Are you interested in bioarchaeology? THEN BABAO NEEDS YOU! Become a member of our fantastic association — and get involved in our research, conferences, workshops and outreach activities! babao.org.uk/get-involved...

And finally... A MASSIVE THANK YOU to all the brilliant speakers and poster presenters at #BABAO2025 — you put on the most impressive and fabulously engaging showcase of the value and importance of continuing researching in the fields of biological anthropology & osteoarchaeology! #TheBestPeople

PRIZES And congratulations to Rachael Hall for her fabulous research on 'Exploring proteomic analysis as a method for identifying brucellosis in archaeological human skeletons' — which won the best Student Podium presentation at #BABAO2025! 💀🎤🏆

PRIZES Congratulations to our two brilliant winners of the #BABAO2025 Student Poster prize! 💀📜🏆 Fin Taylor et al. — 'Not one way to file: Microscopic variation in Viking-Age tooth filing' Sarina Riechmann — 'Identifying and tracking scavengers of remains in a forensic context'

3.35 — Our final talk of #BABAO2025 examines ‘Evidence of anatomisation from the 19th century Bristol Union workhouse cemetery’ with Sharon Clough et al. 🪦💀🏛️

3.34 — The penultimate talk of #BABAO2025 sees Lauren McIntyre et al. questioning [if] “… many would rather die” (?) when investigating ‘Osteological evidence for deprivation in post-medieval Hull’ 🍴💀🪦

3.33 — Next Isobel Grimley et al. consider the price of progress through their work on ‘Childhood frailty in England across the medieval (11th-15th centuries) to post-medieval (16th-19th century) transition’ 👧🏻🩺💀 #BABAO2025

3.32 — The final session of #BABAO2025 (7B) on ‘Marginalisations, childhood, and the life course: Britain through time’ is chaired by Malin Holst; and Mackenzie Masters and Jordi Ruiz Ventura et al. look at ‘Bioarchaeological insights into a catastrophic population from medieval Leicester’ 💀🌋📜

#BABAO2025 Poster Sessions: 4 — ‘Insights in the fields of osteoarchaeology and forensics’ 🔍💀⚖️

BREAK TIME & POSTER SESSION 4 We now have our final break and #PosterSession4 on ‘Insights in the fields of osteoarchaeology and forensics’ 💀🔍⚖️ Come find us in the Poster Room next to the Registration desk in Brookfield House! #BABAO2025

3.31 — Before the break, Chris Chinnock et al. argue that collaboration is key (!) in their study and ‘Analysis of a 5th-7th century cemetery in Northamptonshire’ 🪦🤝🏼🗝️ #BABAO2025

3.30 — Following this, we turn ‘Towards an integrated bioarchaeological perspective on York in the Roman Empire’ with Elisha Meadows et al. 🏺💀🔍 #BABAO2025

3.29 — Session 7(A), chaired by Sharon Clough, is on ‘Marginalisations, childhood, and the life course: Britain through time’; Katie Erin Faillace et al. discuss ‘Using biodistance to investigate social networks & mobility from the Iron Age to Early Medieval period in Wessex, England’ 💀🧬🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒 #BABAO2025

3.28 — Last in session 6B we are ‘Assessing bias in cremated remains deposits: The role of fragmentation and deposit size in skeletal element identification’ with Elżbieta Jaskulska 💀🔥⚱️ #BABAO2025

3.27 — Our session on ‘The state of our bones: mortuary practices, taphonomy, and the conundrum of commingling’ continues now (6B); where Catherine Roberts et al. are ‘Testing the waters: The effect of deposition environment on dental diagenesis’ 🌊🦷🔬 #BABAO2025

HAPPENING NOW ❗️ #BABAO2025

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING of BABAO Don’t miss the BABAO AGM, which will take place after lunch, from 1PM-2PM in the Brookfield House Lecture Theatre! #BABAO2025

