Health, Disease, and Lifestyle in the Past

About

Introduction to scientific methodologies in osteoarchaeology (the scientific study of skeletal material excavated at archaeological sites) to answer questions about our health, disease, and lifestyle in the past. In order to answer such questions, skills to identify skeletal material are required. The course will therefore focus on both human and animal remains. The scientific investigation of human skeletal remains gives unique insights into human history, demographic shifts, environmental changes, living conditions, migrations, pathologies, and the spread of diseases, as these all leave traces on the skeleton

Course leader

Anne Birgitte Gotfredsen, Luise Ørsted Brandt and Marie Louise Schjellerup Jørkov

Target group

Master

Course aim

Knowledge:
-Demonstrate an overview of the skeletal anatomy of mammals (human and animal) with insights into morphological adaptations and species-specific characters
-Be able to describe osteoarchaeological methods and analyses of disease and causes of disease
-Have theoretical knowledge of the advantages and pitfalls in the use of different biomolecular approaches to species identification and identification of pathogens

Skills:
-Be able to carry out species identification of the most common mammalian domesticates
-Can produce biological profile of human remains and identify skeletal pathologies
-Can critically evaluate new methodologies within the areas of osteoarchaeology and archaeological sciences
-Be able to critically evaluate osteoarchaeological questions and argue for the best possible set of methods

Fee info