Postgraduate Course: Bioarchaeological Analysis and Interpretation (PGHC11474)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | This course focuses on the wider issues in the analysis and interpretation of skeletal data obtained from the application of various analytical methods in bioarchaeology. It will also explore population-wide considerations such as demography, activity patterns, evidence for warfare, indications for biomechanical adaptation, evidence for familial/genetic traits as well as the importance of age and gender. |
| Course description |
The course is concerned with the interpretation of skeletal data at an individual and population level. Following a general lecture on bioarchaeological data, the remainder of the course will be student-led and focus on a series of different topics, including the bioarchaeology of women, children, growth and stature, diet, activity related changes, trauma, violence and warfare, burial rites, and population health. Each week small groups of students prepare a PowerPoint presentation on a different topic, based on the critical examination of a set of key readings, and lead class discussions on their findings through pre-prepared discussion questions.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- demonstrate in a critique of an academic paper a detailed and critical command of the body of knowledge concerning the interpretation of bioarchaeological data relevant to the chosen topic;
- demonstrate in a critique of an academic paper and during seminars the ability to analyse and reflect critically upon relevant scholarship concerning the interpretation of bioarchaeological data, primary source materials concerning skeletal data, and conceptual discussions about the chosen topic;
- demonstrate in a critique of an academic paper and in the seminar presentations the ability to develop and sustain original scholarly arguments in oral, visual and written form by independently formulating appropriate questions and utilising relevant evidence considered in the course;
- demonstrate in seminar discussions and presentations originality and independence of mind and initiative; intellectual integrity and maturity; an ability to evaluate the work of others, including peers; the ability to coordinate and work with others; and a considerable degree of autonomy;
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Reading List
Agarwal, S.C. and Glencross, B.A. 2011. Social Bioarchaeology. Wiley-Blackwell
Cox, M. & Mays, S. (eds.). 2000. Human Osteology in Archaeology and Forensic Science: 227-238. Greenwich Medical Media Ltd.London.
Jurmain, R . 1999. Stories from the skeleton: behavioral reconstruction in human osteology. Amsterdam, The Netherlands : Gordon and Breach Publishers.
Larsen, C.S. 1997. Bioarchaeology: Interpreting Behaviour from the Human Skeleton. Cambridge Studies in Biological Anthropology 21. Cambridge University Press
Larsen, C.S. 2000. Skeletons in Our Closet: Revealing Our Past Through Bioarchaeology. Princeton University Press.
Larsen, C.S., Martin, D.L. and Harrod, R.P. 2013. The Bioarchaeology of Violence. University Press of Florida.
Molleson, T & Cox, M. 1993. The Spitalfields Project. Volume 2: The anthropology. The Middling Sort. CBA Research Report 86. Council for British Archaeology. (Out-of-print but available electroniclly on - http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archives/view/cba_rr/rr86.cfm
Stodder, A.L.W. and Palkovich, A.M. 2014. The Bioarchaeology of Individuals. University Press of Florida
Wood, J.W., Milner, G.R., Harpending, H.C., Weiss, K.M., Cohen, M.N. and Eis, L.E., 1992. The osteological paradox: problems of inferring prehistoric health from skeletal samples. Curr Anthropol 33(4), 343-370. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Jonny Geber
Tel: (0131 6)50 3534
Email: |
Course secretary | Mr Jonathan Donnelly
Tel: (0131 6)50 3782
Email: |
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