Introduction to Human Osteology | 4-Day Short Course | VIFM

The course will provide participants with a comprehensive understanding of human skeletal and dental anatomy and give participants the opportunity to learn how to identify and side skeletal elements (including major anatomical landmarks) and classify dental remains. Participants will also be introduced to the osteological principles of differentiating human from non-human bone, identifying juvenile remains, identifying fragmentary remains and creating a biological profile (i.e., estimating age, sex, ancestry and stature).

This course is beneficial for archaeologists, museum curators and heritage officers who may work with skeletal remains; students who are interested in pursuing studies/careers in biological archaeology or forensic anthropology, and medical professionals (i.e., forensic pathologists) who are required to undertake anthropological examinations of skeletal remains.

No prior knowledge of human osteology is required for this course. Lectures will be delivered by discipline specific experts from the VIFM and external organisations

Course Objectives

At the end of the course participants will be able to:

• understand the basic principles of bone biology and skeletal growth

• understand the basic principles of human variation

• identify the major anatomical landmarks and key features of each bone

• side each bone in the human body

• distinguish human bones from some of the most common animal bones

• identify the main bone features that are used to provide a biological profile (sex, age, ancestry and stature).

What They Said: feedback from past attendees

"This has been amazing and surpassed all of my expectations, thank you so much!"

"The course has been very educational. Sam has been an amazing teacher. Practical sessions were invaluable. Thank you!"

"Incredibly informative and enjoyable course. It was great to have hands on interaction."

"Absolutely fantastic to get to handle real human specimens [from VIFM's reference collection] - there's no subsitute. The lectures were all engaging and to the point - I didn't feel bogged down with irrelevant info."

"I feel that I should have done this long ago!"

"I'd give it 11 out of 10 if I could. This course was so much more informative and engaging than I was expecting."

Info: 09:00 - 09:15 Welcome & introductions
09:15 - 09:45 Setting the scene
09:45 - 10:30 Bone biology
10:30 - 11:00 Morning tea
11:00 - 11:30 Anatomical terminology
11:30 - 13:00 Skull
13:00 - 14:00 Lunch
14:00 - 14:45 Dentition
14:45 - 15:45 Practical 1 - skull and dentition
15:45 - 16:15 Afternoon tea
16:15 - 17:00 Vertebrae

Info: 09:00 - 09:45 Ribs & sternum
09:45 - 10:45 Practical 2 - vertebrae and ribs
10:45 - 11:00 Morning tea
11:00 - 11:30 Shoulder girdle & arm
11:30 - 12:15 Forearm & hand
12:15 - 13:15 Practical 3 - upper extremity
13:15 - 14:00 Lunch
14:00 - 14:30 Pelvic girdle
14:30 - 15:00 Leg
15:00 - 15:30 Foot
15:30 - 16:00 Afternoon tea
16:00 - 17:00 Practical 4 - lower extremity

Info: 09:00 - 09:45 Sex Estimation
09:45 - 10:30 Practical 5 - sex estimation
10:30 - 11:00 Morning tea
11:00 - 11:45 Age-at-death estimation
11:45 - 12:30 Practical 6 - age-at-death estimation
12:30 - 13:15 Lunch
13:15 - 14:00 Ancestry estimation
14:00 - 14:45 Practical 7 - ancestry estimation
14:45 - 15:15 Afternoon tea
15:15 - 16:00 Stature estimation
16:00 - 17:00 Practical 8 - stature estimation

Info: 09:00 - 10:00 Differentiating human from non-human
10:00 - 10:30 Documentation I: recording forms
10:30 - 11:00 Morning tea
11:00 - 11:30 Documentation II: photography
11:30 - 12:30 Juvenile osteology
12:30 - 13:30 Practical 9 - complete osteological analysis
13:30 - 14:30 Lunch
14:30 - 15:15 Identification of bone fragments
15:15 - 16:15 Practical 10 - fragments
16:15 - 16:30 Summary and course conclusion

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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Host or Publisher The Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine