An assistant professor of anthropology at Southern Connecticut State University, Dr. Valerie Andrushko, is leading her class on an archaeological journey back in time at Fairfield's own Sturges Park.

In a forensic anthropology project, her students are investigating bones dug up from the park in August 2006 when the soccer field was being renovated. State Archaeologist Nick Bellantoni requested Andrushko's help in identifying the skeletons in order to match them with names the town had on record for the individuals. Transferring the remains to Southern's anthropology lab on Feb. 6, 2008, Andrushko and her class took charge of the investigation.

According to Andrushko, the process of identification is dependent on several factors, such as sample size, degree of fragmentation and commingling of the sample. "In this particular case, we are working slowly for several reasons," Andrushko wrote in an e-mail earlier this week. "First of all, I want the students to be involved in every aspect of the analysis, beginning with the initial identification of each fragment. Also, in this case, the remains are fragmented and in some instances we have more than one individual mixed together, so it is a slow process of sorting through the remains."

The anthropology class begins by identifying all skeletal elements by bone and side, any non-human remains being separated out, Andrushko stipulates. Once this is done, a master inventory of all the bones is created to determine the minimum

Advertisement
number of individuals with which they are dealing. "Once we figure out how many individuals we have, then we move on to age and sex determination," the doctor writes. "Since particular elements of the skeleton appear distinct in males and females, we can use these sexually dimorphic bones to separate males and females. We can also estimate the age of the individual at death based on certain degenerative changes in the pelvis and other skeletal regions."

This step is followed by an examination of the samples for evidence of disease or injury. Andrushko explains that while many diseases do not affect a body's skeleton, there are some pathological conditions that do; tuberculosis, syphilis and osteoarthritis being three such conditions. "Dental disease is also readily observable by looking for dental carious lesions ("cavities") and tooth loss in the upper and lower jaw," Andrushko writes. "So we record all indications of pathological changes to the bones and teeth as well as any indications of traumatic injury."

The last piece of the process is an examination to attempt to find indications of how the person lived. Andrushko explains, "Sometimes the bones from the right and left side of the body might be asymmetrical, which may indicate a certain type of physical activity (past examples of this include spear throwing)." All such findings come together to form a well-educated guess as to the identity of the individual.

A slew of photographs are taken thereafter to be included in a full-scale report that is given to Bellantoni along with the remains. From there, the remains will be re-interred at Trinity Episcopal Church, where the individuals are believed to have been members.

"This is the best possible way for the students to put their training into use," Andrushko said of the ID process. "For this entire semester, they have been dedicated to learning the smallest details of the human skeleton, so now they can actively apply their knowledge to a real world problem. They are able to take part in every aspect of analysis, and see how professional bio-archaeologists complete a project from start to finish. These are a dedicated group of students and I'm very proud of their commitment."

Southern junior Diana Messer was one of those students. Majoring in anthropology with a concentration in physical anthropology, Messer has taken much away from her time with Andrushko. "We all have worked very hard, coming in for extra study hours, and working together to learn all of the bones and their landmarks," Messer wrote in an e-mail. "Analyzing the remains from Fairfield is extremely exciting and very rewarding After so much studying, most of us feel very confident in our analysis of the remains."

Fellow student Lauren Chicoski had similar sentiments about Andrushko's course. An anthropology major with a particular interest in forensics, Chicoski labels the identification process "a tremendous experience." In an e-mail, Chicoski wrote, "We are putting our knowledge to the test. This is not a written exam or a lab; it is a hands-on test of our skills."

She assures readers that the classroom is not what you see on such shows as "Bones," nor is anthropology akin to what movies like "Indiana Jones" portrays on the silver screen. "The students sit in groups discussing and analyzing the remains. We are focused on learning from each other." Chicoski thanks Fairfield for giving herself and her classmates the opportunity for such hands-on study.

A bio-archaeologist, Andrushko specializes in the study of ancient skeletal remains. She achieved her bachelor's degree in anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley, and her master's and doctorate from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She joined Southern Connecticut as a faculty member in the summer of 2007.