BIO A 487A
Human and Comparative Osteology
Course Co-Requisite: BIO A 469 (Applied Human and Comparative Osteology)
Course Description: In this course you will learn all about bones: what they look like, how they vary, and what we can discern about the individual from whom they came, including how they lived and died. We will focus on acquiring the skills necessary to recognize and identify the bones of the human skeleton and understanding why they look the way they do. Although this class will focus of the bones of the derived (i.e., fully modern) human skeleton, we may also compare our skeleton to that of our closest relatives (i.e., primates and fossil hominins) and/or other mammals.
Learning Objectives: By the end of this course, you should be able to do the following:
- Be fluent in the terminology used to describe the human skeleton.
- Identify the bones of the human skeleton (both whole bones and bone fragments) and their associated features.
- Collect linear measurements on skeletal material.
- Understand and apply the basic principles of age and sex determination.
- Be able to discuss ethical considerations regarding the use of human remains in teaching and research.
Course Structure and Learning Osteology: The “lecture” portion of this course will meet twice weekly. Attendance with active participation is strongly encouraged. Missed days cannot easily be made up because they will be highly interactive. In these sessions I will describe and demonstrate relevant anatomical landmarks, and you will be asked to identify them as well.
There will additionally be weekly lab sessions, which are a separate course (BIO A 469A) that you were required to register for, during which you will have the opportunity to practice identifying the skeletal material and its features and look at human variation. You should be aware that, to do well in this course, you must spend time in the lab studying the bones. There is no way to learn osteology except by studying the bones in person, handling the material, and speaking with your fellow students about them.
Grading and Assignments:
There will six “bone quizzes” on Topics 2-7 that will be given in the first part of every Thursday lecture. These quizzes will consist of approximately 30 stations where you will be asked to identify bones, landmarks, and/or concepts. You will have 1 minute at each station. Although the majority of the skeletal material on the quiz will have been introduced the week prior, the quizzes will be cumulative. You can drop one of the quizzes and the remaining 5 will make up 50% of your grade. Please note, the dropped quiz is meant to cover emergencies and sickness, so please use it wisely.
The remaining 50% of your grade will be made up of a cumulative practical exam (40%), in which you will be expected to identify skeletal material and apply concepts we have learned in class, and a written final exam (10%).
Ethics and Rules of Engagement:
In my experience, individuals differ in their thoughts and feelings regarding human remains, by which I explicitly mean the physical parts that remain when the body ceases to function. These different beliefs may stem from group traditions or individual experiences. Regardless of your personal ideas about human remains, you will treat the bones with the utmost respect and acknowledge the privilege that being able to work with human bones allows you. It is your job to honor those remains as if they were the remains of someone you care about. In addition, you will uphold the following rules regarding working with the human remains:
- Do not take any videos or photographs of the bones. You may, however, sketch them.
- Do not post anything about working with the skeletal material on social media.
- Do not have any food or drinks near the lab tables.
- Always place the bones carefully on the mats on the tables. If you need to move a bone from one table to another use both hands.
The Department has followed all applicable federal and state laws regarding the curation of the human remains in our care and we remain engaged with ongoing conversations about the appropriate treatment of human remains. Of equal importance, we are also committed to training the next generation of scientists in ethics, as well as science. For more details: https://anthropology.washington.edu/collection-ethics
Texts and Supplemental Materials:
White, TD (any edition). Human Osteology. (Available online through the UW library).
Bass, W (any edition). The Human Skeleton.
http://www.eskeletons.org
Course Handouts (PDF versions available on Canvas)