Reading the past in the bones

The study of human remains in archaeology offers a unique insight into ancient societies. Their analysis enables us to explore lifestyles, health, funerary practices, travel, kinship ties and the major stages in the biological history of mankind. True archives of the past, these relics enable us to reconstruct fragments of our ancestors' history.

Jocelyne Desideri is an archaeologist and bioanthropologist, lecturer and scientific assistant at the Laboratoire d'Archéologie africaine & anthropologie (ARCAN) at the University of Geneva. Since 2013, she has been developing teaching and research in bioanthropology through an interdisciplinary approach focused on settlement dynamics and ancient lifestyles, integrating isotope geochemistry, ancient DNA and funerary archaeology in particular.