Forensic Anthropology Day 2014!

I was super fortunate this year to be part of event put on by a PhD student at the University of Victoria and Let’s Talk Science: Forensic Anthropology Day! The day was basically a chance for high school students to come out and experience some of the things a real forensic anthropologist encounters in his/her job. It is a great opportunity for these students to gets some hands on learning experience about a potential career field that might interest them. As someone who didn’t discover the amazing world of osteology until late in my university career, I wholeheartedly support this kind of event that allows students to explore career options in a fun but realistic manner (ie. Real forensic anthropology is not like CSI or Bones).

Team 'Never Lose'

Processing the scene

The students started the day with a case briefing in which they had to record pertinent details of the fabricated case. They then worked as a team to determine where the best place to search for the missing individual was based on this information. Once a search plan had been made we got them suited up in Tyvek and duct tape (they loved this part) before heading out to process a crime scene.

At the scene they worked as a group to gather evidence while ensuring all the appropriate protocols were being observed. The group also had to learn to communicate effectively with police, civilians and our faunal and ballistics experts on the scene. Once the evidence bagged and tagged we headed indoors to do a taphonomy activity and a grave mapping activity. We ended the day with a debrief explaining how the evidence they collected assisted the police in solving the case.

Taphonomy

Grave Mapping

Overall it was an exhausting but highly satisfying day! Forensic Anthropology Day proved to be a valuable learning experience for the participants and the leaders alike. I would like to say a huge thank you to Stephanie Calce and Let’s Talk Science for putting the event together. I definitely want to put on an Osteoarchaeology Day sometime, obviously I will need to come up with a better name for it first :).

All photos courtesy of Stephanie Calce

'The Vampire Problem'

Photo from excavation website: http://ow.ly/wHrHT 

I have been telling myself I am going to resurrect my blog (and post regularly) for some time now and continually finding reasons why I am too busy to write something today, or this week or… you get the picture. Yesterday’s headlines finally inspired me to get back in action! “'Vampire' Skeleton Unearthed in Poland”. I mean, who doesn’t love a good vampire story?? The article intrigued me because I am very interested in ‘deviant burials’ or individuals who are treated ‘counter to’ or ‘outside of’ ‘normal’ (predominant) burial traditions of the time/culture/area/population. Enough air quotes for ya?

My excessive use of air quotes exemplifies what I like to think of as ‘The Vampire Problem’ or the difficulties surrounding reconstructing cultural ideologies from physical remains. Unfortunately, it is incredibly hard to say for sure whether or not a particular burial is ‘deviant’ because you need a good deal of evidence to create a clear picture of ‘the norm’ before you can determine what is outside that norm. A key tenant in human behaviour and culture is variation. So how do you determine what is normal variation and what isn’t? You gather a lot of data. So next time you're reading a news story on archaeological discovery pay attention to sample size. Is your sample 3 individuals or 300? 

Once you have established a baseline of what would be considered normal for a certain time/culture/area/population (or even sub-population) it becomes even more difficult! Many burial rituals associated with deviancy apply to more than one category of ‘deviant’. For example decapitation can signify criminals, execution victims (criminal or not), Vampires, etc. (read more on cool skeletal trauma here). How do you determine what category of deviancy your sample reflects? Context is key. Think about the historical sources of evidence available (or presented in the article) and think about the additional sources of archaeological evidence such as location, relationship to other burials, and orientation of the burial which provide clues to burial context.

Hopefully I have not discouraged you too much yet! While difficult, re-constructing cultural ideologies (or solving the Vampire Problem) is not impossible. Through meticulous research not only of the bodies themselves but also of the historical evidence around cultural practices and beliefs, one can make a case for a burial in a certain manner signifying a certain thing (ie. Decapitated criminal, vampire, etc.). Like any scientist, we gather evidence and then create a hypothesis to explain that evidence. So next time you click on that Vampire headline make sure you put on your critical scientist hat (or perhaps your deerstalker) and really think about the evidence presented and the conclusions reached. 

I still remember...

The following is a repost of an earlier blog but I felt that it was fitting today since this Remembrance Day I find my thoughts drifting back to ‘my guys.’ For a school project last February a group of my classmates and I trudged into Royal Oak Burial Park to collect data for a cemetery database. Straight forward data collection, however, was quickly transformed by the power of the dead. Today I took a moment to think back to that fateful day and appreciate the sacrifice of the Canadian military. So, my guys, rest in peace I still remember you.

Navetas...boats and bones

I recently had the opportunity to learn about a unique treatment of human remains from the island of Menorca. Through periods of Menorca history the island has been fairly isolated from outside contact. This isolation gave rise to some unique practices, as outside cultural influences were not at play. A very interesting burial practice occurred on the island during the pre-Talaiotic period. From 1200 and 750 BC a funerary practice of the people living on Menorca involved building megalithic stone burial chambers called Navetas.

