Archaeology, Bioarchaeology, and Biological Anthropology

Arch siteArchaeology is the systematic study of the human past through material remains. Archaeologists examine diverse remnants of human actions through excavation, recovery, and material analyses. Cultural systems through time and space are reconstructed by examining ancient social, political, religious, and economic systems through both a regional and comparative perspective. As such, archaeologists rely on a plethora of methods and techniques avenues including specific artifact analyses (bones, ceramics, lithics, paleobotany) as well as geographic information systems (GIS).    

Biological anthropology is the study of humans and non-human primates from an evolutionary and biocultural perspective. It is the most humanistic of scientific disciplines due to the complex cultural organization, institutions, and symbolism associated with human populations, yet the most biologically oriented humanistic discipline due to the unifying emphasis on evolutionary theory. Biological anthropologists study diverse subject matter including the behavior and biology of non-human primates, the evolution of human populations based on fossil and genetic data, and the health, well-being, and resiliency of contemporary human populations.

Teeth

Bioarchaeology is a unique discipline that focuses on the study of human skeletal remains within their archaeological and mortuary contexts. It, therefore, emphasizes approaches from biological anthropology and archaeology, and derives theoretical guidance from both cultural anthropology and evolutionary biology. Bioarchaeologists use the methods of skeletal biology, mortuary archaeology, and the archaeological record to answer questions about the lives and lifestyles of past populations.

Archaeological and bioarchaeological research at George Mason University includes questions associated with mortuary ritual and behavior, social organization, social identities, urbanism, stress and life history, human interactions with animals, animals as ritual products, violence and warfare, developmental stress, evolutionary morphology, paleopathology, and ancient foodways. Regional foci include Andean South America, Northeast Asia, Mesoamerica, and North America. We cover both hunter-gatherer and complex social groups.

The undergraduate program (BA: Anthropology) at George Mason University allows students the opportunity to complete coursework in biological anthropology, archaeology, and cultural anthropology as well as specialized classes in bioarchaeology. This holistic background in anthropology will allow students to complete the necessary undergraduate requirements for concentration in archaeology or bioarchaeology as graduate students. At present, undergraduate concentrations in areas such as GIS, paleontology, and biology, are also underway. Please contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies for more information.

Dr. Haagen Klaus with students.

The graduate program (MA: Anthropology) at George Mason University provides students with the opportunity to complete a series of courses in biological anthropology, archaeology, and cultural anthropology while specializing in bioarchaeological research. Faculty offer courses in areas of specialization that include Andean Prehistory, Bioarchaeology, Dental Anthropology, Evolutionary Theory, Humans and Animals, Human Growth and Development, Human Origins, Mortuary Archaeology, Violence and Sacrifice, and Zooarchaeology. All students are required to complete an MA thesis, and the goal of the program is to prepare students for matriculation to highly competitive Ph.D. programs. Please contact our core faculty for more information on our MA program.

CORE FACULTY AT GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY

Jamie L. Clark: Paleolithic archaeology, human-environmental interaction, hunter-gatherer lifeways, zooarchaeology

Haagen Klaus: bone biology, paleopathology, ritual violence, ethnogenesis, mortuary archaeology; complex societies of Andean South America

Rick W.A. Smith: Genomics; epigenomics; ancient DNA; power and social inequality; settler colonialism; ancient urbanism and imperialism; feminist, queer, and indigenous Science studies, American South, Texas, Mesoamerica, the Andes

Daniel H. Temple: developmental stress, life history, hunter-gatherer mortuary ritual, evolutionary morphology, Northeast Asia, North America

RESOURCE FACULTY

George Mason University

Jacquelyn Williamson: Ancient Egyptian art, archaeology, and language, gender and religious hierarchies

National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

Christopher Dudar: biocultural approaches, paleopathology, repatriation, human osteology

Briana Pobiner: zooarchaeology, taphonomy, Early Stone Age, Africa, museum education

Torben Rick: historical ecology, conservation biology and archaeology, North America

Sabrina Sholts: 3D-imaging, bone chemistry, environmental health

Douglas Ubelaker: bioarchaeology, forensic anthropology

Museum Conservation Institute, Smithsonian Institution

Christine France: Stable isotopes, archaeology, paleontology, bones, teeth, provenance, demographics