Bioarchaeology

Bioarchaeology at the New York State Musuem focuses on understanding the lives of past populations through the study of human skeletal remains. Standard osteological methods are used to construct individual life histories and address broader questions of human adaptation and interaction through demographic trends, patterns of dietary and disease stress, trauma, and other activity related behaviors. These methods are also used to compile documentation in compliance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act and assist law enforcement in the identification of human remains.