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	All human remains in our care are handled with the utmost dignity and respect at all times. We do our best to honor reasonable special requests for handling or storage that are made by relatives or Native American groups while remains are in our care. All laboratory personnel are required to undergo training in human remains protocol, safety and security procedures, and confidentiality issues. Written guidelines are provided to all individuals, who are required to sign a statement of understanding.

Bioanthropology Laboratory

The SFSU Bioanthropology Laboratory offers consulting services to public and private organizations in the recovery, excavation and/or analysis of recent and archaeological human remains. Our laboratory services primarily focus on human skeletal remains from forensic contexts, as well as NAGPRA inventory, NHPA Section 106, and California Environmental Quality Act compliance projects. All projects involving human remains of Native American ancestry are conducted with direct consultation with designated Most Likely Descendents. In the case of long-term projects we request the presence during analysis of a Native American monitor.

The laboratory is staffed by two full time physical anthropologists (Drs. Mark C. Griffin and Cynthia Wilczak) and graduate students enrolled in the MA Program.

Located on the third floor of the Science Building, the 1000 square feet of floor space in the main lab includes separate areas areas for analysis, wet-processing, limited-term artifact and skeletal curation, photography, computer operations, and cold storage. Separtely locked evidence lockers are located within the locked and alarmed facility The entire laboratory is a limited access facility with a perimeter alarm system directly connected to the campus police.

Services provided by the Bioanthropology Laboratory include:

	field recovery of scattered and buried human remains and associated evidence for medicolegal personnel
	forensic skeletal analysis of personal identification, trauma, and pathological conditions
	emergency excavation of disturbed archeological sites containing human remains
	analysis of skeletal remains for determination of species
	inventory of human skeletal remains for NAGPRA compliance
	analysis of human skeletal remains from CEQA projects (including determination of sex, age, ancestry, stature, body build, pathological conditions, trauma, and postmortem modifications)

For reasons of confidentiality, propriety, due process, site protection, and security, we generally do not discuss human remains cases with the public, the press, or with agencies not directly involved in a project. As provided by California Public Law Sections 6254 and 6254.10, we will not disclose records of Native American graves, cemeteries, and sacred places and records of Native American places, features, and objects described in Sections 5097.9 and 5097.993 of the Public Resources Code.

Human remains cases covered by Federal Public Law 96-95, according to the provisions of the law, will not be discussed with the public under any circumstances.

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