Contributing Bodies: The Foundation of the Modern Human Skeletal Collection of the University of Athens in Greece

Summary

The capacity of humans to contribute positively even long after death includes not only donations and institutions but also one’s own body. The human body and its parts provide the opportunity to bridge time in archaeological and forensic contexts and appreciate human history. In 1996-7 this capacity was aptly evaluated by the scientific committee of the Wiener Laboratory of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens and the foundation of the modern human skeletal reference collection for Greek populations was launched. Since then, a large number of contributions has led to the creation of a collection of more than 350 human skeletons at the University of Athens, known as the 'Athens Collection.' Fields of research involving the determination of sex, age, health and diet draw now directly from a collection of human remains for which these parameters are known. Today anthropology practiced in Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean has its own coordinates and sound foundations. In this presentation an appraisal is attempted of the course and dynamic of the development of this collection, known during its foundation as the 'Wiener Collection.'

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21753