Currently browsing category

Bioarch Osteo @Soton (Bos)

Bioarchaeology & Osteoarchaeology @ Southampton

Bioarchaeology & Osteoarchaeology @ Southampton

To celebrate the start of a new academic year here at Southampton, we have launched a new website to showcase some of our bioarchaeology, palaeopathology and osteology research. This launch is happening that very same week that aspects of our collaborative research with Historic England and Bioengineering (here at Southampton) are being talked about at the European Union in Brussels! But why are we called BOS? Bioarchaeology & Osteoarchaeology at Southampton - but that much is obvious... Continue reading →

Left Handers Day & Lefties: how can we identify handedness (or hand preference)?

Today is (apparently) International Left Handers Day.... There are few lefties among the Archaeology staff... Prof Jon Adams (our UG admissions tutor) for one - he is usually recognizable when diving as the only left handed underwater archaeologist (just see the films of the excavation and lifting of the Mary Rose). More famously (?) Leonardo da Vinci was a leftie. So why is this? Population-level right-handedness is a defining characteristic of being human. Continue reading →

RESEARCHING THE HUMAN REMAINS AT HAMPSHIRE CULTURAL TRUST

Reblogged from the Day of Archaeology 2015: http://www.dayofarchaeology.com/researching-the-human-remains-at-hampshire-cultural-trust/ Today I’m working at Hampshire Cultural Trust with Dave Allen. I’m lucky because my visit times with the regular weekly volunteer day at the Archaeology Stores, managed by the Curator of Archaeology, David Allen. To find out more about the work of David and the team, visit their excellent blog, which has a new post every Monday. Continue reading →

Day of Archaeology

Today is the international Day of Archaeology (if you search twitter #dayofarch and the official webpage you will lots of postings). And it's when some of us try to tell the world what we really do - using just one day as a snapshot. Well my day started slowly. Heavy rain outside. Not a great day to be in the field. I felt sorry for people trying to excavate in the heavy rain - but I had a day of data analysis planned. Continue reading →

Bioarchaeology & Osteoarchaeology @ Southampton Interns (#BOSI)

Our first group of interns working on skeletal bioarchaeology started today – focusing on the human skeletons from the Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Great Chesterford in Essex. During the 3 week internship, topics to be covered by Dr Ellie Williams & Sarah Stark (with occasional help from others including Alistair Pike and Sonia Zakrzewski amongst others) will include ageing and sexing of human remains – and all the problems and issues that arise in trying to do this. Continue reading →

Ancient skeleton shows leprosy may have spread to Britain from Scandinavia

An international team, including archaeologists from the University of Southampton, has found evidence suggesting leprosy may have spread to Britain from Scandinavia. The team, led by former Southampton PhD student Sarah Inskip, now at the University of Leiden, and including researchers from Historic England and the Universities of Southampton, Birmingham, Surrey, and Swansea, examined a 1500 year old male skeleton, excavated at Great Chesterford in Essex, England during the 1950s. Continue reading →

Race and bioarchaeology: what else can we do with human remains?

Sexual dimorphism in Egyptian crania On the Archaeology of Portus course this week we’ve been looking at the People of Portus. Analysing human remains is an extremely delicate process, both practically and ethically. Archaeologists take any activities associated with human remains very seriously. It wasn’t surprising that Andrew Dufton’s post about the Archaeology’s Dirty Little Secrets course also included reference to these ethical issues. Continue reading →

Bring Your Bones! Bones Identification Day 8th August

Osteologists Visit Basing House Do you have a mystery bone that you dug up in the garden or found whilst walking the dog? Would you like to find out more about how archaeologists identify bones? We have fantastic news for you! Some lovely skulls to whet your appetite! Can you identify all of these chaps? Bones Identification Day at Basing House 8th August 11am-4pm Ellie Williams and her team will be visiting Basing House on the 8th August to show a selection of bones from the University of... Continue reading →