Kevin Callahan's Lab Notebook Fall 1997

(c) 1997 Kevin L. Callahan

Lab 1 Notes Fall 1997
Lab 2 Notes Fall 1997
Lab 3 Notes Fall 1997
Lab 4 Notes Fall 1997
Lab 5 Notes Fall 1997
Lab 6 Notes Fall 1997
Lab 7 Notes Fall 1997
Lab 8 Notes Fall 1997
Lab 9 Notes Fall 1997
Lab 10 Notes Fall 1997

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Anthropology 1101 Human Origins
Lab II Notes: The Human Skeleton
Introduction
Morphology (or form and structure) of a skeleton can give us much information 
about an individual’s life.
Positional repertoire (how it moves and holds its body, whether resting or 
moving) can be determined along with,
Diet ,Social Behavior, Height, health, sex, how much labor it did, age at 
death, and sometimes what killed it
Lab II Goals
Put together a human skeleton
Learn the names of the bones and teeth for next week’s quiz. Spelling will 
count.
Learn how to measure bones
Learn how diseases like arthritis, syphilis, malnutrition show up on bones, 
how diet effects bone growth, and how trauma like healed fractures appear on 
bones.
Learn the basic terminology.
Lab II Goals
Learn how to measure cranial capacity and height.
Apply and test height formulas to reconstruct height from a long bone.
Q: What does it mean to be "human"? (what are our distinctive characteristics)
A: ?
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE "HUMAN?"
BIGGER BRAIN? 
SMALL FACE, TEETH, JAW
HIGH EYES, COLOR BINOC.VISION?
GRASPING HANDS? OPPOSABLE THUMBS? TOOLS?
HABITUALLY BIPEDAL?
CULTURE?
LANGUAGE?
HABITUAL BIPEDALISM
WALKING (OR RUNNING) ON TWO LEGS - ALL OF THE TIME.
HOMINIDS  WALK ON TWO LEGS (AND SOME BIRDS, ALTHOUGH BIRDS ARE NOT PRIMATES).
EVOLUTIONARY ADAPTIONS TO BIPEDALISM
FORAMEN MAGNUM - CENTERED
VERTEBRAL CURVE 
FLAT RIB CAGE
SCAPULA IN BACK
PELVIS SHAPE
LOCKING KNEE
FEMUR ANGLE
FEET: SPRINGY ARCHES, THICK ANKLES, IN-LINE BIG TOE
Advantages of Bipedalism
Hands are free to carry and manipulate objects.
The eyes are higher and the hands can reach higher.
The brain and body stays cooler in the daytime.
Humans can walk long distances & time.
Disadvantages of bipedalism
Childbirth is more difficult.
Low back and spinal problems.
Slower than many quadrupeds at sprinting.
Know Your Bones!
Cortical Bone = The hard outer bone
Cancellous or spongy bone = found in the interior of the bone. Absorbs shock.
Joints = where bones meet. Some joints don’t move. Some do.
Ligaments =  bone to bone attachments in joints are ligaments which are strong 
fibrous bundles of collagen.
Collagen = organic protein fibers.
Know your bones!
Muscles contract to move bones.
Tendon connect muscles to bones (Ligaments connect bones to bones).
Muscles have an origin and insertion where a muscle attahces to other 
connective tissue.
Bones are levers.
KNOW YOUR DIRECTIONS!
Posterior = Your rear. (Think of your buttocks)
Anterior  = Your front (think of an "ANT" on your nose.
Dorsal = upper like the dorsal fin on a fish
Ventral = lower belly
Lateral = to the side (like lateralling a football - throwing it to the side)
Medial = toward the middle of the body
KNOW YOUR DIRECTIONS!
Distal = distant or further away from the body
Proximal = closer "in proximity" to the body
Sagittal plane = like the sagittal keel (or Worf’s crest in Star Trek)
Transverse plane = a cross section going from side to side  (like "trans 
america or trasatlantic")
Know Your Directions
Coronal plane = like the "halo"or corona around an angels head. 
KNOW YOUR BONES!
Cranium = Your head
Cervical = Your neck vertebrae
Thoracic = Your Upper Back vertebrae. (Any vertebrae a rib attaches to).
Lumbar = Your low back
Sacrum = The triangular bone in your pelvis
Coccyx = Your tailbone
Ribs = 12 per side
Know Your Bones!
Sternum = the vertical chest bone over your heart
Clavicle = Your collar bone
Scapula = Your  shoulder blades 
Humerus = Your upper arm
Radius = the forearm bone that goes to your thumb
Ulna = the forearm bone that is "under." Goes to your little finger. 
Know your bones
Hands have 
Phalanges = fingers or "phingers"
Metacarpals = palm
Carpals = wrist (e.g. Carpal tunnel syndrome)
Know Your Bones
The Pelvis is made up of:
Illium: Long bone
Ischium: The loop underneath
Pubis: where the pelvis comes together in the front
Femur : Upper leg bone
Tibia: the "thick" lower leg bone
Fibula: the "fine" lower leg bone
Know Your Bones!
Tarsals = ankle
Metatarsals = feet
Phalanges = toes
Know Your Skull!
Frontal bone
Parietal = upper area
Temporal = "temples"
Occipital = back
Maxilla = Upper Jaw
Mandible = Lower Jaw
Zygomatic arch = connects eye to side of skull
Know Your Teeth!
2 incisors
1 canine
2 premolars
3 molars (Your Wisdom Teeth)
Paleopathology
Illness and the cause of death can be reflected in the bones.
arthritis = osteoarthritus
cancers
