About Us

The Biological Anthropology Lab serves as the primary location for teaching and research in biological anthropology at SDSU. Our faculty, who specialize in bioarchaeology & forensic anthropology, human behavioral ecology & the evolution of drug use, and primatology, work with and mentor undergraduate and graduate students in the lab and in the field.

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Graduate student, KT Hanson, observing moor macaques in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Photo credit: Kristen Morrow.
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Moor macaques in Bantimurung Bulusaraung National Park, Sulawesi, Indonesia. Photo credit: Kristen Morrow.

Research

  • Primate behavior and ecology
  • Ethnoprimatology
  • Human behavioral ecology
  • Evolution of drug use
  • Forensic anthropology
  • Bioarchaeology
  • Paleopathology

Resources

  • Radiographic and histological analysis
  • Anthropometric measurement
  • Centrifuging
  • Enzyme linked immunoassays (ELISA)
  • Video data analysis
  • Statistical and spatial analysis (ArcGIS)

Collections

  • Human anatomy: 15 articulated and 25 unarticulated skeletons
  • Paleopathology and forensic casts
  • Extensive hominin collection, including articulated Lucy, Homo erectus, and Neandertal skeletons
  • Extensive nonhuman primate comparative collection
  • Faunal collection for comparative analysis