People - Faculty

Osbjorn M. Pearson
Associate Professor of Anthropology (Evolutionary Anthropology)
At UNM since Fall 1999

ompear@unm.edu

Anthropology Courses taught at UNM

  • Introduction to Anthropology (101)
  • Evolution and Human Emergence (150)
  • Human Evolution Laboratory (151L)
  • Human Biology (350)
  • Anthropology of the Human Skeleton (351)
  • Human Origins (357)
  • Paleoanthropology (457/557)
  • Reconstructing Life from the Skeleton (458)
  • Inferring Behavior from the Skeleton (556)
  • Seminar (with Lawrence Straus): The Middle to Upper Paleolithic Transition (577)
  • ANTH 577 - Seminar: European Prehistory: The Middle to Upper Paleolithic Transition (co-taught with Dr. Lawrence Straus)

Education

University of Texas at Austin, Anthropology, BA 1990
State University of New York at Stony Brook, Anthropological Sciences, MA 1995, PhD 1997
Dissertation: “Postcranial Morphology and the Origin of Modern Humans”


Research

Paleoanthropology, origin of modern humans, skeletal biology, functional morphology, quantitative methods; Africa, Europe


Selected Publications

“Statistical and Biological Definitions of ‘Anatomically Modern’ Humans: Suggestions for an Integrated Approach to Modern Morphology,” Evolutionary Anthropology 17 (2008): 38-48

(K. J. Carlson, F. E. Grine and Pearson) “Robusticity and Sexual Dimorphism in the Postcranium of Modern Hunter-Gatherers from Australia,” American Journal of Physical Anthropology 134 (2007): 9-23

(T. E. Hanson and Pearson) “Fitting MANOVA Models with Missing Continuous Data Using Reference Priors,” Communications in Statistics – Simulation and Computation 36 (2007): 621-30

(J. Baker and Pearson) “Statistical Methods in Bioarchaeology: Applications of Ageadjustment and Logistic Regression to Comparisons of Skeletal Populations with Differing Agestructures,” Journal of Archaeological Science 33 (2006): 218-26

(Y. M. Lam and Pearson) “Bone Density Studies and the Interpretation of the Faunal Record,” Evolutionary Anthropology 14 (2005): 99-108

(Y. M. Lam and Pearson) “The Fallibility of Bone Density Values and Their Use in Archaeological Analyses,” Journal of Taphonomy 2 (2004): 99-115

(and D. E. Lieberman) “The Aging of Wolff’s ‘Law’: Ontogeny and Responses to Mechanical Loading in Cortical Bone,” Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 47 (2004): 63-99

“Has the Combination of Genetic and Fossil Data Solved the Riddle of the Origin of Modern Humans?” Evolutionary Anthropology 13 (2004): 145-59

(D. E. Lieberman, Pearson, J. D. Polk, B. Demes and A. W. Crompton) “Optimization of Bone Growth and Remodeling in Response to Loading in Tapered Mammalian Limbs,” Experimental Biology 206 (2003): 3125-38

(D. E. Lieberman, M. J. Devlin and Pearson) “Articular Surface Area Responses to Mechanical Loading: Effects of Exercise, Age, and Skeletal Location,” American Journal of Physical Anthropology 116 (2001): 266-77


Maxwell Museum
Human Nature
To support the Anthropology Newsletter, the department has designed the bag and mug pictured above. The 12 oz mug, in black and red, is very attractive and the shopping bag, made of 100% recyclable materials, is machine washable (do not put in dryer) and has been manufactured to reduce our use of plastic bags from the grocery store. You may receive either item for a donation of the following amount: Mug $15.00, Bag $12.50 (prices include shipping within US)
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