Bioarchaeology

Description

Through knowledge and understanding, students will be able to: • Understand how to identify and classify plants based on archaeological materials • See the past through plant and human remains • Follow principles and procedures of studying plan remains • Overview the history of human species in a biological perspective • Examine the relationship between flora and fauna • Comprehend human diversity at different geographic areas and historic periods • Be able to use taxonomic classification to identify flora and fauna and their distribution according to biomes • Appreciate biodiversity • Become familiar with the scientific method Through intellectual skills, students will be able to: • Critically think • Evaluate the quality of information • Comprehend the scope and limits of the scientific method • Make accurate drawings to capture detail in botanical and human remains that is needed for identification. • Find scientific explanations to multiple phenomena • Become aware of human bias • Observe nature • Question observations • Develop hypotheses and test them • Make an educated prediction based on data • Employ statistics to quantify errors and certainty • Write a report on a scientific experiment • Compile test results and draw conclusions from them • Evaluate evidence and find alternative explanations • Differentiate between quantitative traits and qualitive traits and the different ways to analyze them Through professional and practical skills, students will be able to: • Conduct a simple experiment • Use their biological knowledge with taxonomic keys to identify a species • Discern between variables, treatment and control • How to handle fragile material and analyze it without damaging precious samples Through general and transferable skills, students will be able to: • Ask scientifically sound questions • Design simple experiments • Become accustomed to laboratory safety regulations • Writing in a formal scientific manner and using precise language to describe living systems.

Program

Egyptian Archaeology

Objectives

• This course aims at observing the past through plants and human remains. The first half of the course will focus on the botanic remains of the past as a source of information on the environment in which the past humans lived. The first pas focuses on the availability and management of plants for sustenance and craft. It also uses different techniques for identification of dates and usage of plants in the different periods. It also examines microscopic and macroscopic botanical remains. The second part aims at understanding the past through what remains from the human bodies. It focuses on the modern understanding of the human species in a cultural perspective. It examines human osteology, pathology and disease, conflict, violence, stress and lifestyle of the humans of the past cultures. Both parts of the course aim at giving students a scientific background in the fields of archaeobotany and bioarchaeology.