The Detroit Free Press recently featured the Michigan State University Nubian Bioarchaeology Laboratory, which houses over 400 medieval Nubian skeletons on loan from the British Museum. A team of graduate students from MSU joined the archaeological excavation in Sudan before the completion of the Merowe Dam, which flooded the region. Graduate and undergraduate researchers, interns, and volunteers have a unique experience to study human remains from a population about which little is known. Recent PhD Angela Soler was the first to write her dissertation on the collection, and ABD student Carolyn Hurst is currently managing the lab to collect data for her research, focusing on child and adolescent remains. Over a dozen undergraduates currently work in the Nubian Bioarchaeology Lab, many of whom intend to go on to graduate school. Through the research on the skeletal collection, we have a better understanding of diet, disease, and death for this medieval population.
Youtube on MichiganStateU page: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiABozKmUOw&feature=uploademail
MSU News stories: http://news.msu.edu/story/10361/&topic_id=10; http://news.msu.edu/story/10360
Detroit Free Press: http://www.freep.com/article/20120221/NEWS06/202210346/MSU-undergrads-look-for-clues-about-Nubian-society-in-old-skeletons?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE