Course description
Postgraduate Courses: MSc Human Osteology and Funerary Archaeology (research track)
This one year full-time course offers advanced training in the archaeological study of human remains, combining the scientific analysis of skeletal remains with the cultural interpretation of funerary practices as evidenced in the archaeological record. The intensive full-time course is aimed at graduates wishing to gain advanced professional training in the analysis and interpretation of human skeletal remains from archaeological sites, emphasising the integration of biological and archaeological evidence. It makes full use of the diverse range of expertise, excellent laboratory facilities and comprehensive reference collections situated within the department. The course attracts students with a wide range of backgrounds in Archaeology, Anthropology and the Biological Sciences, and combines those different field of expertise in the multidisciplinary study of human remains
Staff and research interests:
-Prof Andrew Chamberlain, human remains, palaeodemography, cave archaeology.
-Dr Maureen Carroll, Roman commemoration and funerary archaeology.
-Dr Dawn Hadley, Anglo-Saxon and medieval, funerary archaeology.
-Prof Mike Parker Pearson, Funerary archaeology.
-Dr Pia Nystrom, Biological anthropology, human biology, primatology.
Course Structure and Assessment
Core Modules
-Human Anatomy (Human musculo-skeletal anatomy, structural arrangement of bones, joints, muscles, circulation and nerves are related to their function in support and movement, and to their evolutionary and developmental origins)
-Biological Anthropology I (Human osteology and odontology, determination of age and sex, morphometrics, non-metric traits, bone microstructure and chemistry, evidence for disease and the analysis of cremated bone)
-Funerary Archaeology (Study of the rites, beliefs and cosmology of past peoples, survey human responses to death in societies, interpretation of rank and status, ritual and symbolism, territory, the ethical and legal aspects of exhumation and reburial)
-Data Analysis (Optional) (Introduction to methods of data analysis in archaeology, practicals in computing, covering simple approaches to normally-distributed and discrete data, the use of correlation and regression methods, spreadsheets and databases)
-Biological Anthropology II (Human biological evolution, palaeodemography, and selected topics in forensic anthropology, palaeopathology and biomolecular anthropology)
-Quantitative Methods in Anthropology (Case studies of the application of statistics and IT to problems in biological anthropology)
-Directed Reading/Library Project (Library and/or archive based work which will serve as a feasibility study or pilot project in preparation for the student's proposed dissertation topic)
-Archaeology of the Body (A team-taught module centred on seminars and workshops that address the archaeology of the body, iconography and funerary practices)
-A Dissertation on a topic of the student´s on choosing
Assessment by practicals, essays and project reports
