Part of being an academic these days involves putting yourself out there as an expert, being the face of some topic, the person who can explain the importance of an anthropological concept to students and the public. I have tried to take up this challenge with my own blog, Powered by Osteons, which I envision as a public form of the informal communication that I have all the time with my colleagues. Powered by Osteons covers topics related to archaeology, bio-anthropology, and classics. Some of my favorite recent posts include:
Anthropology as a Discipline
- Why Is Anthropology Needed?
- The Accidental Anthropologist
- Women, Anthropologists, Scientists
- Blogs as Anthropological Outreach
Discoveries and Interpretations
- From Birth to Burial: The Curious Case of Easter Eggs
- “Line on the left, one cross each”: Bioarchaeology of Crucifixion (featured at The Browser: Writing Worth Reading)
- Gay Caveman! ZOMFG!
- Men Talk about Mars, Women Talk about Venus
- Resistance and Resilience in Archaeology
- Cranial Vault Modification or Alieeeeens?
- Witches and Prostitutes in Medieval Tuscany
- A Brief History of Bioarchaeology – Part I: America, Part II: Italy (Part I featured at LongReads)
My Own Research
- Palaeopathology and Urban Decline at Imperial Gabii, Italy (AAPA 2012 poster)
- Differential Diagnosis of an Unusual Lower Leg Pathology in an Imperial Roman (PPA 2012 poster)
- Lead Poisoning in Rome – the Skeletal Evidence
- Meet the Gabines
- Bioarchaeology of Roman Seafood Consumption
- Sickle Cell Disease, Oxygen Isotopes, and Malarial Romans
- The Millet-Eaters of the Roman Empire
- Mapping Parasites in Ancient Italy
- Demography of Republican Rome
My guest blog posts have been featured at:
- Anthropologies - Biocultural Bodies and the Anatomy of Controversy (editor’s selection for Best of 2011)
- Past Horizons – The Bones of Martyrs? / The Skull with the Mona Lisa Smile / Famed Farinelli’s Flawed Frontalis / Holding Hands into Eternity / Lead Poisoning in Rome: The Skeletal Evidence / From Birth to Burial: The Curious Case of Easter Eggs
- ThenDig – Teaching Preschoolers about Anthropology
- Day of Archaeology – So you want to be a Roman bioarchaeologist…
And I’ve been interviewed for a variety of bioarchaeology-related news stories:
- Discovery News – “The Titanic Graveyard: Photos“
- LiveScience - “Scientists List 2011′s Most Fascinating Discoveries“
- Discovery News/MSNBC - “Roman-era couple held hands for 1,500 years“
- Discovery News - “Did zombies roam Medieval Ireland?“
- Discovery News – “Legendary castrato had post-menopausal disease“
- Discovery News - “Iceman’s girlfriend found“
- The Bob Rivers Show (KJR-FM Seattle) – What can be learned from Shakespeare’s bones?
- LiveScience - “Could Shakespeare’s bones tell us if he smoked pot?“
- CNN - “Scientists speak out to discredit ‘gay caveman’ media reports“
- LiveScience - “‘Gay caveman’ story overblown, archaeologists say“
