Unit name | Introduction to Biological Archaeology |
---|---|
Unit code | ARCH10007 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | C/4 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
Unit director | Professor. Kate Robson Brown |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
none |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | Department of Anthropology and Archaeology |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Investigations of archaeological sites often bring to light materials and remains of biological origin, such as human skeletons or food residues. Bioarchaeology is the subdiscipline of archaeological science that identifies and interprets these biological remains in terms of human usage, human ecology, and biogeography. This unit provides an introductory overview of bioarchaeology, and demonstrates how archaeologists reconstruct past human activity patterns and human health from surviving biological evidence.
Aims: To provide an overview of the field of bioarchaeology, or biological archaeology, from the macro to the molecular scale.
To enable you to assess the importance of bioarchaeological evidence to archaeological science and site or material interpretation.
At the end of the unit the student should be able to:
9 lecture-practical sessions (lectures are hands-on, incorporating demonstrations and practical exercises);1 seminar. All these sessions need to be taught in a laboratory environment, because archaeological materials will be used as teaching aids in all sessions.
Practical notebook 50%; ILO 1-6 Critical Assessment 50% (1500 words); ILO 7
Bahn, P. (Ed). Written in bones: how human remains unlock the secrets of the dead. Newton Abbott: David and Charles.
Boyd, R. and Silk, J. 2003. 4th Ed. How Humans Evolved. London: W.W. Norton.
Cox, M and Mays, S 2000. Human osteology in archaeology and forensic science. London: Greenwich Medical Media.
Current year of volumes of: Journal of Archaeological Science, Archaeometry, Journal of Human Evolution.