Temaomtale ARK125

Bioarchaeology

This archaeology course is taught in collaboration between AHKR and the Natural History Department at the University of Bergen’s Museum and predominantly takes place at the museum’s lecture and laboratory facilities in the Natural Sciences Building (Realfagbygget). A primary goal is to expose students to activity-based training and for them to gain an understanding of how bioarchaeological remains can profoundly increase our understanding of how humans lived in the past.

The course lectures and workshops introduce and expose students primarily to the fields of Zooarchaeology and Archaeobotany / Palynology; with special emphasis placed on student-active learning in the classroom and the lab. Students will have guided access to the university’s zoology and paleoecology laboratories including comparative collections to help with animal bone anatomy and plant macrofossil identification.

In 2026, in addition to its traditional focus on analyzing archaeological mammals, birds, and fish bones, the course offers an introduction to human skeletal remains from archaeological contexts. It also features relevant biomolecular methods, such as for example Palaeoproteomics (ZooMS).

Students not only gain analytical skills during hands-on lab workshops but also develop a better understanding of crucial role the university museum has played in the organization and curation of bioarchaeological collections. The lectures provide the underlying biological and archaeological context and feature current research projects to round out the course’s wholistic introduction to Bioarchaeology.

To reinforce their newly acquired knowledge and analytical skills, students will develop a term paper in form of an individually chosen project based on relevant research literature.