Osteo Short Courses: Agestimation at the University of Huddersfield & Human Remains in Commercial Archaeology by Historic England, May 2016

There have been a few emails landing in my inbox recently that have peaked my interest, so I highlight here a few short courses that have presented themselves and I take a quick look at the forthcoming annual British Association of Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology conference, which is held at the University of Kent in September.  But first, the short courses…

Historic England are holding a day-long course on Wednesday 11th May titled Human Remains in Commercial Archaeology: Legal, Ethical and Curatorial Considerations, which is to be held in Cambridge.  As a massive bonus the event is free to attend.  This re-run of the course, which was previously held in both Bristol and Manchester last year, sees it tackle the issues that surround every aspect of human remains within commercial archaeology.

If that whets the taste buds the University of Huddersfield are holding a short course examining the methodologies used to age human skeletal remains titled Agestimation.  The course, held at the Forensic Science department, runs from the Friday 13th May to Saturday the 14th May 2016.  The two-day long sessions include lecture and practical elements to assess the theory and methodologies used in aging human skeletal remains.  The short course costs £160.00 (£100.00 for students and staff at the University of Huddersfield) and includes 2 meals, however please be aware that the maximum number of participants is 30 so apply by the 9th of May 2016 to join the course.

The course is aimed at the interested student or early stage researcher.  I’ll put up more contact information here, and any page specific site, once further information has been released on this short course.

Finally, here is a quick remainder of the upcoming 16th annual British Association of Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology (BABAO), conference which is this year held at the University of Kent, near Canterbury, in September 2016.  Registration is now open for participants to join and submit abstracts (200 words max,) for podium presentations and/or poster presentations from researchers involved with the fields of biological anthropology, osteoarchaeology and assorted allied areas.  Please be aware that the deadline for abstracts is Friday 1st July.  The conference itself runs from Friday 9th to the Sunday 11th September, and costs range from £175.00 to £115.00 unwaged although please do be aware that the price jumps to £180.00 for late bookings from July 14th.  This is not a cheap conference by any means, although it does include the lovely meal and quiz.

An association to join if you are involved with human remains in archaeology, forensic anthropology, bioanthropology or any of their allied disciplines.

The four sessions at the BABAO conference cover the full range of biological anthropology and its related fields, with sessions focused on evolutionary perspectives on human behaviour, palaeoanthropology, and a session focused on bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology.  For any abstracts outside of these disciplines topic wise there is also the normal open session.  I can see that the guest speakers confirmed include Clark Spencer Larsen, from Ohio State University, a great researcher who has produced research and publications of great importance in bioarchaeology.  I attended last year’s BABAO conference, which was held at the University of Sheffield, and I thoroughly enjoyed it; the quiz being a particular highlight!  Unfortunately I won’t be able to go this year due to a holiday clash (I’ll hopefully be half a world away if my skeleton plays ball).

If there are any other human osteology, or bioarchaeology, focused short courses coming up in the United Kingdom please do not hesitate to contact me and I’ll produce a new post.

Further Information

• To apply and reserve a space for the Historic England-led Human Remains in Commercial Archaeology short course please see the Eventbrite page here.  It is free to attend, but spaces are likely to go fairly fast due to intense demand.

• Check out the Facebook page for the Agestimation short course here.  Please be aware that the deadline to apply for the course is 9th May 2016, so apply before this to secure a place.

• For more information on the annual BABAO conference, with further detail on the sessions and guest speakers, check out the University of Kent homepage here.  The abstract submission form can be found here.

KORA Bioarchaeology and Forensic Anthropology Workshops at the University of Kent, June 2015

The Kent Osteological Research and Analysis unit (KORA) at the University of Kent is offering individuals interested in bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology the chance to get to grips in understanding the value of analysing human skeletal remains by playing host to two workshops in June 2015.  The great selling point about these particular courses are the fact that they are open to members of the public, as well as to archaeologists who are keen to gain experience of handling and analysing archaeologically sourced human skeletal remains.

Details of the two workshops can be found below on the poster.  The first is the Medieval Burials in Canterbury workshop running on the Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st of June at a cost of £75.  The second workshop is titled CSI (Crime Science Investigation) at Kent and runs on the Saturday 27 and Sunday 28th of June, again costing £75.  Taking place at the School of Anthropology and Conservation at the Marlowe Building on Canterbury Campus, the two 2 day long courses offer the chance to learn about the methodologies used to estimate the age-at-death, biological sex and stature with hands on activities in using the methods learned beforehand.  The Medieval burials workshop, offering the chance to handle and analyse skeletal remains from the historic town of Canterbury, also includes aspects on funerary archaeology (such as burial position, grave goods and cemetery analysis).  The CSI workshop includes the opportunity to learn about the nature of traumatic injury and the effect that this can have on the skeletal elements in a human body, both during life and death.

This is a great example of education outreach aimed at highlighting just what it is that archaeologists and forensic anthropologists do with human skeletal material and, more importantly, why.  As long time readers of this blog may know the skeletal remains of humans provide an awful lot of both biological and cultural information pertaining to both that individual and their society.  As such I am enthused that such workshops are opening up to the non-specialist in order for the general public to learn what bioarchaeologists and forensic anthropologists actually do and why it is important.

The University of Kent KORA poster detailing the workshops available.

As always I am very happy to advertise bioarchaeology, human osteology or forensic anthropology short courses, or workshops, taking place in the United Kingdom on this site.  Please feel free to contact me with further information on any upcoming courses and I will endeavor to post an entry about it (time allowing).  I can be contacted via email on the About Me tab or at thesebonesofmine (at) hotmail (dot) com.

Further Information

• To book your place on either workshop please visit the University of Kent site here or contact Jackie Fotheringham (details here) for further information on the workshops.  The School of Anthropology and Conservation plays host to a wide range of open days, conferences, workshops and education outreach events, please see here for a calendar for the year detailing these (including the anthropology of hands conference in June!).

• The department at Kent, like the University of Durham and University College London, have a particularly strong anthropology research basis where the fields of biological anthropology, forensic science and bioarchaeology play a key foundation into the study of humanity.  Furthermore the department at kent also boasts a dedicated human osteology laboratory which has the facilities for dental and bone histology alongside stable isotope preparation and analysis.