The story of the “Gamma skeleton” is one of those peculiarities of life in a small college. A skeleton used for teaching was appropriated by one of our secret societies, and spent many years as a mascot before being rediscovered and returned to the Biology department. It has subsequently been the subject of student research. Although not technically archaeology, it is an interesting mix between material culture and biology, and prompts many intriguing questions about the ethics of social and scientific uses for human remains. Click the links below to read:
A blog post about the rediscovery of the “Gamma skeleton”
A presentation by Callan Frye ’17 and Fran Klostermeyer ’15, about their research on the identity of the “Gamma skeleton” (not yet available)