The Bone Ages: MOSI on Down to the Manchester Science Festival, Sunday 2nd Nov 2014

A date for the diary for all bone and science lovers!  Skeletal researchers from the University of Sheffield and Manchester Metropolitan University will be at the Manchester Museum of Science & Industry (MOSI) on Sunday 2nd of November 2014 (from 10.30 am to 4 pm) helping to present an event called The Bone Ages to the public.  The Bone Ages will bring together the social sciences and lab based research in helping to present the wonders of studying the human skeleton, detailing how bones can teach us about the history, health and society of past populations and individuals using live demonstrations.  The event will include interactive showcases and activities for children and adults of all ages, from learning about how to age and sex the skeleton to understanding what DNA testing of skeletal material can reveal.

The Bone Ages event is being run at MOSI as a part of the Manchester Science Festival (which runs from 23rd October to 2nd November), which is aimed at engaging the whole family in understanding the wonders of cutting edge science and ground shaking research.  The Manchester Science Festival is free to attend and will be running a whole host of events to do with innovative scientific topics in a variety of locations across Manchester.

A flyer from the website advertising the Bone Ages open day. Image credit: MOSI.

So what is actually happening at the Bone Ages event?

Well there will be a host of hands on demonstrations and live shows by the researchers of the Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Sheffield staff.  There will be four staff from MMU who each specialise in different areas of skeletal research including:

• Dr Craig Young (human geography), who will be discussing the importance of human remains as a part of the socio-political processes linked to cultural identity.
•  Dr Seren Griffiths (archaeology), who will provide a live demonstration of 3D laser scanning and talk about the importance of the technique to accurately digitally record excavated specimens.
• Dr Kirsty Shaw (molecular biology), who will be demonstrating the application of miniaturized technology that allows the DNA sampling of remains in the field.
• Dr Alex Ireland (health science), who’ll be demonstrating how scanning bones can reveal the permanent record of previous activity, to help prevent health risks in the present day population.

On top of this researchers from the University of Sheffield, including doctoral candidate Jennifer Crangle, will be discussing and highlighting the value of analysing the human skeleton, from how to age and sex remains (using casts and examples) to talking about the nature of archaeological bone, from complete to fragmented remains.  I will also be there, helping to engage the public how and why osteoarchaeologists analyse bones and generally helping out.  Alongside this I’ll also be assisting with the exciting ‘exploding skeleton’, a fun and interactive way to learn about the skeletal anatomy of the body by having members of the pubic trying to figure out what piece goes where in the human body.

The demonstrations for The Bone Ages will be taking place at the new purpose built PI: Platform for Investigation arena at the museum, which is part of a new monthly contemporary science program aimed at the bold, innovative presentation and engagement of science with the public.  I, for one, am thoroughly looking forward to this, so I hope to see you there!

Learn More

• Look out for the #boneages hashtag on twitter for further information and updates.  There will also be a number of guest blogs produced for the Manchester Science Festival, which will also appear on the Institute of Humanities & Social Sciences Research, run by Manchester Metropolitan University.
• The Manchester Science Festival runs from 23rd October to the 2nd of November, with events being ran all day, and for free, during these dates.  The festival will fuse art and science together in an intoxicating mix for all of the family, with topics ranging from industrial archaeology to 3D printing, from film showings to computer coding.  Find out more here.