The skeletons we use usually come from animals that were trapped, hit by cars on the highway, or washed up on beaches. The meat and skins on hunted animals were removed and used and the skeletons given to the Alaska Consortium of Zooarchaeologists. Their skeletons are cleaned, then each bone is numbered, a card made out which describes the information known about the animal and the condition of the skeleton, then it is put into the collection.
Volunteers are needed to
- Write accession numbers on the bones of each skeleton
- Inventory the elements present in each skeleton
- Help process animals
Each Friday afternoon, we will try to have somebody at the University of Alaska, Anchorage laboratory to work with volunteers.
If you are interested in participating please send an e-mail and we can set up a time to meet with you and explain the process. We are also happy to work with grade school classes working on biology projects who might like to help us out.