ANTH 1022, Fall 2020
Discussion Activity 6 Response
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An ‘Osteobiography’ is represents all the information about someone’s personal life, identity, and history
as told by their skeleton.
In this discussion activity, you are a Bioarchaeologist in the year 3020
.
A large
government infrastructure project to build a spaceport has required the movement of a cemetery.
From
ancient grave-markings, you believe that one of the skeletons belongs to a prominent public figure who
lived about a thousand years earlier (in the year 2020).
Your task as a bioarchaeologist is to select
methods of analysis to learn more about this individual from the bones and teeth they left behind, and
to try to verify their identity.
In other words, your aim is to select methods that would allow you to
interpret important aspects of their ‘osteobiography’.
Your task for this discussion activity is to select a prominent public figure that is either currently or
recently alive (in the year 2020), and describe 3 methods that you would use as a future
bioarchaeologist (in the year 3020) to interpret aspect of their lives on the basis of their bones and
teeth.
What 3 methods would you prioritize for the analysis of the skeletal or dental remains?
What predictions would you make about what you would find by applying these methods, and
how would the information help you to verify their identity.
You may select any prominent public figure from the past century.
If you’re struggling to decide who
might be appropriate, you may think of people who have a particularly unique personal history and
pattern of habitual behaviour.
How would their unique life influence their bones and teeth? What
bioarchaeological methods would you use to interpret their life as a ‘future’ bioarchaeologist?
Rubric
Criteria
Yes
No
Three methods are identified
1-3
0
Specific and appropriate predictions are made of what would be found,
using each method
1-3
0
Connections made to mini-lecture, reading, or another relevant sources
1
0
Demonstrates understanding of methods and their application
1-2
0
Word Count within Range (200 word limit = range 180-220 words)
0.5
Deduct 0.5
Spelling/Grammar (<5 errors)
0.5
Deduct 0.5
Mark (/10) Total:
Research proposal for the excavation and analysis of the tomb of (enter name below):
Venus Williams
1
