Paleopathology: The Love Of My Graduate Life
Dear Readers,
Well it has been quite a while since my last post. Since then, we have covered quite a bit more units in my all-time favorite class: Interpreting the Human Skeleton. In this class we learn how to evaluate skeletons for a biological profile (sex, “race”/ancestry, stature, age, possible behavioral markers, etc.). Recently we came to the section of Paleopathology. HYPERNERD TIME: You all know from my last post that I find diseases and abnormalities of the bone the coolest thing EVER, right? Right! So this was basically the best week of my life.
I’m currently writing this blog from our NYU Osteological Collections Lab. Our east wall is lined with bins and bins of skeletal material organized and separated by element. On the left are the cranial fragments and the contents of the bins move down the body to the vertebrae and ribs as we move towards center of the wall. Then we have the clavicle and scapula fragments, followed by the humerus/radial/ulnar fragments and disarticulated hands. At the center moving right, we start with pelves and move to the end with the femur/tibia/fibula fragments and finally conclude on the bottom right-hand corner with the disarticulated feet. Within these bins are the remains of individuals whose bones tell so much about who they are/were. But, to me, saying that this femur belonged to a male, of about 43 years of age, who was 5’8″, while incredible given the minimal material, only paints a picture of an average-height-middle aged-male. However, to say that this person had and extremely arthritic knee joint, evidenced by the erosion of the articular area from bone-on-bone contact… that paints a picture of a person. This man had a limp; that limp caused pain; he experienced pain; he experienced emotion. These sorts of things make it all so REAL.
I think that I have found, finally, where my plans for future (graduate) research lie. Paleopathology. How diseases show up in the bone. This is utterly fascinating to me.
At the end of this summer, I will be volunteering at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology with their osteological collections. I have never been so excited to look at bones. What I most look forward to is the opportunity to work with the remains of people who died during the Civil War. I will be able to see the results of the medicine from that era and the types of diseases that affected the people of that time. I find myself nerdily giddy with excitement (no, “nerdily” is not a word- but it’s the only thing I felt could accurately describe my feelings). I should probably find a less spastic way of conveying my excitement before I arrive for my first day….
Well- that was just a quick update for you all! I am sure there are grammar/spelling errors galore, but I will be back soon to edit 
Comments please!
I absolutely love reading your blog…it shows me the passion and excitement you have found in your academic pursuits…Keep it up…I love you so very much…Love, Dad.
So excited about your internship! Reading how thrilled you are with those neat random facts about what you love is very inspiring. And, lucky you, you can talk about it all at the dinner table, while no one wants to hear about the postmortem work I do. Can’t say that I blame them though =). We love you.
~Melissa&Rich
Cool!
Nice post.
Great Blog! I am an undergraduate anthro major n am looking at the program you are in now, keep up the good work! Hopefully i will be where you are soon!!
I stumbled across your blog while looking up paleopath grad programs. I’m an anthro undergrad in California and think it’s great to find someone who is as fascinated with human remains. I love bones! How they tell a story and let you see how that person lived. It’s absolutely amazing! Good luck! you’ve probably already seen this, but just in case:
http://physanth.org/career/departmental-graduate-programs-in-physical-anthropology
-Sunny
Hi my name is Renee Beamon and I’m doing a project on paleopathology. My question to you is are you able to e-mail me back so I can ask you questions on your career. Such as what is the average salary starting out. What are the required steps to take to become a paleopathologist. And where do you does your work take place. If you can e-mail me back that would be greatly appreciated. I’m doing a project at The Yale Peabody Museum and were working on gio science. And I was lucky enough to get this career. So if you can message me back at beamonrenee@yahoo.com that would be greatly apprcieated. Thanks so much. By the way your blog has already given my a lot of in sight. So thanks so much!!