Carolan Wood | University of Toronto (original) (raw)

Uploads

Papers by Carolan Wood

Research paper thumbnail of Further analysis of the population history of ancient Egyptians

American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2009

Research paper thumbnail of Vitamin D deficiency and the ancient city: Skeletal evidence across the life course from the Roman period site of Isola Sacra, Italy

Research paper thumbnail of The age-related emergence of cranial morphological variation

Research paper thumbnail of Further Analysis of the Population History of Ancient Egyptians

The origins of state formation in ancient Egypt have been the focus of recent research utilizing ... more The origins of state formation in ancient Egypt have been the focus of recent research utilizing biological data to test hypotheses regarding in situ development of local groups, or large-scale in-migration, possibly by an invading army. The primary goal of the present research is to further test these hypotheses. Our secondary goal is to compare different distance measures and assess how they might affect interpretation of population history. We analyze craniodental nonmetric data using several different measures of biological distance, as well as a method for estimating group diversity using multidi-mensional scaling of distance estimates. Patterns of biological variation and population relationships were interpreted in temporal and geographic contexts. The results of our analyses suggest that the formation of the ancient Egyptian state likely included a substantial in situ process , with some level of contribution by outside migrants probable. The higher level of population structure in Lower Egypt, relative to Upper Egypt, suggests that such influence and migration by outsiders may not have been widespread geographically. These findings support, but serve to refine further those obtained by the second author in a previous study. Moreover, our comparison of distance measures indicates that the choice of measure can influence identification and interpretation of the microevolutionary processes shaping population history, despite being strongly correlated with one another. Am J Phys Anthropol 139:235–243,

Research paper thumbnail of Death in the Line of Duty: Late Medieval Burials at the Site of Lepenski Vir, Serbia

Four late medieval burials were excavated at the site of Lepenski Vir in the Iron Gates Gorge, Se... more Four late medieval burials were excavated at the site of Lepenski Vir in the Iron Gates Gorge, Serbia. One of the individuals, Lepenski Vir 62, exhibits evidence of a sharp-force trauma on the left parietal, consistent with a combat wound. None of the other contemporaneous individuals show any evidence of trauma or other pathology on the few preserved bones. We argue that the skeletons belong to soldiers involved in the border warfare on the Danube which was quite common at the end of the 14 th and the first half of the 15 th century between Serbian, Hungarian and Turkish forces.

Conference Presentations by Carolan Wood

Research paper thumbnail of Integrating Indigenous Perspectives in Teaching Practice: Benefiting from the Wisdom of Social Learning and Narrative.

Poster presented at the 46th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association of Physical Anthropology, London, ON., 2018

Our poster will provide an opportunity to discuss the employment of Indigenous pedagogical practi... more Our poster will provide an opportunity to discuss the employment of Indigenous pedagogical practices, and the benefits associated with the integration of social learning and narrative in teaching practice. Given the Truth and Reconciliation commissioner’s call to action with respect to ‘education for reconciliation’, as teachers, we have the responsibility to contribute to the process of decolonizing the academy by ensuring Indigenous perspectives figure prominently in our classrooms1. The holistic nature of Indigenous learning – focused on connectedness, reciprocal relationships and a sense of place, emphasizes the consequences of one’s actions, and gives students’ a sense of generational roles and responsibilities. ANT 340 is a third year osteological theory and methods course at the University of Toronto Mississauga with an enrolment of 25 to 50 students. Students first attend an ethics lecture and read associated materials introducing the importance and relevance of ethical codes, and common ethical issues in bioanthropology. Indigenous educators are then handed over the reigns to the 3-hour class, with no restrictions placed on the topics, or the trajectory of the discussion. Students are required to write a reflective paper on their experience. For three years running, the success of the implementation of Indigenous social learning and a narrative-based approach to convey course curricula is evident in the high level of student engagement, emotional investment apparent in the student reflective papers, and the course evaluation comments. The outcome is an authentic understanding of Indigenous perspectives of bioanthropology, and the promotion of an overarching goal in First Peoples’ culture - the passing of knowledge to the next generation to improve life for future generations. In this way students understand the contribution of the discipline of anthropology, and grasp the relevance their own actions and how they – as individuals – can make a difference in the present.

Research paper thumbnail of Creating and Excavating a Cemetery: Experiential Learning for Advanced Bioarchaeology.

Poster presented at the 46th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association of Physical Anthropology, London, ON., 2018

Our poster describes a collaborative, experiential learning approach to teaching ANT 441: Advance... more Our poster describes a collaborative, experiential learning approach to teaching ANT 441: Advanced Bioarchaeology1. We employ collaborative learning (where students work on a common task, share information, support one another and then reflect on the process)1, as an alternative to what can be perceived as the overemphasis on competition in an academic setting. While a number of international field schools offer practical experience in the excavation of human remains from a cemetery context for academic credit, we found most students cannot afford these field schools, and/or must work during the summer months (when excavation opportunities are offered) to support their education costs. Our cemetery project provides a low-cost alternative where participants gain the basic skills to excavate, recover and document a burial, and acquire a clear understanding of the importance of contextual information for burial interpretation. We facilitate learning by establishing the project objectives, providing associated learning tasks, and guiding the weekly cemetery project meetings. Students are given the freedom to decide the analyses needed to achieve their goal, learn to articulate their rationale in using particular methods of analysis, perform collaborative data analysis and assess the accuracy and logic of one another’s contributions - becoming more experienced, independent researchers as a result. We promote the participation and learning of all group members by monitoring students’ learning, managing time and resources, and checking that students are on task and engaging with the group process. The course project is divided into a series of manageable learning assessments that build on each other, and increase in complexity. We found scaffolding reduces anxiety over completion of a complex assignment, gives those who procrastinate a solid starting point, offers more opportunities for support and feedback, affords the opportunity to make mistakes in a safe environment, and provides students with a solid sense of accomplishment as they progress through the steps. Students gain critical thinking, decision making, and problem solving skills through an iterative process as new variables are introduced, and ultimately comprehend the advantages and challenges of a collaborative culture of shared responsibility.

Research paper thumbnail of Teaching Ethics and Building Alliances in the classroom through Indigenous ways of knowing

Our talk will address relationship building between Indigenous archaeological monitors, and futur... more Our talk will address relationship building between Indigenous archaeological monitors, and future bio/archaeologists that begins within academia. Given the Truth and Reconciliation commissioner’s call to action with respect to “education for reconciliation” - as teachers, we have the responsibility to contribute to the process of decolonizing the academy and bio/archaeology, and ensure ethics figure prominently in our classrooms. To that end, the authenticity of such endeavors is ensured by the participation of Indigenous educators, which is inclusive, and in our experience, provides a most stimulating and critical approach. We offer an example of success in teaching and learning, through the implementation of Indigenous pedagogical practices (experiential and social learning), and a narrative-based approach to implicitly convey the moral background of technical content. Ultimately, we wish to make students’ active participants in a future of trust and respect between Indigenous monitors and bio/archaeologists.

Research paper thumbnail of Further analysis of the population history of ancient Egyptians

American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2009

Research paper thumbnail of Vitamin D deficiency and the ancient city: Skeletal evidence across the life course from the Roman period site of Isola Sacra, Italy

Research paper thumbnail of The age-related emergence of cranial morphological variation

Research paper thumbnail of Further Analysis of the Population History of Ancient Egyptians

The origins of state formation in ancient Egypt have been the focus of recent research utilizing ... more The origins of state formation in ancient Egypt have been the focus of recent research utilizing biological data to test hypotheses regarding in situ development of local groups, or large-scale in-migration, possibly by an invading army. The primary goal of the present research is to further test these hypotheses. Our secondary goal is to compare different distance measures and assess how they might affect interpretation of population history. We analyze craniodental nonmetric data using several different measures of biological distance, as well as a method for estimating group diversity using multidi-mensional scaling of distance estimates. Patterns of biological variation and population relationships were interpreted in temporal and geographic contexts. The results of our analyses suggest that the formation of the ancient Egyptian state likely included a substantial in situ process , with some level of contribution by outside migrants probable. The higher level of population structure in Lower Egypt, relative to Upper Egypt, suggests that such influence and migration by outsiders may not have been widespread geographically. These findings support, but serve to refine further those obtained by the second author in a previous study. Moreover, our comparison of distance measures indicates that the choice of measure can influence identification and interpretation of the microevolutionary processes shaping population history, despite being strongly correlated with one another. Am J Phys Anthropol 139:235–243,

Research paper thumbnail of Death in the Line of Duty: Late Medieval Burials at the Site of Lepenski Vir, Serbia

Four late medieval burials were excavated at the site of Lepenski Vir in the Iron Gates Gorge, Se... more Four late medieval burials were excavated at the site of Lepenski Vir in the Iron Gates Gorge, Serbia. One of the individuals, Lepenski Vir 62, exhibits evidence of a sharp-force trauma on the left parietal, consistent with a combat wound. None of the other contemporaneous individuals show any evidence of trauma or other pathology on the few preserved bones. We argue that the skeletons belong to soldiers involved in the border warfare on the Danube which was quite common at the end of the 14 th and the first half of the 15 th century between Serbian, Hungarian and Turkish forces.

