Archaeology Education in Bioarchaeology and Human Osteology: Value and Values of Experiential Service Learning

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Human osteology and bioarchaeology remain an important part of archaeological practice, transitioning from a focus on legacy collections to service and compliance work rooted in the ethics of direct engagement with descendant communities. Higher education and archaeology can partner in new ways that center respect for pre-contact and historic era ancestral remains and yield well-trained graduates who have osteological data collection skills and abilities, and more importantly deep respect for the people whose remains they encounter archaeologically. This paper addresses best practices for undergraduate engagement with ancestral remains, known outcomes and benefits to students and partners, and presents case studies for partnering with state and federal agencies, CRM firms and museums / nonprofits who directly engage with descendant communities. With decades worth of new infrastructure development poised to commence, not to mention widespread residential and commercial development, human remains will continue to be inadvertently discovered and it behooves us to train future archaeologists to approach ancestral remains responsibly and respectfully. Images of human remains will not be shown in this presentation, though images of laboratory contexts with remains blacked out may be shown.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37569.0