This award provides funds for a Research Experiences for Undergraduate Site and the University of Rhode Island. Students will be trained in anthropometry, osteopathology, tissue sample collection, trace metal and stable isotope analyses, and biological differentiation of skeletal samples as tools for studying adaptation to physical and cultural environments through time. Such experiences have proven useful to students majoring in anthropology, biology or ecology and interested in pursuing an interdisciplinary approach towards a common objective--namely, paleodietary reconstruction. Undergraduate student from these fields will work together as a team to realize this common goal. They will acquire invaluable experience in the field and subsequently in the laboratory as the data are collected and analyzed. The U.S. institutions involved will be collaborating with the University of Tarapaca in northern Chile. The faculty team has established a well-defined research project for undergraduate training in paleonutrition reconstruction based on well-preserved mummies and skeletal remains spanning the last 8,000 years from northern Chile. The students will learn how to formulate and test hypotheses, they will learn new techniques and be in a position to assess to value of these techniques for future studies. Preparations are currently underway for a student symposium to be held at the Plains Conference in Sioux Falls, SD, October 1989. Entitled "REU Symposium: Diet Reconstruction and Paleoecology," this forum will allow the 1989 student team to present individual and joint papers summarizing their work from the previous summer.
