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Siân Halcrow

@ancientchildren.bsky.social

790 followers 180 following 97 posts

Bioarchaeologist http://childhoodbioarchaeology.org | http://facebook.com/childhoodanth/ | Co-Editor of Bioarchaeology International. Mother. British Academy Global Professor at Durham University and Professor at University of Otago | Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka .. more

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Siân Ellen Halcrow is a New Zealand academic in the field of biological anthropology, specialising in infant and child health and disease in the past. She is a professor in the department of anatomy at the University of Otago. .. more

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Siân Halcrow @ancientchildren.bsky.social · Dec 9

Read about our recent research just published. Forgotten histories: what fetal and baby remains tell us about inequality in medical collections theconversation.com/forgotten-hi... via
@ConversationEDU

Forgotten histories: what fetal and baby remains tell us about inequality in medical collections

Our new analysis of the skeletal remains and records of babies in a NZ museum collection shows they were largely born to unmarried mothers or lower-class families.

theconversation.com

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Siân Halcrow @ancientchildren.bsky.social · 48m

The Invisible Evidence of Birth: Evaluating the Relationship Between Pelvic Shape and Parity with a Pelvic Pattern Index www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-7...

The Invisible Evidence of Birth: Evaluating the Relationship Between Pelvic Shape and Parity with a Pelvic Pattern Index

It is well known that parity indirectly and directly affects the human skeleton through biomechanical strain during pregnancy, birth, lactation, and sexual steroid hormone expression. Pelvic features ...

www.researchsquare.com

Siân Halcrow @ancientchildren.bsky.social · 1d

Incorporating Evolutionary Theory Into Forensic Anthropology Methods and Practice: A Proof‐of‐Concept Study Using Skeletal Sex Estimation - Yim - 2025 - American Journal of Biological Anthropology - Wiley Online Library onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Incorporating Evolutionary Theory Into Forensic Anthropology Methods and Practice: A Proof‐of‐Concept Study Using Skeletal Sex Estimation

This study shows measurements in the DSP2 sex-estimation method cluster into integrated modules. Selecting one measurement per module preserves accuracy while reducing redundancy, demonstrating the v...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Reposted by Siân E. Halcrow

BABAO 2025 Annual Conference @babao2025meeting.bsky.social · 20d

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’ 👩🏿‍🦱⛓️⚖️

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Siân Halcrow @ancientchildren.bsky.social · 21d

Visiting New Zealand professor to study Britain’s ‘skeletons in the closet’ - www.durham.ac.uk/news-events/...

Visiting New Zealand professor to study Britain’s ‘skeletons in the closet’ - Durham University

www.durham.ac.uk

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Siân Halcrow @ancientchildren.bsky.social · 21d

Bioarcheological Perspectives on the Timing of Adolescence in Rural Avar‐Age Austria, 7th–9th Centuries ce - Klostermann - 2025 - American Journal of Biological Anthropology - Wiley Online Library onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Bioarcheological Perspectives on the Timing of Adolescence in Rural Avar‐Age Austria, 7th–9th Centuries ce

Objectives This study provides insights into adolescent development during the early medieval period in Austria and offers a point of comparison of the timing of sexual maturation relative to the Im...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Siân Halcrow @ancientchildren.bsky.social · 23d

www.nzherald.co.nz/the-listener...

Skeletons in the closet: The moral dilemma facing museums and medical schools

The NZ anthropologist facing a 'colossal job' to tackle the colonial bone trade legacy.

www.nzherald.co.nz

Reposted by Siân E. Halcrow

Kristina Killgrove @killgrove.bsky.social · 24d

Archaeologists may have found the world's oldest mummies: 10,000 years ago, groups smoke-dried their ancestors to preserve them. 🧪🏺

World's oldest mummies were smoke-dried 10,000 years ago in China and Southeast Asia, researchers find

The world's oldest evidence for purposeful human mummification comes from Southeast Asia, where people smoke-dried their ancestors' corpses 10,000 years ago.

www.livescience.com

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Siân Halcrow @ancientchildren.bsky.social · Sep 4

Revealing Developmental Transitions in Perinatal and Infant Individuals Through Microanatomical Analysis - Moreno - 2025 - American Journal of Human Biology - Wiley Online Library onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Revealing Developmental Transitions in Perinatal and Infant Individuals Through Microanatomical Analysis

