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Research
Training Program
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Highlights
from 2006
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Smithsonian
Institution
National Museum of Natural History
Research
Training Program
Events
Photo Gallery
Anthropology
Physical Collections
Bones, Mummies, and More
Mummy
Vault Tour
Friday,
2 June 2006
Dave
Hunt, deep in the basement of the Museum's
east wing, where some of the human skeletal
remains are maintained. The Smithsonian
has a variety of interesting objects in
this location, from old mannequins to
shrunken heads to mummified cats.
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Mummy
Vault Tour
Friday,
2 June 2006
It's
not just the opportunity to see and hold
objects in the Museum that provides a
memorable experience. There are also distinctive
smells. Here Erin Saupe takes a good sniff
in addition to gazing through the lid
of an iron coffin from the 1850s discovered
only recently in Washington, DC in 2006.
It contains a 13 or 14 year-old white
American boy preserved in excellent condition.
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Mummy
Vault Tour
Friday,
2 June 2006
The
body is "Soap Man," the mummified
remains of man from Philadelphia in the
1800s whose body was chemically preserved
when water turned it into a soapy substance.
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Mummy
Vault Tour
Friday,
2 June 2006
The
intricately designed coffin an Egyptian
mummy was buried in. A mummy was created
by removing internal organs, covering
the body in salt, and then wrapping it
up in linen.
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Mummy
Vault Tour
Friday,
2 June 2006
Egyptians
had been creating mummified bodies for
years, even common citizens were buried
and preserved in the hot Egyptian sands.
This
mummy died when she was about 30 years
of age but this 18th - 19th dynasty Eqyptian
mummy can still tell us much about how
she liven and how her culture cared for
their dead.
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Mummy
Vault Tour
Friday,
2 June 2006
This
Peruvian mummy is from Ancon, Peru. She
died around 1350 - 1370 A.D at the age
of about 40 and was carefully placed in
a cave with fine woven cloth still shown
here covering her legs and feet. To remember
her, during special festivals people from
her tribe would venture to her resting
place and bring her and others entombed
with her out to join the ceremonies.
Secure in her resting place at the Smithsonian,
her legacy continues as visiting groups
are provided the opportunity to meet her,
to learn about her culture and the traditions
of her people.
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Mummy
Vault Tour
Friday,
2 June 2006
Who
is gazing at whom? Looking over the shoulder
of Juan Andres Martinez and Jayme Job.
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What
the Bones Can Tell Workshop
Friday,
2 June 2006
Welcome
to another RTP summer "Train Man"
Help us learn about you, who you are,
what you died from, and how you came to
the Museum.
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What
the Bones Can Tell Workshop
Friday,
2 June 2006
The
Carolyn Rose Seminar Room served as the
venue for this summer's "What the
Bones can Tell" workshop.
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What
the Bones Can Tell Workshop
Friday,
2 June 2006
First
things first. male, or female?
Dr.
Hunt displays the differences between
male and female skeletons evident in their
pelvises. Can you tell which one is which?
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What
the Bones Can Tell Workshop
Friday,
2 June 2006
The
male pelvis is too large to allow for
a baby to squeeze through.
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What
the Bones Can Tell Workshop
Friday,
2 June 2006
The
female pelvis, in contrast, became specialized
for birth, allowing an offspring's head
to fit "comfortably" through.
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What
the Bones Can Tell Workshop
Friday,
2 June 2006
Alisa
O'Connor examines the pelvis of Train
Man and determines, correctly that "Train
Man" in male.
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What
the Bones Can Tell Workshop
Friday,
2 June 2006
To
determine the race and ethnicity of Train
Man a comparison of known skulls is used.
A few of the collection's skulls feature
additional information such as one with
a sabre wound, one with a bullet hole,
and one from a South American culture
whose head was distorted in life to emphasize
the shape of the forehead.
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What
the Bones Can Tell Workshop
Friday,
2 June 2006
After
learning what fetures to look for in the
skull to determine race and ethnicity
Dave holds up the skull of Train Man.
Another feature often distinguishable
from the skull, sex. Typically, male skulls
are larger and straighter, with larger
mastoids.
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What
the Bones Can Tell Workshop
Friday,
2 June 2006
To
help determine the sex and ethnicity of
Train Man we compare to Sylvia Moses.
The group determins that the skull of
Train man show characteristics consistent
with those of a male and probably of African
decent.
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What
the Bones Can Tell Workshop
Friday,
2 June 2006
Bones
can be surprisingly heavy when lifted.
Malcolm Collins holds two different skulls
to see if he can tell weight differences.
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What
the Bones Can Tell Workshop
Friday,
2 June 2006
A
pair of human jaw bones. The lower mandible
is from a younger person than the upper
one is from, and still has teeth which
never emerged.
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What
the Bones Can Tell Workshop
Friday,
2 June 2006
Anthropologist
uses many clues to help identify an individual,
including the cause of death. Using the
collections to compare known examples
has helped anthropologists identify markers
to separate the differences. Trama, such
as healed broken bones, and the presence
of prothesis, such as hip replacement
parts, can also play a key role in identifications.
A
few of the collection's healed cases of
bone trauma, around 100 years old and
from white Americans. They include arm
bones, femur, and tibia.
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What
the Bones Can Tell Workshop
Friday,
2 June 2006
Not
a distinguishing character of sex, age,
or race, bones have distinctive colors
based upon how they were prepared and
differences in storage techniques and
natural processes which have distorted
them over time.
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What
the Bones Can Tell Workshop
Friday,
2 June 2006
Bones
from "Train Man" show that he
was an African-American male in his late
20s who was hit by a trolley and had his
neck snapped, probably the cause of death.
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What
the Bones Can Tell Workshop
Friday,
2 June 2006
Malcolm
Collins
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What
the Bones Can Tell Workshop
Friday,
2 June 2006
Kim
Vann holds one of the cast models used
to demonstrate skull features.
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What
the Bones Can Tell Workshop
Friday,
2 June 2006
Following
the workshop students had the opportunity
to examine the materials. For many this
was the first time they had ever held
human skeletal remains or examined up
close human bones.
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What
the Bones Can Tell Workshop
Friday,
2 June 2006
Remains
from a bear foot bone and paw. The collections
include comparative materials from non-human
cases as well. Approximately 40% of the
reported forensics cases turn out be non-human.
Bear feet are often mistaken for human
and each year the Museum records about
gets about one bear foot case.
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What
the Bones Can Tell Workshop
Friday,
2 June 2006
Remains
from a burn case. Usually, only fragementary
bone remains from fires, but even with
such little material, in the hands of
a trained anthropoologist, the remains
can usually be identified, including the
cause of death.
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What
the Bones Can Tell Workshop
Friday,
2 June 2006
Thank
you "Train Man" for helping
another RTP group learn about what the
bones can tell! Rest well. See you next
summer!
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