Science of Skeletons Syllabus

Since the earliest days of archaeology, people have been fascinated by human skeletons recovered from ancient sites. However, skeletal remains are more than a physical bridge between the present and a romanticized past – they also encode valuable information about demography, gender differences, social identities and the daily lives of past peoples. Bioarchaeology is the study of human skeletal material from archaeological sites, and in this course students will identify the ways that bioarchaeologists use data collected from skeletal remains to estimate age and sex, diagnose ancient diseases, and examine activity levels and movement across prehistoric landscapes. Students will also critically evaluate how bioarchaeological discoveries are used in non-academic contexts, particularly focusing on their presence in museums and in the popular media.