Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
now provide a digital archive of the William M. Bass Donated Skeletal Collection, preserved
for many researchers in the future.
For access to any skeletal collection, make sure you go through the standard process of
requesting permission. E-mail the curator of the collection of interest to determine the neces-
sary protocol. There is no need to reinvent the wheel, nor should you rescan the whole collec-
tion, if the data already exist. My research had applications for forensic anthropology and I
was able to secure funding from the National Institute of Justice. Biomedical applications
abound for studies involving human skeletal collections, with the potential for collaborations
and funding from many different sources.
Academic insecurity is normal in the young researcher, so never fear. You may feel that
your lack of expertise in one area will prevent you from conducting a certain project. Anthro-
pologists notoriously work independently on projects and, as a result, have a much lower
output than researchers in the natural or other social sciences. Remember that you will never
be an expert in every subject, but you can be productive by working with peers in anthro-
pology and in other disciplines. Consider how your research question overlaps with other
disciplines and attempt to develop collaborations. Working with scientists in other fields
can make for an ideal collaboration, as everyone benefits from greater output and from diver-
sifying their skillsets.
CONCLUSION
Biological anthropologists ask questions differently than do clinicians. We place a strong
emphasis on population variation when studying the human skeleton. Our access to and
involvement with skeletal collections can be one of our great assets when collaborating
with researchers from other disciplines. Pietrusewsky (2000) claimed that for anthropology,
“the discipline's most notable contributions to science” are anthropometry (measurement
of the living) and osteometry (measurement of the skeleton). I would like to add one
more contribution, the legacy of existing skeletal collections that preserve past and contem-
porary human biological and cultural variation. If we have learned anything from Sher-
wood Washburn (1951) , we understand the importance of looking at the bigger questions
related to the continuous human variation that results from both biological and cultural
factors.
Medical imaging technology offers a variety of methods to study questions of functional
morphology. Computed tomography and biplanar radiography are two modalities for
studying the macrostructural properties of bone. The investigation of the internal structural
changes from three-dimensional CT models can test hypotheses developed from traditional
osteological analysis. The material properties of bone density can be analyzed using CT,
DEXA, or pQCT. By investigating the functional adaptation of bone using multiple
approaches, we are able to gain a more holistic perspective of the intrinsic and extrinsic
properties that affect bone. Quantifying bone size and shape to study the functional adap-
tation of the human skeleton remains a fundamental task for many anthropological
research questions pertaining to human variation and the reconstruction of contemporary
and past activity patterns as well as numerous other bioarchaeological and forensic
questions.
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