did these practices signify? This class will discuss the ways in which bioarchaeology, the study of human skeletons in an archaeological context, can be used to the reconstruct the lives of past peoples and the cultures in which they lived. The course will discuss the reconstruction of biological aspects of developmental stress, trauma, and diet. In addition, we will cover how cultural aspects of past societies can be understood through mortuary analysis and the reconstruction of status, body modification, migration, and group identity. The course will also cover methodological issues including preservation biases, and explore ethical and legal issues within the field of bioarchaeology.
- Enseignant: Scott Burnett