Archaeoentomology lecture

Jean-Bernard Huchet works as archaeoentomologist (the study of insect remains recovered in archaeological contexts) at the National Museum of Natural History (Paris). In 1996, from the study of the entomofauna found in a 10th century sarcophagus attributed to Guillaume Taillefer, the Count of Toulouse, he laid the groundwork for a new discipline: "l'Archéoentomologie funéraire" (Funerary Archaeoentomology), which can be defined as the application of Forensic entomology to the study of graves and human remains recovered within archaeological contexts.

The EAFE meeting will be a good opportunity for him to present several "old cases" dealing with past funerary practices evidenced by the study of relevant, well-preserved insect remains as well as some amazing cases of human bone modifications perpetrated by several families of hexapods formerly misinterpreted as palaeopathologies.