Themes in Osteoarchaeology

Module overview

Aims and Objectives

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

of the ethical issues surrounding working with human remains
of skeletal remains as a resource for studying past variability in diet and subsistence, health and disease, social structure and organisation, speciation and extinction, ideology and religious belief, and population history and migration
of the varying theoretical approaches to the analysis of human and animal skeletal remains
of human-animal interactions in the past

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

critique osteoarchaeological data and interpretations derived from it
integrate theoretical issues and archaeological questions with empirical data
evaluate results of skeletal analyses and studies
pose and tackle archaeological questions using skeletal data
critique specific techniques and methods of osteological analysis

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

undertake analysis and presentation of quantitative data.
lead seminars and discussion groups

Learning and Teaching

Teaching and learning methods

This module is taught by a combination of lectures, to introduce the key areas of consideration, and seminars, in which students and staff can discuss the issues raised in more detail, and as they relate to specific case studies. In addition, students will deliver presentations around their own areas of enquiry, with opportunities for peer feedback and learning.

Study time
Type	Hours
Seminar	18
Lecture	6
Assessment tasks	56
Wider reading or practice	70
Total study time	150

Resources & Reading list

General Resources

Buzon, M.R. 2006. Biological and Ethnic Identity in New Kingdom Nubia: A Case Study from Tombos. Current Anthropology 47: 683-695..

Stallibrass, S. and Thomas R. (eds.) (2008) Feeding the Roman Army. Oxbow: Oxford.

Zeder M (2006) Archaeological approaches to documenting animal domestication. In Zeder et al. (eds.) Documenting domestication. Berkeley : University of California Press, pages 171-180..

Journal Articles

Lorenzen E., Nogués-Bravo D., Orlando L., Weinstock J., et al. (2011). Species-specific responses of Late Quaternary megafauna to climate and humans. Nature, 479, pp. 359–364.

Bentley, R.A. (2006). Strontium Isotopes from the Earth to the Archaeological Skeleton: A Review. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 13, pp. 135-187.

Assessment

Formative

This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.

Oral presentation

Assessment Type: Formative
Feedback: Verbal feedback from staff and students to be given immediately after presentation.
Final Assessment: No
Group Work: No

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Literature review	50%
Written assignment	50%

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Written assignment	50%
Literature review	50%

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External