BRIQ News and Events
A mummified newborn being sent to the Mutter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia made a stop at the Bioanthropology Research Institute to be examined by anthropology and digital imaging students.
http://fox61.com/2015/11/16/quinnipiac-professors-examine-200-year-old-mummified-newborn/
http://www.nhregister.com/article/NH/20151116/NEWS/151119625
Ron Beckett (at right) explains his finding from a past mummy study
Dec. 11, 2014 - A Quinnipiac University professor will lead a team of researchers and students to Italy in January to perform the first-ever examination of the Gangi mummies, whose remains have been preserved in burial catacombs in Sicily.
Ronald Beckett, professor emeritus in biomedical sciences and co-director of the Bioanthropology Research Institute at Quinnipiac, has received a $15,000 grant from the National Geographic Society/Waitt Grants Program to perform paleoimaging and a bioarchaeological analysis of the remains of 60 Gangi mummies from Jan. 1-10.
"While much is known about the origin of these mummies, little is known about their unique wax masks and how they interacted with their environment when they were living and walking the earth," said Beckett, who will serve as the principal investigator on the project. "This expedition will answer a multitude of questions. Who were the Gangi mummies? What diseases did they suffer from? What was their dental condition? Was there evidence of trauma? Why were the wax masks used? How old were they when they died? What modern diseases (osteoporosis, vascular hardening, atherosclerosis, tuberculosis) were present? What is their current state of preservation and the extent of their deterioration?"
In addition to Beckett, the team will include Jerry Conlogue, professor of diagnostic imaging and co-director of the Bioanthropology Research Institute; Dario Piombino-Mascali, scientific curator at the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo, honorary inspector for the Cultural Heritage of Sicily and director of the "Sicily Mummy Project;" Mark Viner of Cranfield University, the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, a fellow of the Cranfield Forensic Institute and chief executive officer of the Inforce Foundation; and Katherine Harper-Beckett, a research associate with the Bioanthropology Research Institute. Three diagnostic imaging students at Quinnipiac, Aniello Catapano, Jennifer Curry and Annamaria DiCesare, also will assist the research team.
The NGS/Waitt Grants Program supports cutting-edge research projects in the initial search and exploration phase, when funding is most difficult to secure. Approximately 100 grants of $5,000 to $15,000 will be made annually to explorers and scientists in research fields such as biology, anthropology and the geosciences, who are working across disciplines and responding quickly to potential discoveries.
Created in 1998, the Bioanthropology Research Institute at Quinnipiac conducts research in biology, archaeology, anthropology and paleopathology through paleoimaging applications including diagnostic imaging, video endoscopy, photography and laboratory analysis. The research is conducted on mummified humans and animals and ancient artifacts without destruction. The co-directors collaborate with bioanthropological researchers from around the globe. The institute conducts workshops, gives presentations and conducts field paleoimaging research worldwide.
Senior Alex Burgos shows a group of Hamden Middle School seventh-graders a fossil cast of a skull as part of science and anthropology activities at the University on Oct. 29.
Oct. 29, 2013 - Senior Lauren Kaufman is a history major in the five-year education program with an anthropology minor. She got to experience the best of both worlds Oct. 29 as a group of 32 seventh-graders from Hamden Middle School visited the University to learn about science and anthropology.
"I'm getting to combine my two favorite things, which are education and anthropology," said Kaufman, who manned a human osteology station. "It's nice to be able to teach anthropological theories to younger kids so they can grow up thinking that way. It's also exposing them to things that they've never seen in their middle school before. It's exciting to watch them discover something new."
For the second straight year, the Bristol-Myers Squibb Center for Science, Teaching and Learning and the anthropology program teamed up to host the middle-schoolers. The students were divided into two groups and rotated between a pair of classrooms to take part in hand-on activities about archaeological digs, human evolution and technology.
Linda Salters, a seventh-grade teacher at Hamden Middle School, said the science stations certainly held the children's interested.
"They're really enjoying this," Salters said. "They get to be scientists for the day. They ask a lot of questions and the staff at Quinnipiac is very nice. The kids always walk away with something, whether it's a little gift or information they didn't come here with. It's a very nice activity."
