State Archeologist Mel Zabecki of the Arkansas Archeological Survey will present “Human Osteology: What It Means for Archeology and How to Teach It” at the May meeting of the Ouachita Chapter of the Arkansas Archeological Society. This talk will be held on Tuesday, May 7, at 7 p.m. in the Board Room at Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts, 200 Whittington Ave., Hot Springs.

The event is free and open to the public.

The human skeleton is incredibly dynamic and records all kinds of information about an individual’s life. Human remains can inform us about the past by supplying evidence of the health, activities, and lifeways of ancient populations. In this presentation, Zabecki will explain some of the data that are collected by bioarcheologists.

Nowadays, bioarcheologists use plastic replicas or casts when teaching about the human skeleton. She will show participants the casts she purchased with funds from a recent Arkansas Archeological Society Bill Jordan Education Grant. She will be using these casts when teaching the Human Osteology Seminar at the Arkansas Archeological Society’s Training Program this summer.

While few, if any, Society members will become osteologists, it is imperative that participants familiarize themselves with the human skeleton in order to quickly recognize human remains if encountered in the field or lab.

Zabecki received her BA in Anthropology from Mount Holyoke College in western Massachusetts, and her MA and PhD from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. She began her career as an ancient Egyptian bioarcheologist, working at various cemeteries around Egypt learning about past lifeways while teaching at a few different universities as an adjunct instructor. Then, she became a Park Interpreter for Arkansas State Parks, where she became well-versed in educating the public and learned about American archeology and native plants as food, medicine, crafts, architecture, and dye.

Zabecki joined the Arkansas Archeological Survey as their Education Outreach Coordinator and then moved into the State Archeologist position. As State Archeologist, she collaborates with the Arkansas Archeological Survey station archeologists, multiple federal and state agencies, as well as private citizens to help spread awareness of the rich history of Arkansas and the importance of protecting archeological sites from destruction.

The Arkansas Archeological Survey’s research station at Henderson State University, 1042 Haddock St., Arkadelphia, holds regular Archeology Lab Days on Thursdays. Students and members of the public are invited to come by the research station on Thursdays between 9 am and 4:30 pm to learn more about archeology in Arkansas. For more information, contact Mary Beth Trubitt at 870-230-5510.