About this course: This course is about what we can learn from examining the human skeleton, and how we can use this knowledge to reconstruct the lives of people who lived in the past. In archaeology and anthropology, human skeletal remains can provide unique insights into the past and the present; insights that cannot be gained otherwise.

Week 1: Introduction to the course

Hello and welcome to this course, Osteoarchaeology, the Truth in Our Bones. In this first, introductory module, you will learn about what this course is about and how it is set up.

Bones to Biography & Demography

Welcome to the first content module of this course! This week is all about introducing you to the primary things that we can learn from nearly all human skeletons.

Week 2: Bones to Disease and Trauma

Welcome to the second module! This week is all about disease in the past. How healthy were people really, and what diseases did they suffer from? We will show you how to answer these questions by studying the diseases that can be detected in human skeletal remains.

Week 3: Bones to Diet

Welcome to the third module! This week is all about diet in the past. What did people eat in the past and in what proportions? Did different groups of people eat different things, and did their diet change throughout time? This week we will show you how to answer such questions by studying the human skeleton.

Week 4: Bones to Activity

Welcome to module four! This week is all about activity. What activities did people perform in the past? How did they move about, and how much? We will be answering these questions by studying many different aspects of the skeleton, like long bones, joints, the spine, and even teeth.

Week 5: Bones to Mobility and Migration

Welcome to the last module of this course! This week is all about mobility and migration, so people moving through the landscape.