Forensic Anthropology Day

Visit Catalyst on Saturday 23rd March for a chance to take part in three exciting workshops presented by Forensic Anthropologist Dr Chris Aris!

These workshops are suitable for teenagers and adults.

Workshop 1 – Identifying the dead, a forensic Osteology Workshop from 11:00am – 12:15pm

Discover how forensic anthropologists recover human remains and what they can learn about victims from their bones.
In this workshop you’ll learn a range of methods used by experts to produce biological profiles, then apply these techniques to produce your own profile from human skeletal elements.
The practical elements of the workshop will include the chance to interact with real human remains if you choose, as well as the chance to ask questions one-to-one with Dr Aris.

Tickets for this workshop cost £4.95 per person in addition to the normal admission charge and can be booked here 

Workshop 2 – The Butcher of Woburn Abbey from 12:30pm – 1:15pm

Learn about the real life case at Woburn Abbey where multiple sets of human skeletal remains were unexpectedly found. In this interactive talk, Dr Aris will speak on each step of the case covering the discovery and recovery of the bones, his involvement as the forensic anthropologist, up to the conclusion of the investigation.
Perfectly following the Forensic Osteology workshop, Dr Aris will ask you your opinion on the case before revealing the final outcome.

This talk will include images of skeletonised human remains (bones only)

Tickets for this workshop cost £1.95 per person in addition to the normal admission charge and can be booked here

Workshop 3 – Facing the dead, a facial reconstruction workshop from 2:00pm – 4:00pm

Discover what forensic scientists learn from a human skull and how they can reconstruct a face from skeletal remains, all under the guidance of forensic anthropologist Dr Chris Aris. Following on from the Forensic Osteology workshop you will be taught methods for differentiating male and female skulls using both real-life casts, and real skeletal material.
You will then be shown how a forensic expert can produce a facial reconstruction using clay and plastic bone. Using these new skills you will be challenged to reconstruct a human face yourself, which you will have the chance to take home.

The real skeletal elements used in this workshop come from people who donated their remains for scientific learning. Participants will also work with resin cast skeletal replicas.

Tickets for this workshop cost £9.00 per person in addition to the normal admission charge and can be booked here

OR you may wish to make a saving and book all three workshops on one ticket at £14.50. You can book this here

About the presenter
Dr Chris Aris is a certified Forensic Anthropologist and expert in skeletal identification, biological profiling and forensic anatomy. He is a lecturer at Keele University and co-founder of FATAL (Forensic Anthropology and Taphonomic Analysis Lab). Alongside his teaching and research he also regularly works with both archaeological and police units as a consultant and trainer in skeletal analysis.