Tag: archaeology

Osteoarchaeology and the Ancient World Scholar’s Toolkit

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Osteoarchaeology and the Ancient World Scholar’s Toolkit

by Adam Hope

Osteoarchaeology: What, Why, and How?

Osteoarchaeology uses bodily remains recovered in archaeological contexts to develop historical insights. The evidence base is the human skeleton, which, when complete, consists of 206 bones and either twenty “baby” or thirty-two “adult” teeth depending on age at death. The completeness of a skeleton hinges on various factors: naturally, burial is a must — meaning this approach is unsuitable for the study of societies which practice “sky burial,” such as pre-Islamic Iran or medieval Tibet — while looting and soil acidity determine the quantity and quality of surviving bone material. Upon detection, bone is excavated by careful troweling. Extensive records are then produced, detailing the anatomical features found, the stratigraphic level at which they were discovered, and features such as visible signs of damage or indicators of sex and age.

Why Classics?

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“Why Classics?”
By Olivia Wells

When people ask me what I’m studying, I often find that they don’t understand what I mean by “classics,” and in the rare case that they do, they sometimes can’t wrap their head around why I’d want to major in it.

Sadly, it’s not hard to see why I, as well as other classics majors, often find ourselves defending our discipline. Once regarded as a foundational precept of humanities, classical studies has since seen a decline in popularity over the past century…