The event was organized by Julia Giblin, assistant professor of anthropology, Lucy Howell, director of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Center for Science, Teaching and Learning, and Jaime Ullinger, assistant professor of anthropology and co-director of the Bioanthropology Research Institute.
Ullinger said the interactive activities grabbed the children's attention and made learning fun.
"It's super hands on and they're really engaged," she said, adding that the Quinnipiac students get as much out of the day of learning as the middle school students do. "Our students have to use the material they've learned in the classroom and teach it to others. For them, it's a real sense of ownership over the material."
While the Hamden students sifted through sand and examined bones in an anthropology classroom, another group worked with Howell in the Bristol-Myers Squibb Center. She explained technology and had the children build towers out of marshmallows, string, tape and uncooked spaghetti.
"What will future anthropologists and archaeologists think of our culture when they dig up artifacts about our time?" she asked the students to ponder at the end of the activity.
A scan of one of the 100-year old time capsules found when a tree on the New Haven Green was uprooted during the recent hurricane.
May 2, 2013 - When New Haven officials discovered a pair of 100-plus-year-old time capsules encased in concrete beneath a Lincoln Oak Tree uprooted during Superstorm Sandy on the New Haven Green, they knew whom to call.
Gerald Conlogue, professor of diagnostic imaging and co-director of the University’s Bioanthropology Research Institute, is renowned for unlocking history’s secrets in some of the most remote corners of the globe.
Conlogue worked with Katelyn D’Alleva and Nini Shingleton, both diagnostic imaging juniors at Quinnipiac, to determine the contents and locations of the 104-year-old 10-inch long by 4-inch wide copper capsules.
“It was imperative to determine the precise locations of each of the 30 items between the two capsules to ensure that they would not be damaged when opening them,” Conlogue said. “Katelyn and Nini had to use all of the knowledge that they developed in the classroom to determine what was inside – and where each item was located. They did a really great job.”
The students helped to take more than 30 X-rays of the capsules to determine the ideal place to enter. They then helped to open the containers.
“It was a very difficult process,” said Drew Days, proprietor of the New Haven Green. “Quinnipiac has been critical in this effort. They came with the sophisticated instruments needed to go into the base and see what was inside.”
Days said without the efforts of Conlogue and his students, “it would have been impossible to bring these up.”
The first capsule was sealed on Feb. 12, 1909 in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of President Abraham Lincoln. It contained six newspapers, letters and artifacts from the Battle at Gettysburg. The second capsule was sealed on April 9, 1909 in commemoration of the 44th anniversary of General Robert Lee’s surrender at the Battle of Appomattox Court House. It contained commemorative coins, programs and prayer cards, newspapers, a war medal and business cards.
“Quinnipiac was critical in determining where everything was,” said Connecticut State Archaeologist Nicholas Bellantoni.
“It was pretty awesome,” said D’Alleva. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a part of this.”
Shingleton said the experiences helped her to better appreciate what she has learned – and what she could do with her experience. “It was great to be part of history,” she said. “Professor Conlogue’s passion for this really comes across. He made it a very exciting experience.”
Link for more info:
http://www.pressherald.com/2013/05/05/time-capsules-honor-lincoln-showcase-1909_2013-05-05/
Quinnipiac faculty, staff, and students use diagnostic imaging techniques to learn more about Fortune. From left to right: Milad Ziyadeh '14, Natalie Pelletier, Jamie Ullinger, Robert Lombardo, Gerald Conlogue, and Julianna Lupo '14.
March 11, 2013 - Quinnipiac University faculty and students are working with the Mattatuck Museum to develop a better idea of how an eighteenth century slave lived and may have died.
A team of diagnostic imaging professors and students spent the day March 11 diligently x-raying the remains of Fortune, an African-American man who died in bondage in 1798 near the Naugatuck River.
"We are performing a comprehensive x-ray and anthropological study of Fortune's skeleton," said Professor Gerald Conlogue, co-director of the Bioanthropology Research Institute. "Since Fortune is going to be buried in May, it's important that we get as much documentation as possible."
