Anthropology 156A – Human Osteology
Instructor: Tim Weaver (tdweaver@ucdavis.edu)
Office: 204 Young Hall
Office Hours: TR 4:00-5:00 p.m. & by appt.
UC Davis, Fall 2012
Class: 210 Young Hall, TR 1:10-4:00 p.m.
TA: Peter Stamos (pastamos@ucdavis.edu)
Class Overview
This class is an introduction to the study of human skeletal remains, or human osteology.
Knowledge of human osteology is important for many disciplines, such as medicine, forensics,
archaeology, and paleoanthropology. In this class, you will learn about basic bone
nomenclature, biology, anatomy, and development, with an emphasis on hands-on study and
identification of human skeletal material. The skills you will develop are the basis for further
analyses of the human skeleton.
Your Responsibilities
1. You are expected to attend class. The class will be a mix of lectures to convey new
information and lab time for learning the material presented in lecture. Due to the hands-on
nature of the subject, it will be almost impossible to do well without attending class.
2. You are expected to do the assigned readings before class. Familiarity with the material
in the readings will allow you to better follow the lectures and to be prepared for lab.
Required Textbook: The Human Bone Manual by Tim D. White and Pieter A. Folkens (2005.
Burlington: Elsevier Academic Press).
3. You are expected to check the class website regularly. Announcements, handouts, and
lecture slides will be posted on the class website. You can access the website at http://
smartsite.ucdavis.edu. If you are enrolled in the class, you should be able to see the website
after logging in with your UC Davis Login ID and passphrase.
4. You are expected to abide by the Code of Academic Conduct. This set of policies (http://
sja.ucdavis.edu/cac.html) forbids cheating, plagiarism, and other forms of academic dishonesty.
5. You are expected to follow three basic rules while in the classroom. First, remember
that the bones and teeth you will handle belonged to real people, so always treat them with
respect. Second, be very careful when handling specimens; some of them are quite fragile. We
are aware that even with utmost care, accidents can happen. If you damage a specimen, report
the damage immediately to the instructor or the TA so that it can be fixed with some glue. Third,
never take any bones out of the laboratory without permission of the instructor.
Grading
Your final grade will be the average of 9 weekly quizzes (worth about 11% each). The final
exam on Wednesday, 12 December from 6:00-6:30 p.m. will simply be the 9th quiz. Quizzes
will be held at the beginning of class on Tuesdays (starting with the 3rd week of class) with two
exceptions: Quiz #8 will be on Thursday (29 November) instead of Tuesday, and there will
NOT be a quiz in the 11th week of class.
Each quiz will consist of 26 stations with either practical (identification) questions based on a
bone or set of bones or, at a only few stations, short answer questions. The quizzes will be
timed, with one minute per station. Because of the precise timing of the quizzes, students who
arrive late to class on quiz days will not be allowed to take the quiz.
Schedule of Lectures and Readings
Week Date
Topic
Reading
1
27 September
Introduction, Anatomical Terms, Bone Biology
Ch. 1, 4, 6
2
2 October
4 October
Vertebral Column
Thorax
Ch. 9
Ch. 10
3
9 October
11 October
Quiz #1, Shoulder Girdle, Arm Day #1
Arm Day #2
Ch. 11, 12
Ch. 12
4
16 October
18 October
Quiz #2, Wrist, Hand, Fingers Day #1
Wrist, Hand, Fingers Day #2
Ch. 13
Ch. 13
5
23 October
25 October
Quiz #3, Pelvic Girdle Day #1
Pelvic Girdle Day #2
Ch. 14
Ch. 14
6
30 October
1 November
Quiz #4, Leg Day #1
Leg Day #2
Ch. 15
Ch. 15
7
6 November
8 November
Quiz #5, Ankle, Foot, Toes Day #1
Ankle, Foot, Toes Day #2
Ch. 16
Ch. 16
8
13 November
15 November
Quiz #6, Dentition Day #1
Dentition Day #2
Ch. 8
Ch. 8
9
20 November
Quiz #7, Skull as a Unit Day #1
Ch. 7
10
27 November
29 November
Skull as a Unit Day #2
Quiz #8, Skull Bones Day #1
Ch. 7
Ch. 7
11
4 December
6 December
Skull Bones Day #2
Skull Bones Day #3, Human/Non-Human
Ch. 7
Ch. 7, pp. 155-156
12 December
6:00-6:30 p.m.
Quiz #9