syphilis - Venereal Disease that twists and thickens bone
dental abscesses
osteoporosis 
broken bones and wounds
Paleopathology
Parity Pits = Markings on the pelvis due to childbirth. They do on occasion 
appear in men who have had  alife of hard labor.
Harris lines: Lines on bone due to malnutrition in childhood.
Tooth enamel hypoplasia: faults in the tooth enamel like horizontal lines due 
to malnutrtion or infective disease during childhood.
Sexual dimorphism
Differing in size and shape by sex (males and females)
Determining Cranial Capacity
Pour mstard seeds into the cranium then pour the mustard seeds back into the 
measuring cup or graduated cylinder.
This gives you the endocranial volume. The brain is slightly smaller.
Determining the sex of a skeleton
Sexual dimorphism is the difference in appearance between two sexes.
Males are generally larger and more heavily muscled than females. Larger 
muscles have larger attachments to bone.
The male pelvis tend to be larger and more rugged than females.
Female pelvi tend to be wider in the openings and angles to facilitate birth.
Sex differences in the male skull
Males have more developed brow ridges, sloping foreheads, square chins,the 
angle of the jaw is close to 90 deg.s, large mastoids, external occipital 
protuberance and heavy muscles lines. 
Sex differences in the female skull
Females lack brow ridges, have bulging foreheads, round chins the angle of the 
jaw is over 125 deg.s, small mastoids, no external occipital protuberance, and 
slight muscle lines. See p. 178 of Feder & Park.
Sex differences in the male pelvis
In males the ilia are more nearly vertical, the greater sciatic notch is 
narrower, & the subpubic angle is smaller.
Sex differences in the female pelvis
In females the ilia is splayed outward, the greater sciatic notch is wider, 
and the subpubic angle is larger.
Determining the age of a skeleton
The body changes as it ages.
Teeth erupt at certain average times e.g. baby teeth and adult teeth.
Babys have fontanelles or "soft spots" which are spaces in the skull that fill 
in or close with sutures at a predictable rate.
The epiphyses or ends of bones are cartilage until growth is complete, when 
they turn to bone in an epiphyseal union.
Ages Teeth Erupt - Baby Teeth
Ages that Adult Teeth erupt
Cranial Suture Closure -Dates
Epiphyseal Union of Bones
Determining the age of a skeleton
Where the two halves of the pelvis meet in front is called the pubic symphysis.
Between 18 and 50 + the appearance of the surface undergoes characteristic 
changes.
All of these techniques rely on averages.
Cultural changes to skeletons
Cradleboarding to deform the skull.
Maya, Peruvian mummies, Egypt’s Queen Nefertiti
Trephining - cutting a hole in the skull to treat an illness.
A life of hard labor shows up in the muscle attachments being rougher.
INDIVIDUALS ARE UNIQUE AND VARY WITHIN SPECIES
e.g. FINGERPRINTS
LENGTH OF FOREFINGERS &  PINKIES
GENETIC ANOMALIES
MISSING TEETH
EXTRA TEETH
EXTRA RIBS
OTHER FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS
Individual Variation: Fingerprints are unique to each individual. 
Each human being is completely unique. Other primates also have unique 
fingerprints e.g. gorillas.
POLYGENIC TRAITS
MANY GENE LOCI CONTROL THE TRAIT - NOT ONE
EXAMPLES;
FINGERPRINTS
EYE,HAIR,SKIN COLOR
HEIGHT,WEIGHT
SHAPE OF THE FACE, NOSE
"LIFE IS REFLECTED IN THE BONES" - SOME EXAMPLES
BROKEN BONES
MUSCLE ATTACHMENTS TO BONE ARE ROUGHER WITH HARD LABOR
DISEASES: SYPHILIS, ARTHRITIS, CANCER, TOOTH DECAY
MALNUTRITION
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS
AGE AT DEATH
CAUSE OF DEATH
HUMAN DENTAL EVOLUTION
"WISDOM" TEETH
3RD MOLARS (BACK TEETH)
ERUPT AT AGE 18
2 UP, 2 DOWN
LESS EVOLUTIONARY NEED FOR THEM
ORTHODONTIA AND EVOLUTION?
Today’s Lab
1. Put together a human skeleton..
2. Become familiar with what a bone fracture, arthritus, malnutrition and 
disease look like on a skeleton.
3. Do some graphs and measurements and calculations of height from the length 
of a long bone of the body.
MNEUMONICS - A FEW MEMORY AIDS
FORAMEN MAGNUM = "BIG HOLE"
HUMERUS = UPPER ARM CONNECTS TO YOUR "FUNNY BONE"
RADIUS = MAKES A CIRCLE
ULNA = UNDER
TIBIA = THICK
FIBULA = FINE
PHALANGES = FINGERS (PHINGERS)
The Quiz next class
Know your bones! Memorize the names of the major bones of your body  AND the 
bones of the cranium in your lab manual, AND the names of adult teeth (lab 
manual)..
Learn ways to determine age and what paleodiseases can show up on a skeleton.
Learn the directions used to identify where things are on the body e.g. 
posterior.

Lab 1 Notes Fall 1997

Lab 2 Notes Fall 1997

Lab 3 Notes Fall 1997

Lab 4 Notes Fall 1997

Lab 5 Notes Fall 1997

Lab 6 Notes Fall 1997

Lab 7 Notes Fall 1997

Lab 8 Notes Fall 1997

Lab 9 Notes Fall 1997

Lab 10 Notes Fall 1997