ANTHRO 588: FIELD AND LABORATORY METHODS IN BIOARCHAEOLOGY AND FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY

Submitted 26/02/2026 by Nicholas Baxter

We would like to announce our bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology field school at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. This course introduces students to the role of biological anthropologists, archaeologists, and forensic scientist in excavations of human remains. This field school is particularly unique because we work in collaboration with the UMass Chan Medical School’s Division of Translational Anatomy and Anatomical Gift Program. Students will also receive lectures from experts in political science, federal Indian law, criminal law, historical archaeology, the US State Department, and law enforcement.

The course will be divided into three units. The first unit will introduce students to field and laboratory techniques, including osteology, recognizing what constitutes bioarchaeological or forensic data, and violence theory. Students will participate in lectures and lab exercises at both UMass Amherst and at the UMass Chan Medical School. The second unit will consist of excavations of a pseudo-crime scene and pseudo-archaeological burial. The third unit will focus on laboratory techniques used to analyze the biological profile and write the lab report of the two excavation sites, as well as the design and build of the following year’s burial sites. Throughout the course we will explore key concepts in ethics, violence theory, socio-cultural constructs left on the body, repatriation, medicolegal death investigation and regulations regarding unmarked burials.

Our field school is aimed at giving students a better understanding of work in these fields, ethical issues and guidelines, and what constitutes violence and how to recognize evidence of violence on human remains and material objects. The Low Stakes, High Impact learning model we have developed for this field school provides students with the opportunity to develop the professional and academic skills to immediately pursue career and graduate opportunities in a number of different professional settings.

Nicholas Baxter

bioarch@anthro.umass.edu

https://www.umass.edu/bioarchaeology/

https://www.umass.edu/equalopportunity/titleix/policies

Title IX is a federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, providing protection against sexual harassment and violence, bullying, and pregnancy and parenting discrimination.