Bio/Archaeological Techniques and Research Center
BIOARCH CANADA
About the Course
Location: Odorheiu Secuiesc, Harghita County, Transylvania, Romania
Dates: July 5 - July 31, 2026
Housing: housed in a beautifully renovated hotel, 2-3 participants per room, with private bathrooms.
Meals: breakfast and dinner is served Mon-Fri at the hotel; traditional Romanian and Szekler cuisine; we can accommodate vegetarian diets. However, we are NOT able to offer a vegan or gluten-free meal option.
Cost: US$ 2945 (4 weeks mandatory) - fees do not include tuition
Fee includes: registration and lab fees, lectures, access to study collections, laboratory gear, housing and meals as described above.
Academic Credit (optional): 3 or 6 undergraduate (graduate - if applicable) credits can be earned through University of South Florida - additional USF tuition fees apply. See USF Program Brochure for more information. USF procedures and deadlines apply. Contact Dr. Jonathan Bethard at USF for more details.
Medieval Crisis Populations - Victims of Change
Recent contributions to bioarchaeological scholarship have devoted considerable treatment to the analysis
of children’s skeletons from both archaeological and contemporary (i.e., forensic) contexts. The aim of this
workshop is to provide participants with an intensive review of juvenile osteology and an overview of the ways in
which this kind of unique information is interpreted by bioarchaeologists. During the workshop, participants will
have the chance to study the growth and development of the human skeleton across various juvenile age cohorts.
Most importantly, participants will have the opportunity to gain experience with the analysis of juvenile skeletal
remains.
In addition to intensive hands-on laboratory instruction and research, participants will also contribute to
numerous seminar discussions and hear lectures on topics related to the bioarchaeology of children. Topical areas
to be included involve the following: an overview of the bioarchaeology of children, growth and development,
weaning and dietary stress, juvenile trauma and pathology, as well as reconstruction and interpretation of infant
mortality. Moreover, seminars and lectures will introduce how novel technological applications (i.e., histology,
CT imaging) have been utilized by bioarchaeologists who study juvenile remains.
The exceptionally well preserved skeletal remains that will be investigated during this workshop are
excavated from five archaeological sites located in the heart of Transylvania. The juvenile remains that we will
study are housed at the Haaz Rezso Museum in Odorheiu Secuiesc, Harghita County. Odorheiu is a very beautiful
and lively Szekely city, with a plethora of cultural, gastronomical and social venues. Historical trips to places such
as Sighisoara (Dracula's birthplace and an UNESCO heritage site) or Brasov and nearby Bran Castle, and nature
hikes through dramatic landscapes of the Eastern Carpathians with all their thermal, mineral and volcanic springs
are just a bus or train ride away.
Previous osteological experience is required. To this end, we strongly encourage our participants to attend
our Adult Osteology Workshop (or equivalent). The goals of this project are twofold. First, we are interested in investigating the above phenomenon, i.e. local expression of the crisis that was redefining from its foundations European identity, and establish the role children played in this transition. Second, considering the remarkable state of preservation of the remains and their abundance, we will be testing various 2D and 3D methods, both metric and non-metric, in order -potentially - to validate, improve and/or refine sexing (notoriously difficult for these age cohorts) and aging techniques on complete as well as fragmentary skeletons.