Tag: biology
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Archaeology – An Overview
For my final four-field overview post, I want to talk a little bit about archaeology. You can find some more specific information about bioarchaeology in my previous posts, but there’s far more to archaeology than just the bones! First and foremost, let’s clarify, archaeology is not the study of dinosaur fossils. That would be paleontology,…
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Who were the Neanderthals?
After several weeks of eager anticipation, yesterday was finally the day. Yesterday I received my results for 23andMe, the DNA analysis programme that gives you the lowdown on your ancestry and any genetic health risk factors you may carry. And while my results were pretty much as I suspected, I found out something pretty cool.…
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Question re: Sticks and Stones
A good friend of mine, Nicole, has asked a great question about the post Sticks and Stones: Basics of Skeletal Trauma. She says: “Love this! Also if this is the superior view would you say that the trauma occurred along any suture lines? Also out of curiosity, which bone of the skull is pictured?” Thanks for…
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Sticks and Stones: Basics of Skeletal Trauma
What you’re looking at above is the superior aspect of a human cranium, i.e. the top of someone’s head. If your first thought was ‘holy hell, what happened to that poor guy?’ well done. You have the makings of a human osteologist. The answer is what forensic anthropologists and bioarchaeologists call sharp force trauma, or when a…
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A Bone to Pick: Basics of Palaeopathology
Palaeopathology is the study of ancient diseases, trauma, disability etc. by examining human remains. Like forensic anthropologists, palaeopathologists also work with a degree of uncertainty. When most of our data comes from the examination of human bones, there are specific limitations we must contend with. Bone can only react in one of two ways when…
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Biological Anthropology – An Overview
Biological anthropology is one of the four major subfields of anthropology. Very generally, biological anthropology examines the biological development of human beings–meaning that we study everything from human evolution, our evolutionary cousins (other primates), comparative anatomy, osteology (the study of bones), and ecology. Here are just some of the many subfields of biological anthropology: Palaeoanthropology…
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The Evolution Debate
Another subfield of biological anthropology that I’ve worked in is palaeoanthropology. Which, very simply, is the study of human evolution. And one of the most frustrating things I’ve experienced as an anthropologist is not evolution denial, but the very clear inability of people who do believe in evolution to give good answers to the questions put to…
Anthropology and Me 