The Bare Bones Of It

Hello again!

    While the title is misleading (I'm pretty much going to tell you everything that has happened thus far in extensive detail), I quite liked the ring of it and decided to use it for my own personal pleasure. 

First things first: I hope this blog post finds you well, whoever you are that is reading this! Secondly, London is spectacular and if you can ever find time to take a vacation, I highly suggest visiting the UK.

Now that those are out of the way...

As Professor Ullinger previously stated in her most recent post, the three of us worked in Cambridge on Monday and Tuesday at the Department of Biological Anthropology (can you say awesome!).  We helped make dental molds of various teeth in the mandible and maxilla, which was super cool but super scary.  Everything has to be done with a gentle touch because the teeth and bones alone were close to 5,000 years old.  

This is the finished product after making a mold! 

After finishing all of our work on Tuesday, the three of us walked around Cambridge and grabbed dinner. I snapped a lot of photos from that day and will spare you all of them. Below are a few select favorites.

After building an appetite from walking around so much, Professor Ullinger took Caitlyn and I to a very well known place in Cambridge: The Eagle.  It is a glorious place for two reasons: One, James Watson and Francis Crick announced their discovery of the DNA double Helix (see below).  Side note: while her name is not on the plaque, Rosalind Franklin did helped both men in this discovery but is unfortunately note always recognized. Here on ANEW equality is important, so you go girl!

After an incredible two days of working at Cambridge I spotted this piece of street art that I thought was pretty neat.  Everything about the image just makes me feel happy inside so I thought I'd share it with everyone.

On Wednesday we had "Nerd Day", which was insightful and peaceful.  We started our adventure that day at the Hunterian Museum and learned a great deal about how early surgeons got their bodies to work on, the types of exploratory surgeries done to advance their knowledge of animal and human anatomy and some interesting abnormal and pathological diseases. My favorite was the skeleton of the "Irish Giant" whose height was 7'7! His femurs alone were almost taller than myself. No joke.

Later on we ventured over to Highgate Cemetery and had a peaceful walk around.  It was amazing to see all of the different types of headstones and plots.  I even got to see a potential family member, Sir Sidney Nolan, an Australian painter famous for his Ned Kelly images.

We also met a fox friend who posed exceptionally well for this image. I would have thanked him but he hurried off before I could.

Here is a picture for all of you Karl Marx fans. 

On Thursday Professor Ullinger, Caitlyn and myself went to meet Professor Conlogue and Professor Walbaum for lunch at the Tippery on Fleet Street in London.  It was within walking Distance of St. Brides Church, which is where Professor Conlogue has been doing previous x-ray work on bones from the church's crypt and took us there afterwards.  

I learned that the church has had a rough history and that the renovations being done to the building are in an attempt to restore it's natural glory. In 1666, the church was left in ruins due to the Great Fire and then in 1940 was attacked in WWII by Germany.  We were lucky enough to go down into the crypt and see those ruins and also a separate area dedicated to the history of the church, which held pieces of roman coins, stained glass and other objects from the time. 

The five of us then walked to the Museum of London, and became familiar with our newest place of employment.  We haven't been able to see any of the exhibits yet, but when we do I will post on the blog!

This then brings me to Friday, which was the first official work day at the Museum.  Professor Ullinger searched through the Museum's database to look for skeletons from Farmindgon who were noted to have a specific pathology we were interested in.  Caitlyn and I then examined the skull, arms and vertebrae, taking measurements and recording them to better aid our research.

Caitlyn and I used this weekend to do some fun touristy things, which included: The Original Tour Sightseeing Bus around London, the Pride Parade in Trafalgar Square, going shopping in Covent Garden, riding on the River Thames Cruise, taking a Haunted London walking tour and visiting Windsor Castle. As I type this right now, the soles of my feet are still pulsing from all of the walking we have done!

Tower Bridge

Guild Hall

The London Eye

Big Ben

Thames River at night

Countryside on our way to Windsor

 London Tower

Tomorrow marks the last week I will be here in London and I am already feeling sad. But alas, I am having a wonderful time here and am very thankful for the opportunity to help conduct research.

Best,
    Lindsay