Bones for Beginners Workshop II

Dr James Gibb

At the September meeting Dr. Jim Gibb gave the third of a series of talks on bones.   Archaeologists frequently recover bones left over from past meals. They need to identify the animals that the bones represent and from these identifications evaluate past diets and environments.

At this meeting Jim conducted a hands-on workshop using bird road kill specimens to review anatomy and point out distinguishing features of bird bones. We had a chance to try to identify the bones and try to determine how they fit together for over seven birds including owls, a cormorant, and a turkey vulture.

Dr. James Gibb is the sole proprietor of Gibb Archaeological Consulting.  He is also a Smithsonian Research Associate and directs SERC’s Environmental Archaeology Laboratory.  Jim is one of the founding members of CCASM.

For previous workshop on mammals -  Bones for Beginners Workshop I

Attendance: 10