Study the human skeleton at Ludlow Museum and Resource Centre

Would you like to find out how healthy our ancestors were?

A new lecture series starts in Ludlow at the Museum Resource Centre on the subject of palaeopathology, the study of human skeletons.

Participants will learn about the bones themselves; how to age and sex the skeleton; about occupation, injuries and diseases; what we can tell about where they lived and what they ate; and about facial reconstruction.

The six-week course starts with a detailed look at the bones of the skeleton, and is followed in week two by a look at age, sex and measurements.  Week three studies bone disease, and week four concentrates on traces of injury and occupation that can be discovered by close examination of the skeleton.  The final two weeks cover the hints of life styles that may be analysed from skeletal evidence; and finally diet, location of childhood home and ancestry.

This is a rare opportunity to study an absorbing subject with an expert in her field.  Tutor Stephanie Bellows is a trained osteoarchaeologist with an MA in physical anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania.  She has analysed human and animal bones from archaeological sites in the USA and Britain.

The course begins on Friday 15 February 2013 at10am– 12pm, and takes place every Friday morning for the following six weeks.  The cost of the course is £52.

If you would like further details or to book a place, please phone Ludlow Museum Resource Centre on 01584 813665 or email: llmrc@shropshire.gov.uk.