Whilst studying Environmental Archaeology and Human Osteology as part of their Archaeology degree, students will be taught in the purpose-built Archaeology Laboratory, which includes facilities for low and high power microscopy, analysis of lake sediments, peat, and plant remains, as well as teaching and demonstration space.
In the below video, Dr Barry Taylor, Senior Lecturer in Archaeology at the University, talks about how the Archaeology Laboratory is used by students, and also shares some archaeological finds.
Environmental Archaeology seeks to understand how past human societies adapted to and engaged with their environments and how they responded to periods of environmental and climatic change. Students will learn how to reconstruct past environments using a range of scientific techniques through a combination of lectures, fieldwork and laboratory analysis. They will also study the archaeological evidence for how past human societies adapted to and engaged with their environments and how they responded to periods of environmental and climatic change
Photo: Students recording 11,000 year old lake sediments in North Yorkshire.
Human osteology is the study of human remains and what they can tell us about the lives of people in the past, such as the health of past populations, the diseases and injuries people suffered from and what medical treatment was available to them. In practical sessions students learn to identify the bones of the skeleton, age and sex of individuals and to identify evidence of disease and trauma - find out more in the video below.