It’s been another fantastic morning at #BABAO2025 with so many stellar research talks and great questions! But we could all do with some food right about now, so let’s have lunch! Normal service will resume at 2PM ❗️

3.26 — Last in Session 6A we have Haley Goren et al. looking at ‘Mortuary treatments in early Bronze Age Britain: A micro-CT evaluation of bacterial diagenesis in bone to investigate burial practices’ 🛖💀🩻 #BABAO2025

3.25 — Now we look at caring for the dead with Iseabail Wilks and their research ‘Results of archaeothanatological analysis of burials from the early Neolithic of central Europe’ 💀⛅️🌿 #BABAO2025

3.24 — Next Xander King et al. discusses ‘Refitting in dry dock: Considering archaeological naval cemetery populations through commingling and fragmented human remains’ 🪖🪦🦴 #BABAO2025

3.23 — Jess Thompson chairs Session 6(A) which focuses on ‘The state of our bones: mortuary practices, taphonomy, & the conundrum of commingling’; and first up we get to hear about ‘The Winchester Cathedral mortuary chests: Curating the bones of Kings?’ with Heidi Dawson-Hobbis et al. 🏛️⚰️💀 #BABAO2025

KEYNOTE 3 Our last Keynote Lecture of #BABAO2025 is given by Prof. Mary Lewis, who asks ‘Where have all our skeletons gone?’, considering and reflecting on ‘The legal, ethical and research imperatives for a centralised human remains database in the UK to manage legacy collections’ 💀⚖️🏛️

#BABAO2025 Poster Sessions: 3 — ‘Biomolecular analyses in bioarchaeology’ 💀⚗️🧬

BREAK TIME & POSTER SESSION 3 We now have our coffee break and #PosterSession3 on ‘Biomolecular analyses in bioarchaeology’ 💀⚗️🧬 Come find us in the Poster Room next to the Registration desk in Brookfield House! #BABAO2025

3.22 — Last in Session 5, Alette Bloom discusses an osteobiographical analysis of medieval people with leprosy in her talk ‘The osteological paradox in medieval leprosy: Who is affected?’ 💀🫁🪦 #BABAO2025

3.21 — Followed by Steffi Vassallo et al. ‘Diving into the accuracy and reliability of four 3D imaging techniques when assessing palaeopathological cases’ 💀🩻🩺 #BABAO2025

3.20 — Now Elliot Elliot bring us into the woods and to the tops of the trees to explore a certain bushy tailed creature, with his research on ‘Skeletal lesions associated with leprosy in S. vulgaris (red squirrel) 🐿️🦠☠️ #BABAO2025

3.19 — Next we turn to the realm of proteomics with Rachael Hall et al. in ‘Exploring proteomic analysis as a method for identifying brucellosis in archaeological human remains’ 💀🧪🔬 #BABAO2025

3.18 — #BABAO2025 Day 3 starts with Session 5 ‘Detangling disease in humans and animals’ chaired by Kori Filipek; Kerttu Majander et al. takes us into the world DNA in bioarchaeology with their investigation of ‘From mummies to museum specimens: potential & preservation of ancient pathogen DNA’ 💀🦠🧬

KEYNOTE 2 To round off Day 2 of #BABAO2025, we have our second Keynote Lecture: Linda Mbeki discusses their research on ‘From bones to ancestors: Embodiment, structural violence, and social justice’ 👩🏿‍🦱⛓️⚖️

2.17 — Last in Session 4, Jack Eggington et al. brings us back home with their study of ‘Diet, health and social inequality in London: A mother-infant perspective (1789-1853 CE)’ 🤱🏻💀⚖️ #BABAO2025

2.16 — We travel north with Astrid A. Noterman et al. to explore ‘Bonds of doing: Dental modifications and activity markers in early churchyard burials from Gotland, Sweden’ 🦷⚔️🇩🇰 #BABAO2025

