This lecture/laboratory course serves as an introduction to the study of human skeletal anatomy (human osteology) and the methods for studying human skeletal remains. Human osteology serves as the foundation for studies of human remains recovered from a variety of contexts including archaeological, medicolegal (forensic), and palaeontological.

The topics to be addressed in the lecture portion of this course include the excavation and treatment of human remains, bone and cartilage histology, bone growth and development, the methods for determining age-at-death, sex, stature, and ancestry from human remains, dental anthropology, metric and non-metric skeletal variation, palaeodemography, paleopathology of bones and teeth, forensic anthropology, biodistance studies, and specialized methods (e.g., isotope analysis, DNA from bone etc.) of skeletal research. Other topics include basic human osteology.

Anth 384 Labs
Using anatomical study specimens in the laboratory, students are expected to acquire a basic understanding of human osteology, including bone and tooth identification and siding of skeletal elements during the first 6 weeks of the course. The first written and lab practical exams will test this knowledge. The remaining labs will focus on the methods of osteological analysis. Ten formal laboratory assignments, which will be graded, include the following topics: histological structure of bone and cartilage, techniques of determining age and sex from human remains, metric and non-metric variation in cranial, dental and infracranial remains, determining ancestry from skeletal remains, paleodemography, data analysis and paleopathology. The labs are to be completed in any order and will be submitted as complete set on the last day of classes. A final written and lab practical exam will be administered at the end of semester to test this information.