Commingled Remains Osteology Research Workshop – Bioarchaeology and Zooarchaeology Approaches to Collective Burial Analysi

The imposing Magura Uroiului rock formation near Simeria (Southern Transylvania) stands as a natural fortress, overlooking all natural and man-made elements of the surrounding landscape. By its position, aspect, and its proximity to sources of salt, copper, iron, tin, gold as well as easy access to coal, it provided both the practical and mystical components to ensure an intensive and quite often specialized use throughout Prehistory, as shown by the Early Iron Age (Hallstatt) “funerary monument” which is the focus of the present study. This workshop is unique in its holistic focus. From excavation to cleaning to recording and data entry into a custom data base, participants will have a very unique field/lab-experience. Our participants will be involved with both the excavation and the analysis of a large commingled assemblage consisting of human and animal bone. As such, the students will identify and quantify skeletal remains and place them within a larger cultural context. Requirements: intermediary to advanced human morphology and anatomy. (Program taught by Dr. Anna Osterholtz)