Fortune, his wife, Dinah, and their three children were the legal property of Dr. Preserved Porter, a Waterbury physician. Fortune also had an older son, Africa, whose mother was not known. Fortune and his family lived on Porter's farm, east of the center of the city. It's believed that while Porter tended to his medical practice, Fortune may have worked on the doctor's farm, which produced rye, Indian corn, onions, potatoes, apples, beef, hogs, cider, hay, oats and buckwheat. Dinah is believed to have worked in the Porter's home, cooking and cleaning. It's believed that Fortune and his family were hired out on occasion to work in other families' homes. Fortune was in his mid to late 40s when he died. It's believed that his children were sold off shortly after his death. By 1800, only Dinah remained in the Porter household.
"If you look his bones, you can tell he did not have an easy life," Conlogue said.
After Fortune's death, Porter prepared his skeleton to serve the study of anatomy, according to the Mattatuck Museum. Fortune's bones have provided scientific evidence to document the circumstances of his life. His rugged bone structure suggests that he was powerful man accustomed to rigorous farm work. Early historians wrote that Fortune drowned after falling into the Naugatuck River, but the circumstances surrounding his death are controversial.
"Inside his bones is the story of his life," Conlogue said. "We are going to get him to tell us his story from the x-rays."
Conlogue and his colleagues, Natalie Pelletier, clinical assistant professor of diagnostic imaging, and Robert Lombardo, an adjunct professor of diagnostic imaging, will work with Jaime Ullinger, an assistant professor of anthropology and co-director of the Bioanthropology Research Institute, and Richard Gonzalez, a forensic anthropologist and assistant professor of medical sciences in the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac, examined Fortune's skeleton.
Juniors Julianna Lupo and Milad Ziyadeh spent part of their spring break assisting with the scans. "The fact that I am able to be part of this project is awesome," Ziyadeh said in between scans. "It's a great review of what we have learned."
The students are also using the unique experience to prepare for x-ray certification exams in May. "It inspires you to do more," Lupo said. "It gives you greater respect for what we are studying and for history in general."
Ullinger performed a bioanthropological analysis. In addition, she used a 3D scanning camera that produced data that can be used for a facial reconstruction. Gonzalez performed a forensic anthropological analysis to confirm that the skeleton in fact represent the remains of Fortune and to determine a possible cause and manner of death.
"They will produce a record that will last forever," Conlogue said. "This is an interdisciplinary educational project that will prove to be very beneficial."
In addition to the 3D scanning, the researchers used a 3D printer that makes replicas of the bones, demonstrating pathology. Additional medical technology enabled them to reconstruct Fortune's face.
"I think the facial reconstruction will be wonderful," Conlogue said. "People can really identify with something you can put a face to."
http://www.nhregister.com/20130908/abused-in-death-waterbury-slave-to-have-funeral
Nov. 30, 2012 - The National Geographic Society's Expeditions Council has awarded Quinnipiac University's Ron Beckett, professor emeritus in the School of Health Sciences, and Gerald Conlogue, professor of diagnostic imaging in the School of Health Sciences, a grant to participate in an international nondestructive paleoimaging/bioanthropological study of approximately 40 mummies in Lima, Peru and Quito, Ecuador.
Beckett and Conlogue, who are co-directors of the university's Bioanthropology Research Institute, will spend Jan. 13-20 examining mummies dating back as far as 150 AD from the Maranga, a pre-Inca culture that lived near the coast of present-day Peru. This will be the first time Maranga mummies will be scientifically examined.
"I will be using a digital X-ray system to look inside the mummies," Conlogue said. "Previously, I had only film to use as a recording medium."
Film has a number of drawbacks, Conlogue said, including the need for a darkroom, chemicals to process the exposed film and running water to rinse the solution off of the processed film. There is also much less room for error.
"With the digital X-ray system, the resulting image can be adjusted, similar to Photoshop, and the need to repeat an exposure is eliminated," he said.
Beckett will utilize endoscopy equipment to examine the inside of the mummies' bodies and organs and attempt to create three-dimensional images of the mummies' internal features.
"We are reconstructing their lives," Beckett said. "We hope to determine their age of death, sex, etc..., as well as if there was any evidence of past trauma or trauma near the time of death to give us a better understanding of their interactions with the environment."
