REU Site: Bioarchaeology Research on the Impacts of Colonization on Local Population Health

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This project is funded from the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Sites program in the SBE Directorate. As such, it has both scientific and societal benefits, and it integrates research and education.This eight-week international REU Site brings eight undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds to Sicily, Italy for four weeks to collect data from ancient human skeletons, and back to the United State for four weeks to work in the research laboratories at the University of Georgia. Students complete independent research projects relating to the health, activity patterns, diet, and genetic relatedness of people at the Greek colony and battlefield of Himera to better understand the biocultural consequences of culture contact in the past. Globalization is ever-increasing and often resembles colonization with its spread of ideas and people to developing nations. REU students will learn first-hand about deep roots and biological dimensions of interactions between diverse populations. Participants receive specialized field and lab training in archaeological chemistry, anatomy, research design, and data analysis. Students will leave the REU with greater technical and analytical skills, better preparedness for graduate study and professional careers, and heightened awareness of global issues relating to population contact, inequality, human conflict, and health transitions. These skills are foundational for improving global citizenship and stewardship in any career.To promote scientific literacy and global engagement among undergraduates, this three-year REU Site integrates students as junior partners of the Bioarchaeology of Mediterranean Colonies Project, a cross-disciplinary, international research program that has brought undergraduate students to the Mediterranean for the past three summers. REU students generate new anthropological knowledge related to human adaptation and the impacts of culture contact in the ancient Mediterranean. Student projects focus on the more than 12,000 skeletons unearthed at Himera, which in the 7-5th centuries B.C. was the site of Greek colonizing efforts and violent battles. Himera represents an early epicenter of rising ethnic inequality. REU students plan and execute independent research projects exploring biocultural impacts of culture contact in Greek Sicily, including changes in diet, activity patterns, health, mobility, and genetic admixture, using stable isotope biogeochemistry, molecular anthropology, osteology, paleopathology and statistical analysis. Students collect bioarchaeological data from human skeletons at Sicily for four weeks, and spend the remaining four weeks at the University of Georgia (UGA) apprenticed in the UGA Bioarchaeology and Biochemistry Laboratory, analyzing field specimens. REU students participate in focused workshops and seminars, and work with dedicated mentors, receiving hands-on training for research projects. Through these activities, students (1) learn archaeological and anthropological field and lab methods, (2) learn from both American and Italian scholars, (3) visit museums and archaeological sites on Sicily, (4) design, execute, and present independent research projects that make substantive contributions to anthropology, (5) live in the city of Palermo, Italy where they will interact with Italian students and citizens, and (6) remain in close contact with faculty mentors for a full academic year to publish their results and present at international conferences. Two PhD student affiliates will gain mentorship training. REU students will leave better prepared to pursue and succeed in graduate school, excel in STEM careers, and be more globally engaged citizens.