Research paper thumbnail of Integrating Indigenous Perspectives in Teaching Practice: Benefiting from the Wisdom of Social Learning and Narrative.

Poster presented at the 46th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association of Physical Anthropology, London, ON., 2018

Our poster will provide an opportunity to discuss the employment of Indigenous pedagogical practi... more Our poster will provide an opportunity to discuss the employment of Indigenous pedagogical practices, and the benefits associated with the integration of social learning and narrative in teaching practice. Given the Truth and Reconciliation commissioner’s call to action with respect to ‘education for reconciliation’, as teachers, we have the responsibility to contribute to the process of decolonizing the academy by ensuring Indigenous perspectives figure prominently in our classrooms1. The holistic nature of Indigenous learning – focused on connectedness, reciprocal relationships and a sense of place, emphasizes the consequences of one’s actions, and gives students’ a sense of generational roles and responsibilities. ANT 340 is a third year osteological theory and methods course at the University of Toronto Mississauga with an enrolment of 25 to 50 students. Students first attend an ethics lecture and read associated materials introducing the importance and relevance of ethical codes, and common ethical issues in bioanthropology. Indigenous educators are then handed over the reigns to the 3-hour class, with no restrictions placed on the topics, or the trajectory of the discussion. Students are required to write a reflective paper on their experience. For three years running, the success of the implementation of Indigenous social learning and a narrative-based approach to convey course curricula is evident in the high level of student engagement, emotional investment apparent in the student reflective papers, and the course evaluation comments. The outcome is an authentic understanding of Indigenous perspectives of bioanthropology, and the promotion of an overarching goal in First Peoples’ culture - the passing of knowledge to the next generation to improve life for future generations. In this way students understand the contribution of the discipline of anthropology, and grasp the relevance their own actions and how they – as individuals – can make a difference in the present.

Research paper thumbnail of Creating and Excavating a Cemetery: Experiential Learning for Advanced Bioarchaeology.

Poster presented at the 46th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association of Physical Anthropology, London, ON., 2018

Our poster describes a collaborative, experiential learning approach to teaching ANT 441: Advance... more Our poster describes a collaborative, experiential learning approach to teaching ANT 441: Advanced Bioarchaeology1. We employ collaborative learning (where students work on a common task, share information, support one another and then reflect on the process)1, as an alternative to what can be perceived as the overemphasis on competition in an academic setting. While a number of international field schools offer practical experience in the excavation of human remains from a cemetery context for academic credit, we found most students cannot afford these field schools, and/or must work during the summer months (when excavation opportunities are offered) to support their education costs. Our cemetery project provides a low-cost alternative where participants gain the basic skills to excavate, recover and document a burial, and acquire a clear understanding of the importance of contextual information for burial interpretation. We facilitate learning by establishing the project objectives, providing associated learning tasks, and guiding the weekly cemetery project meetings. Students are given the freedom to decide the analyses needed to achieve their goal, learn to articulate their rationale in using particular methods of analysis, perform collaborative data analysis and assess the accuracy and logic of one another’s contributions - becoming more experienced, independent researchers as a result. We promote the participation and learning of all group members by monitoring students’ learning, managing time and resources, and checking that students are on task and engaging with the group process. The course project is divided into a series of manageable learning assessments that build on each other, and increase in complexity. We found scaffolding reduces anxiety over completion of a complex assignment, gives those who procrastinate a solid starting point, offers more opportunities for support and feedback, affords the opportunity to make mistakes in a safe environment, and provides students with a solid sense of accomplishment as they progress through the steps. Students gain critical thinking, decision making, and problem solving skills through an iterative process as new variables are introduced, and ultimately comprehend the advantages and challenges of a collaborative culture of shared responsibility.

Research paper thumbnail of Teaching Ethics and Building Alliances in the classroom through Indigenous ways of knowing

Our talk will address relationship building between Indigenous archaeological monitors, and futur... more Our talk will address relationship building between Indigenous archaeological monitors, and future bio/archaeologists that begins within academia. Given the Truth and Reconciliation commissioner’s call to action with respect to “education for reconciliation” - as teachers, we have the responsibility to contribute to the process of decolonizing the academy and bio/archaeology, and ensure ethics figure prominently in our classrooms. To that end, the authenticity of such endeavors is ensured by the participation of Indigenous educators, which is inclusive, and in our experience, provides a most stimulating and critical approach. We offer an example of success in teaching and learning, through the implementation of Indigenous pedagogical practices (experiential and social learning), and a narrative-based approach to implicitly convey the moral background of technical content. Ultimately, we wish to make students’ active participants in a future of trust and respect between Indigenous monitors and bio/archaeologists.