The professors will also look for signs of disease to better understand if the people suffered from any infection.
"It's a great collection," Beckett said of the mummies. "We love mummies. While there is much known about the material culture of the Maranga, this is an opportunity to examine a group of mummies that have not been studied from a bioanthropological perspective. It will give us a much better picture of what life and culture was like when these individuals lived."
Quinnipiac worked with Kubtec, of Milford, to secure the digital X-ray system and specially-designed transport cases that will allow Beckett and Conlogue to transport the equipment to Ecuador.
Maria Patricia Ordenez, of Quito, Ecuador; Andrew Nelson, of the University of Western Ontario; and Katherine Harper-Beckett will also participate with the expedition.
April 25, 2012 - Jaime Ullinger, assistant professor of anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences, was named the third co-director of the Bioanthropology Research Institute.
"Jaime has actively involved her students in several institute research projects which has led to presentations and posters at national meetings," said Ronald Beckett, professor emeritus of Health Sciences and co-director of the institute. "Jerry [Conlogue] and I feel that Jaime, with her background in biological anthropology and her research, will be a fantastic addition to the Bioanthropology Research Institute and its efforts."
"I'm quite excited to be working with the Bioanthropology Research Institute," Ullinger said. "I am very excited about anthropology growing at Quinnipiac and collaborating in different departments."
Ullinger, who studies skeleton remains from archeological sites to determine how the inhabitants lived, said she anticipates utilizing the institute's technology to better understand the kind of impact the transition to urbanism had on people's daily lives.
"Our institute was modeled after the early Paleopathology association in that anyone interested in the bioanthropology and bioarchaeology of cultural remains and artifacts is welcome to become involved. Jaime's enthusiasm for this type of research and toward student involvement makes her a logical faculty member to become involved," Beckett said. "We hope Jaime will continue to do what she has demonstrated this first year. We know that she will bring another layer of expertise and vision to the Bioanthropology Research Institute."
Beckett said Ullinger's background will make the institute stronger. "The Bioanthropology Research Institute is internationally recognized in bioantropological research," Beckett said. "We hope that Jaime can build on that reputation and, with her research ideas and the students she mentors, tap into the established network of global colleagues thereby enriching both her work and the experiences of her students. The sky is the limit."
Ullinger has worked with the institute since starting at Quinnipiac last August. "We have already been working quite a bit together," Ullinger said. "This formalizes the work we have already done."
She said she and her co-directors hope to further engage undergraduates with the institute. "They will do more original research," Ullinger said. "Their increased involvement will illustrate how different fields of study can work effectively together in order to solve problems and answer questions."
Dec. 12, 2011 - Ronald Beckett was included in a National Geographic feature called "Explorers: Bios."
The Web feature included a question-and-answer interview with Beckett about his work in the field of bioanthropology and paleoimaging, including imaging mummies.
Read the interview
Nov. 8, 2011 - Ronald Beckett and Gerald Conlogue presented at a Paleopathology Association meeting in Lima, Peru on Nov. 2, 2011.
Beckett and Conlogue presented "A Field Radiographic and Endoscopic Study of the Mummies from Laguna de los Condores, Peru: A Paleopathological Analysis" with Sonia Gillen, of Centro Mallqui in Peru, and Joe Salazar, a field archeologist in Peru.
Beckett, Conlogue and Guillen also presented "Evidence of Severe Bowel Obstruction in a Chiribaya Mummy from the Osmore River Valley, Peru: A Case Study and Probable Cause of Death."
In addition, Beckett, Conlogue also presented "Bringing Imaging into the 21st Century" with Kristen Horner, a Quinnipiac alumna who assisted in the digitalization of hundreds of radiographs of mummies from the Laguna de los Condores near Leymebamba, Peru.
Aug. 31, 2010 - Ron Beckett, professor of health sciences emeritus and co-director of the Bioanthropology Research Institute in the School of Health Sciences, wrote the article, "Mastering Mummy Science," in the September issue of National Geographic. The article is about Beckett's work with the Anga culture of Papua New Guinea.