The 17th Field School in Mortuary Archaeology which will be held in Drawsko, Poland in summer 2015.

The early modern skeletal cemetery at Drawsko, Poland (16th -17th centuries AD) provides a unique opportunity for students to practice bioarchaeology by learning archaeological excavation techniques and working with human osteological material. To date, more than 200 burials have been excavated, and the skeletal collection includes evidence of traumatic injury, infectious, degenerative and genetic disease, nutritional deficiency, as well as unidentified atypical lesions. Every archaeological season in Drawsko brings discoveries of unusual burials containing the dead with iron sickles running across their necks.

At the site, students are allowed to excavate/document burials and get hands-on experience. The professional supervision is provided by an international team of instructors from Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland, State University of New York, Oneonta, USA, The Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada, University of Nevada, USA, and The Slavia Foundation, Lednica, Poland. Excavated bones serve as reference material in osteology courses worth 6 academic credits (ECTS). The language of the Field School is English.

Please find more information about this project at www.slavia.org or by contacting Dr. Marek Polcyn at [email protected].

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