 

Naveta des Tudons (http://www.menorcaweb.com/reports/archaeological-sites/naveta-des-tudons/)

The name comes from modern scholars, due to their appearance of an upturned boat. We do not know what the local people called them as we have found no written language from this period on the island. These structures contained two chambers an upper and a lower chamber. The deceased individuals were first wrapped in a shroud with a bone button and placed in the lower chamber. When this chamber began to fill up the bodies that had skeletonized were moved to the upper chamber. So far this sounds like many other cultures burial practices right? Megalithic funerary monuments, collective burials, and secondary burials are all funerary practices seen in a variety of different culture; here is where it gets weird. When the skeletonized remains were moved to the upper chamber they were distributed into piles according to body part such as skulls in one location, long bones in another, pelves in another, etc. The distribution of remains in this manner is as far as I know unique to this culture (although if anyone has other information I would be pleased to hear it!). Scholars have no idea why the pre-Talaiotic people separated remains in this manner and we likely will never know why but it certainly is interesting to ponder on.

Real live dead Romans!?

Back from the dead? It has been awhile since I have posted anything to my blog, apologies. I’ve been busy with a summer job which was only loosely related to archaeology. The good news is I am once again immersed in the archaeology of death this time quite literally. I am currently at a field school learning excavation and analysis techniques for osteological specimens. We are excavating a Roman necropolis located somewhere in the Mediterranean. I apologize for being cryptic however it is important to keep the remains safe from being overrun with overly curious tourists or looters.

Last week I came face to face with my first real live dead Roman. The experience was so incredibly surreal I can scarcely think of words to describe it. To imaging you were in the presence of a person who lived and breathed 1500 years ago is honestly a little difficult to even fathom.

My excitement at finally being able to put all my archaeological theory and method classes into real field work was pretty spectacular. I had to admit though, dealing with death is always a tricky business and not just because our century old skeletal remains were more than a little fragile. I found that although my days were filled with excitement and contentment at being able to engage in my passion, my nights were troubled by nightmares of the dead who could not rest in peace. The job of a bioarchaeologist is certainly a controversial one even for them. The ability to study and understand more about a past society is extremely fulfilling and rewarding and yet… I have mixed feelings about disturbing the earthly remains of a fellow human being. It is a surprising position to find myself in since I truly believe in the value of archaeological inquiry for everyone but I find myself wondering what my tomb occupants would have thought if they could see us fussing over their bones 1500 years in the future? Would they be horrified and appalled?  Would they laugh? Would they want to tell us more? Would they care? I can only hope that by treating these remains with the utmost respect and dignity that our actions are not offending our grave occupants.

Reflections on a Semseter of Death

My final semester as an undergrad is finally coming to a close (assuming I pass all my courses of course). It has been one heck of a ride. There have been ups and downs, wins and losses, many lessons learned and much sleep missed. Being so close to the end is both exhilarating and terrifying. I am ready to be done, to embark on a new chapter of my life. I also have no idea what that chapter might entail which is more than a little frightening.

My last semester has been one of the hardest of my undergraduate career. Trying to balance a heavy course load, job searching, and training (I'm a Canadian national team athlete) has been incredibly draining. I also struggled with the myriad of different projects I had to complete for my various classes. It seems we are finally saying goodbye to lecture, essay, exam course formats. This semester I gained invaluable new skills through professors encouraging engagement with a variety of different mediums. I helped to created a webpage (It's on Anglo-Saxon execution cemeteries), I started blogging, I worked with databases, and I learned basic statistics (not a new medium to the education system I know, but certainly new to me!). Learning these news skills is incredibly relevant to the job-market today but getting there inevitably involved a good deal of frustration and exhaustion.

I suppose it may not have helped that all my courses seem to be focused on death and human remains, which can at times get a bit depressing. Interestingly though, I think my engagement with death has actually made me think about death in more positive terms. Death surrounds us all. It is common to all humans, in all cultures, in all time periods. It is the common factor between all the remains that archaeologists study, no matter what race, or sexual orientation, nationality, identity; they are all dead. So in a way death unites us, and that to me is strangely comforting.

I lived dear to my family, I gave up my life yet a maiden.

Here I lie dead and I am ashes, and these ashes are earth.

But if the earth is a goddess, I am a goddess, I am not dead.

                           Roman tomb epitaph (CIL, vol. VI, no 35, 887)

 

For anyone interested in tomb epigraphy, here is a link  to a selection from the Roman Republic, Enjoy!