Honors College Theses

Publication Date

2024

Major

Anthropology (B.A.)

Document Type and Release Option

Thesis (open access)

Faculty Mentor

Dr. J Matthew Compton

Abstract

Human remains have been used in teaching contexts since the mid-1600’s and this practice still continues today. After human skeletal remains have been used in teaching contexts they are sometimes sold, repurposed, or improperly disposed of. This creates the potential for these remains to end up in forensic contexts and would need to be identified as being teaching specimens. The purpose of this research project is to understand the impacts of the methods that are used to clean and prepare skeletal teaching specimens, as well as the impacts of the subsequent use and curation of the human remains. The materials for this study included 12 sets of skeletal remains from the osteological collection at Georgia Southern University that have been prepared for use as teaching aids. The data for the research project was collected through a systematic examination of the materials to assess the taphonomic effects of the preparation, use, and curation of skeletal teaching specimens. After analysis, the data was then compared to existing literature regarding the taphonomy of skeletal teaching collections. The results of this research concluded that the different methods of preparation used on the skeletal specimens resulted in different forms of taphonomic modifications but the modifications that were a result of curation and use were fairly consistent throughout the specimens due to the specimens only being used and stored at Georgia Southern University.

Thesis Summary

After human skeletal remains have been used in teaching contexts they are sometimes sold, repurposed, or improperly disposed of. This creates the potential for these remains to end up in forensic contexts and would need to be identified as being teaching specimens. The purpose of this research project is to understand the impacts of the methods that are used to clean and prepare skeletal teaching specimens, as well as the impacts of the subsequent use and curation of the human remains.

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