Participants enrolled in the field excavation program will assist in the recovery of human remains from beginning to end. Standard tasks include the recovery and documentation of human remains through detailed excavation, hand-drawn, plan maps, note-taking, removal, washing, and curation practices. The churches were used by their respective villages/ towns and thus represent broad demographics in terms of age and skeletal sex. We typically assign students to a dig partner and each team of two will be assigned to a gravecut. It is hard to predict what will be found but all teams will complete the excavation of one skeleton, and most teams complete two or more. Evening activities compliment project themes and learning. Rain days are still work days and will be supplemented with whatever the project needs and resources are at the point in the summer.

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This summer’s workshop is designed to conduct an exhaustive osteological survey of the adult population from our active Lost Church Medieval Cemetery Excavation. Although a basic knowledge of human anatomy and morphology is useful, this laboratory workshop session is intended for both inexperienced and advanced students. The workshop comprises daily intensive lectures on human anatomy (including determination of sex, age, stature and ancestry), biomechanics and pathology, bone quizzes, group discussions, laboratory work, bone restoration and analysis, leading to individual and group research projects and presentations in a conference setting. Daily mandatory readings will accompany the specifics each lab day.