UNIVERSITY OF GUAM

                                                            COURSE OUTLINE

 

 

Course Number: AN360           College (or sponsoring Unit): CAS

Course Title:  HUMAN OSTEOLOGY                 Credit Hours:  4

 

Date of Final Approval: ___________

Semester Offered: Fall/Odd years

 

Course counts as: _____  general education requirement

                  _____  part of an Anthropology program major

                  _____  elective

 

1.         CATALOG DESCRIPTION:  This laboratory course covers the functional anatomy of the human skeleton, and introduces students to selected methods and techniques used in the anthropological and forensic analysis of human skeletal remains.  The first two thirds of the course is dedicated to coverage of basic bone biology and the normal anatomy of the skeleton and dentition.  During the latter third of the course, students are introduced to the methods used by physical anthropologists to address the following questions: (1) Who was there, and what did they look like?; (2) From where did they come, and with whom are they most closely related?; (3) What can be said about how they lived and died?  This course fosters and utilizes interdisciplinary knowledge related to the analysis of human skeletal remains. 

 

2.         COURSE CONTENT:  Lectures/Labs will cover:

a.         Introduction to the course and the Teaching Lab

b.         Introduction to the human skeleton: anatomical terminology, gross macroscopic anatomy of bone, syndesmology, muscle action, and functional interpretation of "markings" on bone

c.         Bone biology: bone function, chemical composition, microanatomy, growth and development, remodeling and plasticity

d.         The thoracic cage and vertebral column

e.         The upper limb and shoulder girdle

f.          The lower limb and pelvic girdle

g.         The skull

h.         The dentition

i.          Introduction to the anthropological analysis of the human skeleton: A survey of standard and newer methods of research inquiry

j.          Estimating age at death and sex from skeletal remains

k.         Odontology: the systematic description and analysis of dental variation

l.          Craniology:  the systematic description and analysis of craniometric and cranioscopic variation

m.                Introduction to paleopathology, the study of disease in ancient populations

n.                  Selected topics on the human osteology of ancient Mariana Islanders

 

3.         RATIONALE FOR THE COURSE:  Human Osteology is a  foundation course for students of biological anthropology, as much of our knowledge about human origins and diversity is based upon detailed studies of skeletal and dental remains.  This course is also useful to Anthropology students specializing in archaeology, as well as students in allied disciplines, such as biology and the health sciences.  Successful course graduates will be well positioned to secure employment with archaeological research and service firms and government agencies charged with historical and cultural preservation, throughout Guam and Micronesia.

 

4.         SKILLS AND BACKGROUND REQUIRED OR EXPECTED: Students must successfully complete AN101 and AN222 before taking AN360, or obtain the consent of the Instructor.

 

5.         TEACHING METHODOLOGIES AND ANTICIPATED CLASS SIZE: A typical class session is a combined lecture/demonstration, in which slides, overhead projections, teaching specimens and models are used.  These sessions precede supervised laboratory sessions, during which teams of students are mentored in skeletal identification and data production.  Owing to presently limited resources in the Anthropology Teaching Lab, enrollment must be restricted to 12 students.

 

6.         ADDITIONAL COURSE DESCRIPTORS:  Students must be prepared to spend up to 3 hours/week in "open lab" sessions, completing their lab assignments and preparing for practical "bell-ringer" identification quizzes.

 

7.                  LEARNING OBJECTIVES FOR STUDENTS:  Learning objectives include mastery of an intermediate-level knowledge of human skeletal and dental anatomy, and an introductory-level understanding of how physical anthropologists utilize data on same to address questions on the individual and population histories of past populations. 

 

Given the above objectives, the following General Education Outcomes are achieved:  Students are required (1) to be able to observe, clarify, organize, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate individually and in a group; (2) to be able to make informed judgments about the past; (3) to be able to observe and interpret natural phenomena in accordance with appropriate methodology; and (4) to be able to use basic concepts of health and wellness. 

 

8.         METHODS OF EVALUATION:  Methods of evaluation consist of, but are not restricted to, class participation, performance on identification quizzes, an essay examination, and a major project report. 

 

9.         REQUIRED AND RECOMMENDED TEXTS AND/OR STUDY GUIDES:

 

Required: 

 

(1)               Gary M. Heathcote, HUMAN OSTEOLOGY LABORATORY

MANUAL (Mangilao: Anthropology Resource & Research Center, University of Guam, 1998)

 

(2) Tim D. White, HUMAN OSTEOLOGY (San Diego: Academic     Press, Inc., 1991)

 

Recommended:

 

(1)               R.M.H. McMinn and R.T. Hutchings  COLOR ATLAS OF HUMAN ANATOMY, 2ND edition.  (Chicago: Year Book Medical Publishers, Inc., 1988)

 

(2)               S.R. Saunders and M.A. Katzenberg (eds.)  SKELETAL BIOLOGY OF PAST PEOPLES: RESEARCH METHODS. (New York: Wiley-Liss, 1992)

 

 

10.       SUBSEQUENT COURSES:  AN394 (Special Project: Applied Human Osteology); AN310 Physical Anthropology of Pacific Populations); PE322 (Kinesiology), BI333 (Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy); and AN450 (Biomedical Anthropology).

 

THE CALENDAR OF ASSIGNMENTS, ATTENDANCE AND GRADING POLICIES ARE TO BE INCLUDED IN THE COURSE SYLLABUS.