What classes to take for bioarchaeology major?

[wanderingbird]

Hello, I'm a undergrad student and I'm still debating on whether to major in archaeology or bioarchaeology. I was wondering if anyone had suggestions on what classes to take for bioarchaeology other than anthropology classes.  And what to expect if I want to major in bioarchaeology.  

[GradSchoolTruther]

I'd take the classes that are required for bioarchaeology, if you want to major in it, which should be listed in your college catalog.

[bioarch_fan]

It all truly depends on your interests in bioarchaeology. If you're mostly interested in what can be seen with the eyes then you'd be fine with just any osteology class offered in your anthropology department and maybe anatomy from a biology department. If you're interested in more in depth analysis of diet, migration, more health that isn't evident directly on the bone, etc. then I would suggest also looking at chemistry or something of the sort. It's also helpful to have a lower level genetics course, but that's not exactly necessary either.

If you want to talk more I can try and help you out as much as I can. Just PM me sometime.

[Bschaefer]

16 hours ago, bioarch_fan said:

It all truly depends on your interests in bioarchaeology. If you're mostly interested in what can be seen with the eyes then you'd be fine with just any osteology class offered in your anthropology department and maybe anatomy from a biology department. If you're interested in more in depth analysis of diet, migration, more health that isn't evident directly on the bone, etc. then I would suggest also looking at chemistry or something of the sort. It's also helpful to have a lower level genetics course, but that's not exactly necessary either.

If you want to talk more I can try and help you out as much as I can. Just PM me sometime.

While I agree, I think that taking an Osteology course and if offered a Bioarchaeology methods/theory course too. Other courses I would recommend would be Palaeopathology, Human Evolution, and an archaeology that primarily deals with the Environment (I took Archaeology of Sustainable Culture and Biological Impacts on Civilisation).  Most of the science you will learn in your Anth courses will suffice and from there you can decide whether taking more upper levels in Bio and Chem are the right choice, as @bioarch_fan has suggested. With that in mind, I other than Anth courses, I would suggest Anatomy and Physiology I and II if you can. I took both Orgo and Inorganic Chem in undergrad and thought that it was enough. Now I prep bone and teeth samples for Stable isotopes (light) and in the future (heavy) once the clean 1000 labs are up and running near by. Having minimal chem in no way makes me think that I am at a disadvantage or anything like that, plus there are ample articles that you can read about it. 

My final note is that, like what @bioarch_fan had said, it really depends on what aspect of bioarchaeology you are interested in. If you go to the Physanth meetings in Atlanta this year, sit through the bioarch meetings and see which ones are the most exciting to you. That's how my current adviser picked her area. 

[Caymay]

6 hours ago, Bschaefer said:

While I agree, I think that taking an Osteology course and if offered a Bioarchaeology methods/theory course too. Other courses I would recommend would be Palaeopathology, Human Evolution, and an archaeology that primarily deals with the Environment (I took Archaeology of Sustainable Culture and Biological Impacts on Civilisation).  Most of the science you will learn in your Anth courses will suffice and from there you can decide whether taking more upper levels in Bio and Chem are the right choice, as @bioarch_fan has suggested. With that in mind, I other than Anth courses, I would suggest Anatomy and Physiology I and II if you can. I took both Orgo and Inorganic Chem in undergrad and thought that it was enough. Now I prep bone and teeth samples for Stable isotopes (light) and in the future (heavy) once the clean 1000 labs are up and running near by. Having minimal chem in no way makes me think that I am at a disadvantage or anything like that, plus there are ample articles that you can read about it. 

My final note is that, like what @bioarch_fan had said, it really depends on what aspect of bioarchaeology you are interested in. If you go to the Physanth meetings in Atlanta this year, sit through the bioarch meetings and see which ones are the most exciting to you. That's how my current adviser picked her area. 

 I would also recommend a zoology course or a zooarchaeology course on top of what @Bschaefer suggested!