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

该项目由SBE理事会的本科生研究经验(REU)站点计划资助。因此，它兼具科学和社会效益，并将研究和教育融为一体。这个为期八周的国际REU网站将8名来自不同背景的本科生带到意大利西西里，为期四周收集古代人类骨骼的数据，然后返回美国，在佐治亚大学的研究实验室工作四周。学生完成与希腊殖民地和希梅拉战场上的人们的健康、活动模式、饮食和遗传相关的独立研究项目，以更好地了解过去文化接触的生物文化后果。全球化在不断增加，往往类似于殖民主义，它将思想和人员传播到发展中国家。REU的学生将第一手了解不同种群之间相互作用的深层根源和生物学层面。参与者接受考古化学、解剖学、研究设计和数据分析方面的专门实地和实验室培训。学生将拥有更好的技术和分析技能，为研究生学习和职业生涯做好更好的准备，并提高对与人口接触、不平等、人类冲突和健康过渡有关的全球问题的认识。这些技能是在任何职业中提高全球公民身份和管理能力的基础。为了促进本科生的科学素养和全球参与，这个为期三年的REU网站将学生作为地中海殖民地生物考古项目的初级合作伙伴，该项目是一个跨学科的国际研究项目，在过去的三个夏天里把本科生带到了地中海。REU的学生产生了与人类适应和古代地中海文化接触的影响有关的新的人类学知识。学生项目的重点是在希梅拉出土的12000多具骨架，在公元前7-5世纪，希梅拉是希腊殖民努力和暴力战斗的所在地。希梅拉代表了种族不平等加剧的早期震中。REU学生计划和执行独立的研究项目，探索希腊西西里岛文化接触的生物文化影响，包括饮食、活动模式、健康、流动性和遗传混合的变化，使用稳定同位素生物地球化学、分子人类学、骨学、古病理学和统计分析。学生们在西西里收集人类骨骼的生物考古数据，为期四周，剩下的四周在佐治亚大学(UGA)的生物考古和生化实验室当学徒，分析野外标本。REU的学生参加有重点的工作坊和研讨会，并与专职导师一起工作，接受研究项目的实践培训。通过这些活动，学生们(1)学习考古学和人类学的实地和实验室方法，(2)向美国和意大利学者学习，(3)参观西西里的博物馆和考古遗址，(4)设计、执行和展示对人类学有实质性贡献的独立研究项目，(5)居住在意大利巴勒莫市，在那里他们将与意大利学生和公民互动，(6)整个学年都与教师导师保持密切联系，以公布他们的结果并在国际会议上发言。两个博士生分支机构将接受导师培训。REU的学生将为攻读研究生并取得成功做好更好的准备，在STEM职业生涯中脱颖而出，成为更多参与全球事务的公民。

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.