Objectives Identifying signs of birth in perinatal human remains of past populations is challenging due to the lack of direct markers of this event on bones. This research aims to identify distinct ...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Siân Halcrow @ancientchildren.bsky.social · Aug 16

Full article: Biocultural Perspectives of Infancy, Childhood and Adolescence in the Past: Challenges, Complexities, and Interdisciplinarity www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Biocultural Perspectives of Infancy, Childhood and Adolescence in the Past: Challenges, Complexities, and Interdisciplinarity

This article offers an introduction to this special issue which focusses on emerging biocultural insights into non-adult lives. The five papers included in this issue are deliberately temporally, g...

www.tandfonline.com

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Siân Halcrow @ancientchildren.bsky.social · Aug 16

The Non-Adult Burials of Cabeço da Amoreira, Muge (Portugal): Recent Discoveries and New Insights into Mesolithic Funerary Practices: Childhood in the Past: Vol 0, No 0 - Get Access www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

The Non-Adult Burials of Cabeço da Amoreira, Muge (Portugal): Recent Discoveries and New Insights into Mesolithic Funerary Practices

Cabeço da Amoreira, a key Mesolithic shell mound in the Muge region (central Portugal) provides critical insights into the funerary and socio-cultural practices of Western Europe’s last hunter-gath...

www.tandfonline.com

Siân Halcrow @ancientchildren.bsky.social · Aug 10

International Journal of Osteoarchaeology | Wiley Online Library onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Beyond the Binary? A Multi‐Method Approach to Sexing Children at the Viking Age Site of Ihre, Gotland

The assessment of sex is fundamental in osteoarcheological analysis, yet traditional morphological methods are less reliable for children due to the incomplete development of sexually dimorphic trait....

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Siân Halcrow @ancientchildren.bsky.social · Jul 31

Primary Canine Hypoplasia in African American and Indonesian Children: Prevalence, Expression and Tooth Size - Lukacs - 2025 - American Journal of Biological Anthropology - Wiley Online Library onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Siân Halcrow @ancientchildren.bsky.social · Jul 31

Medieval skeletons reveal the lasting damage of childhood malnutrition – new study
theconversation.com/medieval-ske...

Medieval skeletons reveal the lasting damage of childhood malnutrition – new study

Medieval teeth reveal how childhood hunger echoes through generations.

theconversation.com

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Reposted by Felix Riede, Siân E. Halcrow

The Society for the Study of Childhood in the Past @sscipchildhood.bsky.social · Nov 30

📢 NEWS 📢 We are delighted to announce that the 2025 SSCIP Annual Conference will take place in Aarhus, Denmark from 24th - 26th June 🥳

The conference theme is 'Children and Climate Change' 🌏 Call for Papers and further information will be circulated soon #childhood #archaeology #history Please RT!

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Siân Halcrow @ancientchildren.bsky.social · Jul 24

A Heavy Issue: Changes in Body Size in London Before, During and After the Black Death - Mongillo - 2025 - American Journal of Biological Anthropology - Wiley Online Library onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Siân Halcrow @ancientchildren.bsky.social · Jul 23

Sharing a Bed With Your Kid? It’s Totally Normal in Asia. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/w...

Sharing a Bed With Your Kid? It’s Totally Normal in Asia.

www.nytimes.com

Siân Halcrow @ancientchildren.bsky.social · Jul 17

One Paleopathology and lessons from the past url: academic.oup.com/bioscience/a...

One Paleopathology and lessons from the past

This BioScience special issue explicitly focuses on One Health in advancing effective health interventions today and in the future. Interdisciplinarity is

academic.oup.com

Siân Halcrow @ancientchildren.bsky.social · Jul 13

A Framework for Incorporating Diverse Gender Identities into Forensic Anthropology Casework and Theory : Recommendations for Inclusive Practices | Current Anthropology www-journals-uchicago-edu.ezproxy.otago.ac.nz/doi/10.1086/...

EZproxy Login - University of Otago Library

www-journals-uchicago-edu.ezproxy.otago.ac.nz

Reposted by Siân E. Halcrow

AE Hoogestraat @aehoogestraat.bsky.social · Jul 3

Saw this IG post about childbirth, and it reminded me of your article. www.instagram.com/reel/DLqG4Yn...

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Reposted by Siân E. Halcrow

Children’s History Society @histchild.bsky.social · Jul 1

👧🧒 Stay up-to-date with the Children’s History Society by following us on our official social media profiles below:

Twitter/X: x.com/histchild?s=21

Facebook: facebook.com/histchild

Instagram: www.instagram.com/histchild?ig...

Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/hist...

Children's History Society

Children's History Society. 1,105 likes · 106 talking about this. The official account of the Children’s History Society 👧🧒 🧸 Exploring the diverse history of children, childhood and youth 🪁 We...

facebook.com

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Siân Halcrow @ancientchildren.bsky.social · Jul 1

Fostering Inclusive Practices of Citation and Teamwork in Biological Anthropology : A Comment on Källén et al. 2024 | Current Anthropology: Vol 66, No 3 www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

Fostering Inclusive Practices of Citation and Teamwork in Biological Anthropology : A Comment on Källén et al. 2024 | Current Anthropology: Vol 66, No 3

www.journals.uchicago.edu

Siân Halcrow @ancientchildren.bsky.social · Jun 30

Female lineages and changing kinship patterns in Neolithic Çatalhöyük | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Female lineages and changing kinship patterns in Neolithic Çatalhöyük

Combining 131 paleogenomes with bioarchaeological and archaeological data, we studied social organization and gendered practices in Çatalhöyük East Mound (7100 to 5950 BCE), a major Neolithic settleme...

www.science.org

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Siân Halcrow @ancientchildren.bsky.social · Jun 23

A medical historical museum contends with its collection of human remains

A Medical-History Museum Contends with Its Collection of Human Remains

Supporters saw the Mütter’s preserved fetuses, skulls, and “Soap Lady” as a celebration of human difference. New management saw an ethical and a political minefield.

www.newyorker.com

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Siân Halcrow @ancientchildren.bsky.social · Jun 23

Very happy to be part of this research on subsistence practices in prehistoric Myanmar link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Living in the middle of the edge: an insight into ancient subsistence practices in Myanmar - Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences

The origins of agriculture have been a focal point of interest in Southeast Asia because of the profound influence domestication of cereal crops had on the ancient inhabitants of the region. Historica...

link.springer.com

Reposted by Siân E. Halcrow, Marie Cronqvist

Dr. Helle Strandgaard Jensen (she/her) @sesamescholar.bsky.social · Jun 22

I am looking for a postdoc for my ERC WEB CHILD project. 2,5ys. Aarhus, Denmark. Well paid. Amazing team.
You don't need a PhD in history or prior knowledge of digital methods 😄 You do need fluent Korean and English and interest in collaborative work.
www.au.dk/om/stillinge...

2.5-year postdoctoral position in South Korean Childhood and Web history 1995-2005 - Ledig stilling på Aarhus Universitet

Ledig stilling ved Institut for Kultur og Samfund - Historie, fag, Aarhus Universitet

www.au.dk

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Siân Halcrow @ancientchildren.bsky.social · Jun 13

www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edi...

Mothers and infants | 33 | Materializing maternal health and reproduct

Within the discipline of archaeology, human reproduction has all too often been overlooked as a topic worthy of social commentary or exploration. This chapter

www.taylorfrancis.com

Siân Halcrow @ancientchildren.bsky.social · May 26

Teaching evaluations shook my confidence—until I learned to filter the critiques | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

Teaching evaluations shook my confidence—until I learned to filter the critiques

“I don’t need to take all feedback equally seriously,” this professor writes

www.science.org

Siân Halcrow @ancientchildren.bsky.social · May 16

Childhood scars in adult remains: bioarcheological approaches to early life in medieval Galicia using dental enamel hypoplasia: Journal of Medieval Iberian Studies: Vol 0, No 0 www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Childhood scars in adult remains: bioarcheological approaches to early life in medieval Galicia using dental enamel hypoplasia

This study integrates historical and osteoarcheological approaches to examine childhood in medieval Iberia, offering insights into living conditions, resource management, and welfare of a particula...

www.tandfonline.com

Reposted by Siân E. Halcrow

Australasian Society for Human Biology @aushumanbiology.bsky.social · May 6

The 2025 round of the ASHB Studentship is now open for applications! Up to $2000 of funding is available to support student research. To become a member and learn more about this opportunity, please visit www.australasianhumanbiology.com

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Siân Halcrow @ancientchildren.bsky.social · Apr 23

NIH guts its first and largest study centered on women | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

NIH cancels its first and largest study centered on women

The Women’s Health Initiative has produced numerous influential findings