Bioarchaeological Fieldschool

Syllabus

Example of an archaeological finding: coin The aim of the bioarchaeology fieldschool is to introduce modern methods of exploration, documentation and conservation of human remains from archaeological excavations.

During the theoretical introduction, the participants will be familiarised with different strategies of graves and burials excavation, documentation required for describing the context of the found human remains, as well as recording the information concerning the grave and burial itself. The strict exploration techniques guide will be followed by an introduction to methods used in conservation and preservation of excavated human remains according to the state of preservation and conditions that the remains were found in. As the excavations will take place in the direct vicinity of the historic church building a short explanation of basics archaeology of architecture will be provided.

The knowledge gained during the introduction will be implemented during the fieldwork when participants will form the archaeological excavation team.

Fieldwork

The scope of fieldwork will cover:

planning of the trenches (with a description of the complications caused by the presence of building structures, as well as an introduction to health and safety issues);
exploration of the layers in multi-layered archaeological site;
exploration of the human burial;
setting up a measuring grid and taking measures with the use of a level and total station;
field documentation including:

the description of the burial position with taphonomic observations;
photographic, drawing and written documentation of the burial;
standard archaeological documentation of trenches (plans and profiles).

The participants will also be responsible for preparing the finds for transport and later conservation, preparing them for storage, which will include both human remains and all other excavated artefacts.

Laboratory

Example of an archaeological finding: burial

The afternoons will be reserved for the lab work during which students will be provided with:

introduction to ethics in human osteology and proper conduct in handling human remains
basic osteology introduction (if needed) including juvenile osteology;
presentation and implementation of standard osteological methods for establishing biological profile (age-at-death, sex, stature);
recognising and describing taphonomic and palaeopathological changes on the skeletons;
introduction to standard recording forms implemented in the Department of Bioarchaeology, University of Warsaw
basics of preparing the post-excavation bioarchaeological report.

The learning outcomes

The participants are able to:

excavate and document burial and grave using accurate and proper methods;
know different excavation techniques and is able to implement a proper approach to the type and state of the excavated burial;
use level and total station and other measurement techniques for documentation purposes;
use proper tools for excavation and documentation of the find;
prepare accurate photographic, drawing and descriptive documentation;
prepare the archaeological find for transport and storage;
provide an accurate inventory of human remains coming from archaeological excavations;
describe the basic biological profile of the individual(s) on the base of analysed human remains.

The participants are aware of:

the ethical conduct when dealing with human remains
the proper methods of conducting archaeological research in the vicinity of historical buildings;
the basics of human osteological analysis including juvenile remains;
the basics of recognition of taphonomic and palaeopathological changes on human remains.

Grading

Example of an archaeological finding: burial 2

The final grade will be a result of the assessment of fieldwork and lab performance. The participants will be informed about the proposed grade at the beginning of the last week with feedback information and instruction on how to improve the outcome. The whole fieldwork course will receive 12 ECTS points granted by the Institute of Archaeology University of Warsaw.