2.15 — Our journey goes to Italy where Emily May Wales-Ferguson et al. are ‘Unearthing Sicily’s past: A historical and methodological review of bioarchaeological research in Sicily’ 📜💀🇮🇹 #BABAO2025

2.14 — Next we move to Spain with Daniela Lorente to explore ‘Peasant living conditions and labour in late medieval Valencia: Bioarchaeological findings from the maqbara of Benieto (13th-16th c.) 👩🏼‍🌾💀🇪🇸 #BABAO2025

2.13 — Now Alette Bloom will chair Day 1’s last session (4) on ‘Bioarchaeological narratives, European stories’; with Allegra Rafaschieri et al. investigating the ‘Prevalence of hallux valgus and osteoarthritis in two post-medieval populations from the Netherlands: A shoe problem?’ 💀🦶🏽📐 #BABAO2025

#BABAO2025 Poster Sessions: 2 — ‘Exploring disease and lifestyle in the past’ 💀🦠👨🏼‍🌾

BREAK TIME & POSTER SESSION 2 We now have our second break and #PosterSession2 on ‘Exploring disease and lifestyle in the past’ 💀🦠👨🏼‍🌾 Come find us in the Poster Room next to the Registration desk in Brookfield House! #BABAO2025

2.12 — Last in Session 3, Brian Costello et al. discuss the use of bioarchaeology in educational outreach with their work on ‘Same smoke, different pipe: Educating archaeological discoveries of past tobacco use to school aged children’ 👩🏻‍🏫📗👦🏽 #BABAO2025

2.11 — How do we approach, record and reflect on ‘Bioarchaeologies of disability: Disabled people’s perspectives’? Well, Anna Freed will enlighten us! 👨🏻‍🦽🦻🏼👩🏽‍🦯‍➡ #BABAO2025

2.10 — We now move to contemplate ’Troubling binaries: Sex estimation in bioarchaeological literature’ with Taylor Peacock 🚻🔍⚧️ #BABAO2025

2.9 — Session 3 is all about ‘Reflections and forward directions in our field’ [bioarchaeology], chaired by Trisha Biers; and first up, Gemma Craven et al. consider ‘From race to population affinity: Rethinking language in forensic anthropology’ 👩🏾‍🦱🧬👨🏻‍🦰 #BABAO2025

KEYNOTE 1 Now we have our first Keynote Lecture of #BABAO2025: Ben Donnelly-Symes, Dale Munn & Carmel Crawley talk about ‘Building community through osteology: Volunteering at the Northamptonshire Archaeological Resource Centre’ 💡⛏️🤝🏻

After a brilliant morning of insightful talks and interesting discussions, it’s now time for some food! Normal service will resume at 1:15PM ❗️ #BABAO2025

2.8 — Last in Session 2 we follow Marta San-Millán et al. to look at ‘The relevance of the reference sample in acetabular age-at-death estimation: Implications of biological sex and sample size’ ⚖️💀🧮 #BABAO2025

2.7 — Let’s move on to ‘Bone in transition: Geometric morphometric insights into subadult shoulder development’ with Azahara Salazar Fernandez et al. 💀🦾🩻 #BABAO2025

2.6 — Up next, Varsha Warrier et al. discuss the ‘Prevalence of directional asymmetry within the acetabulum and its implications for age estimation’ 💀🦿📐 #BABAO2025

2.5 — Jo Appleby chairs Session 2 on ‘Revelations in Age Estimations’; where Valentina Perrone et al. present their work on ‘Narrowing age estimation in adult skeletal remains: A new approach with cementochronology’ 🦷🔬📆 #BABAO2025

#BABAO2025 Poster Sessions: 1 — ‘Imaging, digital archaeology, and unusual techniques’ 💀🩻🖥️

BREAK TIME & POSTER SESSION 1 We now have our first break and #PosterSession1 on ‘Imaging, digital archaeology, and unusual techniques’ 💀🩻🖥️ Come find us in the Poster Room next to the Registration desk in Brookfield House! #BABAO2025