The
aim of this interdisciplinary conference is to bring together
researchers interested in disease, injury and other effects of
occupations (in the broadest sense) on the human skeleton to improve
the interpretation of these changes in archaeological and forensic
contexts.
Identifying
occupation, task division and activity-patterns from skeletal remains
past populations and using this to assist forensic identification,
has been an alluring prospect in bioarchaeology from its earliest
inceptions. Some occupation identification can be made by
pathognomonic changes, e.g. “phossy jaw” which was characteristic
of those working with white phosphorous in the matchstick industry,
however, the majority of skeletal changes cannot be ascribed to a
single task or occupation, e.g. entheseal changes or cross-sectional
geometry. Recent research has highlighted that the multifactorial
aetiology of many skeletal changes previously used to identify
activity-patterns cannot be applied simplistically.
This
conference will build on recent advances in related fields to provide
a direction for future research on using skeletal changes to identify
occupations (and activity-patterns) based on what is currently known.
Abstracts are invited on a diverse range of approaches including:
palaeopathology, biomechanics, ethnography, modern medicine, forensic
science, archaeology, socio-cultural anthropology
The
deadline for abstracts is the 13th of March and for early
registration, the 25th of April.
Charlotte Henderson, Ana Luisa Santos, Francisca Alves Cardoso, Sandra Assis and Alejandra Acosta.
The organisers and:
Prof. Eugénia Cunha, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra.
António José Vilar Queirós, MD, Health and Safety Management Department, University of Coimbra Social Services.
Prof. Peter Kirby, Professor of Social History and Leverhulme Research Fellow, Glasgow Caledonian University.
Sébastien Villotte, CNRS Researcher, University of Bordeaux.
Cynthia Wilczak, Associate Professor, San Francisco State University.
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occupationfromskeleton@gmail.com