Last friday a large group of our loyal volunteers from the Beemster came to Leiden to check up on progress in the lab, and see where the Beemster skeletons are currently housed. After a tour of our facilities, they were presented with short lectures by master-students Barbara, Jessica, and Jaap about their preliminary research results followed by a lecture by Dr. Waters about an interesting skeleton with achondroplasia (dwarfism). Over the last year, the volunteers cleaned hundreds of the Beemster skeletons, and their hard work is a big contribution to the research, of which the first results are coming in. After the washing of skeletons is finished, they will continue to help out by collecting archival data, which we will eventually combine with the osteobiographical results. The lab visit was appropriately followed by a visit to the National Museum of Antiquities and of course, cold drinks in the sun along the Leiden canals.
