Dr. Christopher Schmidt Serves as Keynote Speaker at 24th Congress of the Italian Anthropology Association

In September 2022, Dr. Christopher W. Schmidt, Chair and professor of Anthropology, was a keynote speaker at the 24th Congress of the Italian Anthropology Association in Chieti, Italy. 

Dr. Schmidt’s talk focused on the People of Herculaneum and the research he has been conducting on them for the past 10 years with his colleagues in Chieti, Italy. The group’s research included reconstructing the diet of the Herculaneum people by studying their teeth, studying the patterning of thermal changes in their bones, and looking at the biological ancestry of the people who died in the Herculaneum region through additional study of their bones and teeth. The goal of this research is to better understand the kind of people living at Herculaneum and their lifestyle.

“It was a tremendous honor to be a keynote speaker,” said Dr. Schmidt. “To be able to share our findings with such a distinguished crowd was amazing.”