INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN SKELETAL REMAINS: Osteoarchaeology Investigations

This six-day course (Sunday – Friday) is once again being offered at Sedgeford. Teaching will be done both on boneyard, and also in the church.

 

The course assumes no prior knowledge of either archaeology or osteology. It has a focus of post-excavation recording of the articulated and disarticulated human remains excavated from the Early Medieval (Anglo-Saxon) cemetery site at Sedgeford.

 

The course content is taught through short lectures or participative seminar sessions and practical recording sessions. During the practical sessions, attendees work in small groups of 2 or 3 to apply what they have learnt to the direct, hands-on study of skeletal remains, with the help and supervision of course tutors.

 

Students will learn how to identify human skeletal elements and how to record them. This will include learning how to estimate age-at-death and biological sex, take osteo-metric measurements for stature estimation, record non-metric variation, and describe pathological lesions. Students will also learn about the different causes of disarticulated and commingled human skeletal assemblages in archaeological contexts, the common challenges encountered when recording such collections as well as different approaches to recording and analysis. Attendees will also consider the potential of re-association of disarticulated human bone to the articulated skeletons within the SHARP assemblage. At the end of the course, participants will either give a short group presentation to the public, or prepare video footage for SHARP’s Digital Trenches, to summarise their newly gained knowledge and findings from their recording.

 

After completing the course, attendees are eligible to enrol as a Human Remains (HR) volunteer to work with the SHARP Human Remains Team during the summer ‘season’.

19/07/26 - 24/07/26 inclusive. 

6 days (Sunday - Friday)

Course rate for 6 days of learning, lunch, use of facilities, and Tuesday evening lecture admission included - £340 (or £320 if booked before 1st April on our early bird offer)

 

Onsite camping space and use of shower facilities for a week - £50

We ask that all those camping to arrive on the Saturday afternoon before the start of their booked week, and they can leave at any time the following Saturday, or on the Friday afternoon/evening after work if this works better for them.

 

All onsite meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) and all evening entertainment for a week - £60

 

The course only rate includes lunch onsite, drinks, and admission to our Tuesday night lecture (if you wish to attend), but does not include accommodation or breakfast/evening meals. If you wish to camp onsite during your stay, and/or eat breakfast and dinner onsite, please select these options when making your booking.

SHARP offers financial support for excavation and our courses through the John Hensby Memorial Bursary. For more information and to apply, please visit The John Hensby Fund.

For more information on the Human Remains course, including what will be covered, a timetable, and an equipment list, see the information pack which can be found with all our course/volunteer specific documents at the bottom of our Season Bookings page.

At SHARP we have always tried to cater for as many dietary needs as possible. However the limitations of cooking in a container cabin in a field, and the increasing numbers and types of allergies, means that while we do try, we can't always cater for all needs. Particularly for those people with severe and/or life-threatening allergies.

 

We currently cater for Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten Free and Dairy Free diets for those having lunch with us or camping on site.

 

For allergies other than these please contact SHARP in advance of making your booking to find out whether we can cater for your situation.

We endeavour to make the project as inclusive as possible for people with a variety of medical conditions. We also have a good history of working with people with learning difficulties such as Dyslexia, Asperger's, and Dyspraxia. We ask as part of the booking process that you please make us aware of any medical conditions and how they impact you so that we can better accommodate you.

 

If you have medical needs that require charging of medical devices, please get in touch before making a booking. The camp site is off the grid, with power provided by a solar array. This works well in most situations, however, in poor weather we may not be able to guarantee you power to charge large devices at all times.