Samantha Blatt, Ph.D.
Anthropology Bites: Anthropology of Teeth
They are small, shiny, hopefully white, and all up in yo face! Teeth are often preserved in the archaeological record when the skeleton has withered to dust. Their shape gives us clues about ancestry, migration, and evolution. They have growth rings like tree stumps and can help us identify the age of the person they belonged to within days of birth. Teeth can even tell us what you ate as a child, gnawed on as an adult, and if your third grade spelling bee was as stressful as you remembered. And, if you don’t brush them, the plaque left behind can tell us that too and something about your favorite meals to boot. Explore the many facets of dental anthropology from evolution, dental anatomy and development, to isotopes, disease and stress responses, cultural modification, biological affinity, and correlates to human behavior.
Bones, Stones, and Genomes: Human Origins in a Nutshell
Until 17,000 years ago, we shared the earth with other human-like beings. Who were these members of our family tree? How were they different, yet similar to us? What happened to them? What remains of them in us, to this day? Attend the fossil family reunion and come face to face with your most distant relatives from anatomical, archaeological, and molecular evidence tracking human evolution from 4 million years ago to present. We will explore our origins using the most current evidence, ideas, and key players in the interpretation of human evolution and how we came to be the lone survivors of our lineage…or are we?
Who Needs an Osteologist?
Are you fascinated by bones? Are Halloween skeletons your favorite display? Have you wondered how you can put your morbid curiosities to work? Have you questioned if that was a skeleton of an alien on the cover of the Inquirer? Then there is a job for that. What do osteologists do? Learn about the various careers of osteologists, some of the mishaps that happen when osteologists are not consulted, and get tips on how you can start your own osteology collection.
Digging and Dealing in Death: Tales of a Bioarchaeologist
For a bioarchaeologist, life stories are archived even after death What can we learn about ancient people from the objects they were buried with? Did people care for their sick family members 1,000 years ago? Did everyone in prehistory live rough and die before age 30? What was for dinner in 10,000 BC? Did vampires exist? Are the shrunken heads in the basement of the museum real? Explore what is knowable about the lifestyles, health, migration, cultural practices, and diets of past peoples from the study of their skeletons. We will tour the lives of ancient peoples from the remains of the dead and crack the coldest of cold cases in prehistoric CSI.
Forensic Anthropology: As Not Seen on TV
You may have watched the shows. You may even own the T-shirts. But, how is forensic anthropology different than the adventures of all your favorite crime-fighting characters? Get a glimpse of real forensic anthropology and solved local forensic cases. Learn some magic tricks of the trade to impress your friends at lunch…like: how do you determine sex, age, and ancestry from bones?; were they stabbed before or after death?; and did I just see that anthropologist lick that rock?! Did you hear the one about the Chicago sausage king and his missing wife? What about the forensic anthropologists that helped bring Saddaam Hussein to justice or brought the MIA soldier home 50 years later? Wonder what real forensic anthropology is like? Mystery solved.
Becoming a Forensic Anthropologist
Many of our students today are true crime junkies and expert websleuthers, but unaware of the educational path to becoming a forensic anthropologist or forensic scientist. What training and expertise does a forensic anthropologist need? What skills can students acquire now or in every college class they take to lead them to a forensic science career? Get a peek into the experiences of a real forensic anthropologist and how she navigated the career path and her tips and advice about succeeding in a career like that yourself.
Cold Case Files
Learn about real cold cases in Idaho and beyond from someone involved in them. Dive into the specific careful considerations of working on cold cases, the database recourses, the twist and turns to be expected, and how citizen scientists can help. Hear about Joseph Henry Loveless , the axe-murder turned murder victim left unidentified for over 100 years. Sit back to stories regaling about mummies in the attic, shrunken heads, and coyote scat that all lead to identifying unknown remains. Learn about solving cases with bone, DNA, and forensic genetic genealogy. You never know what small clue can turn a case hot!