Undergraduate Course: The Human Skeleton in Archaeology and Forensic Science: Investigating Death and the Dead (ARCA08014)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 2 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course aims to provide a broad introduction to the study of human skeletal remains from archaeological and forensic contexts. It will provide students with the opportunity to become familiar with various topics associated with this discipline, offering introductory instruction in human skeletal anatomy and an insight into the methods used by osteologists in assessing demographic information such as sex, age-at-death, and disease. The curriculum will cover ethical issues, the history of the discipline, and key guidelines and standards for the excavation and analysis of archaeological human skeletal remains. |
| Course description |
This course will provide an introduction to human skeletal anatomy, and methodological approaches to the study of human skeletal remains in archaeological and forensic contexts. Core lectures delivered each year focus on the relevant guidelines and standards for the excavation and study of human skeletal remains, ethical considerations, basic human skeletal anatomy, formation of osteoprofiles, and approaches to the study of health and disease in the past. In addition, through the expertise and research interests of staff and guest lecturers, course content will provide an introduction to specialised topics, exploring the various types of burial practices through time, forensic archaeology, facial reconstruction, mobility and migration, dietary reconstruction, conflict archaeology, and animals in funerary contexts.
Students will have an opportunity to gain hands on experience in the analysis of archaeological human skeletal remains in two practical sessions, and will discuss the potentials and limitations of human skeletal analysis through two tutorial sessions.
Tutorial sessions:
1. Ethics and the study of human skeletal remains
2. Osteobiographies and population studies
Practical sessions
1. Introduction to human skeletal anatomy
2. Recording of burials
|
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Any first level course achieved no later than August of the previous academic year. |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2024/25, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
|
Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 2,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 4,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
170 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Coursework:
500 word encyclopaedia entry (30%)
500 word essay plan (10%)
2,000 word essay (60%) |
| Feedback |
Students will receive written feedback on their coursework, and will have the opportunity to discuss that feedback further with the tutor/Course Organiser during their published office hours or by appointment. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- produce sound properly referenced and concise pieces of coursework, in accordance with the common marking scale.
- demonstrate awareness of some key themes and ideas in osteological research.
- demonstrate familiarity with the human skeleton and the relevance of such remains to archaeological interpretation.
- demonstrate a critical awareness of how scientific thought and its relationship to archaeology has influenced interpretations of human remains.
- demonstrate a basic understanding of the type of information that can be obtained from human skeletal remains and an understanding of the limitations imposed by the nature of human skeletal analysis.
|
Reading List
Biers, T. and Clary, K.S. 2023. The Routledge Handbook of Museums, Heritage, and Death. Routledge, London.
Christensen, A.M., Passalacqua, N.V., and Bartelink, E.J. 2019. Forensic Anthropology: Current Methods and Practice. 2nd Edition. Academic Press, Elsevier.
Hunter, J. and Cox, M. 2005. Forensic archaeology: advances in theory and practice. Routledge, London.
Larsen, C.S. 2015. Bioarchaeology: Interpreting behaviour from the human skeleton. Second edition. Cambridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Mays, S. 2010. The Archaeology of Human Bones. 2nd Edition. Routledge, London.
Nilsson Stutz, L. and Tarlow, S. 2013. The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Death and Burial. Oxford University Press
Squires, K, Errickson, D., and Márquez-Grant, N (2019) Ethical Approaches to Human Remains. A Global Challenge in Bioarchaeology and Forensic Anthropology. Springer International Publishing.
Thompson, T. 2015. The Archaeology of Cremation: burned human remains in funerary studies. Oxbow Books, Oxford.
White, T.D. and Folkens, P.A. 2005. The Human Bone Manual. Academic Press, Elsevier. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
1. to gather data on a research topic and organize it into a coherent set
2. to compare and interpret differing sets of data from varying situations
3. to critically evaluate and judge different approaches to data and analytical methods
4. to actively understand, interpret and use both written and visual information
5. to formulate and clearly express ideas, both in oral and s written form
6. to organize complex ideas and arguments into a coherent set of conclusions
7. to schedule their learning duties, manage their workload and develop a timetable
8. to cooperate efficiently with others within their peer group as well as seniors (tutors and supervisors). |
| Keywords | Human Skel |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Sophie Newman
Tel: (0131 6)50 4620
Email: Sophie.Newman@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Marketa Vejskalova
Tel:
Email: Marketa.Vejskalova2ed.ac.uk@ed.ac.uk |
|
|
University Homepage