On Wednesday 18 April, 14 Notre Dame students visited Bradford University’s cutting edge Osteology (the scientific study of bones) department to participate in an archaeology workshop.
The subject of study was Osteoarchaeology: the analysis of human skeletons excavated from archaeological sites.
Assisted by Bradford University students and staff, Notre Dame students carried out practical examinations using state of the art laboratory equipment. Using synthetic bones, the group were taught how skeletons are assessed by archaeologists to determine characteristics such as age or gender.
Students received the ultimate archaeological experience: seeing real life historical human remains! Bradford University’s staff led a group talk explaining how the bones can be analysed to understand the cause of death.