{"id":10,"date":"2013-02-04T12:30:10","date_gmt":"2013-02-04T17:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lettersoflaura.blog.lib.mcmaster.ca\/?p=10"},"modified":"2013-02-04T12:30:10","modified_gmt":"2013-02-04T17:30:10","slug":"writing-for-real-a-project-outline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/lettersoflaura\/2013\/02\/04\/writing-for-real-a-project-outline\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing for real: a project outline"},"content":{"rendered":"

The piece of writing that I would like to complete during the course of this class is a conference paper that I am scheduled to present at the Paleopathology Association meeting in early April. The paper is entitled Quantitative analysis of perimortem trauma in a fragmented, disarticulated, and commingled skeletal sample: success and failure at Smith\u2019s Knoll<\/em>. It aims to outline the approach taken toward quantifying the traumatic skeletal lesions observed in the Smith\u2019s Knoll collection, and to place this analysis within the context of previous attempts that have been made at quantitative analysis of trauma in other similar skeletal assemblages.<\/p>\n

The Smith\u2019s Knoll collection, which consists of the remains of soldiers killed during the battle of Stoney Creek in the War of 1812, is particularly challenging for paleopathological analysis because it contains severely fragmented, disarticulated, and commingled skeletal material. Currently accepted and widely used techniques for the quantitative representation of lesion prevalence in skeletal assemblages are unsuitable in many ways for application to collections like Smith\u2019s Knoll; certain assumptions inherent to these techniques are incompatible with materials that differs from complete individuals excavated from clearly differentiated burials. Despite the fact that there are major difficulties in the application of standard quantitative analytical techniques to fragmented, disarticulated, and commingled skeletal material, these techniques are often applied to such samples with little or no acknowledgement of the ways in which these assemblages may not conform to the assumptions associated with the methods used. The small numbers of researchers who have published on such collections and who have attempted quantitative analyses of the traumatic lesions observed are often not specific in describing the methods that they have used, or about whether these methods have been adapted in any way to account for the condition and preservation of the skeletal remains. I would like for this paper to serve as a starting point for what I see as a much-needed discussion about both the possibilities and the limitations of applying quantitative techniques to the analysis of traumatic lesions in fragmented, disarticulated, and commingled skeletal remains.<\/p>\n

The abstract, which has been accepted for the conference, runs as follows and provides a basic outline of what the paper sets out to accomplish:<\/p>\n

Recent attention to perimortem trauma has increased its recognition and subsequent examination in archaeological human remains. Evaluation of potential perimortem lesions formed an important part of the analytical work completed for the Smith\u2019s Knoll skeletal collection. Analysis of this War of 1812 assemblage from southern Ontario, Canada was particularly problematic as the collection was disarticulated and commingled, with the bone in a severely fragmented and damaged state. The postcranial elements of the collection were examined for evidence of perimortem traumatic injury, and fractures, sharp force, and musket lesions recorded were then both qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed. Prevalence values were calculated for each type of lesion by element and by individual when possible. These calculations utilized several different methods in order to attempt to account for variability in the completeness of fragments, both those that did and those that did not display lesions. The results of this analysis indicate that lesion prevalence in this sample does differ significantly if calculation methods are altered to account for potential variance in fragment completeness. Given this demonstrable effect of methodological choice and adjustment, specific discussion of the methods used in a given analysis is extremely valuable for allowing accurate and nuanced interpretation of the results obtained. Greater discussion of attempts to undertake difficult quantitative analyses on problematic skeletal samples, such as that completed for Smith\u2019s Knoll, will greatly help in moving these developing areas in the study of perimortem trauma forward.<\/em><\/p>\n

I will use this paper to outline the approach that was applied in the analysis of the Smith\u2019s Knoll skeletal material, highlighting both the useful information that was gained through quantitative analysis and the substantive difficulties that we encountered in attempting to apply standard methods to an unusual sample. In my thesis, I explored several different ways of quantitatively representing the traumatic lesions observed in the Smith\u2019s Knoll postcranial skeletal material, and found that the method used and the various ways in which methods could be adapted for fragmentary samples did significantly change the prevalence values obtained. This illustrates the importance of specificity in the description of quantitative methods used during analysis, which is not commonly provided in publications dealing with these types of skeletal samples. I would like to summarize what other researchers in this field have done, and to outline the ways in which discussion of both the successes and failures of any attempts at quantitative analysis is both useful and necessary to moving forward with the evaluation of trauma in analytically difficult skeletal collections.<\/p>\n

This paper is based upon ideas that I began to explore in my Master\u2019s thesis, but have not yet fully developed. As such, I have all of the data necessary to begin writing the paper, and the first aspect that I will explore, the quantitative analytical approach applied to the evaluation of traumatic lesions at Smith\u2019s Knoll, has already been fully fleshed out in my thesis. The second aspect of this paper, concerning the strengths and limitations of the work that has previously been done in the field and the discussion of what direction quantitative analyses can and should move in, will form a major portion of the discussion; these are concepts that I touched upon in my thesis but have yet to explore in detail.<\/p>\n

My paper will need to be presented in class a week earlier than scheduled, because I will be at another conference on April 3. The paper will be presented at the PPA meeting on April 9th<\/sup>. I would therefore like my drafts to be finished a little ahead of the schedule set for the class. I would like to have additional research for the second portion of the paper together by February 13th<\/sup>. I plan to start writing at this point whether research is complete or not, and to work on this paper in daily sessions for the next month. I will have a first draft of the paper and presentation materials completed by March 13th<\/sup>, and a second draft by March 20th<\/sup>. I can then present a nearly final version of the paper on March 27th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

The second part of this paper, as outlined above, will be somewhat critical of paleopathological analyses that have already been completed, potentially by some of the researchers in attendance at the meeting. I am therefore particularly concerned with how this discussion is worded so as to initiate a productive dialogue about how techniques may be improved without putting any of these more established researchers on the defensive. I will therefore need to find a way to insert myself into a \u201ccanonical\u201d discussion in order to present my critical analysis in a way that suggests change from within the existing structure. How best to, and how well I am managing to, accomplish this is something that I would like other members of the class to give me some guidance on as I begin writing and as I work through this conference paper. As well, I am much more confident in my writing than in my presentation abilities; I would therefore also appreciate some directed suggestions regarding maximizing the effectiveness of the performance aspect of my paper and its associated presentation materials, which will be Powerpoint slides.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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