The Life Scientific: Jacqueline McKinley

科学人生:杰克琳·麦金利

Discovery

2025-09-30

26 分钟
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How much information can you extract from a burnt fragment of human bone? Quite a lot, it turns out - not only about the individual, but also their broader lives and communities; and these are the stories unearthed by Jacqueline McKinley, a Principal Osteoarchaeologist with Wessex Archaeology. During her career, Jackie has analysed thousands of ancient burial sites across the British Isles, bringing to life the old traditions around death via often cremated human remains. She's also assisted criminal investigators with forensic analysis, and contributed to some of the UK's best-loved archaeological TV shows. And one thing she’s absolutely clear about: far from being macabre, osteoarchaeology is more about the living, than the dead... In conversation with Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Jackie talks about the stories we can derive from skeletal remains, how western attitudes to death have gone through a major recent shift, and why she's kept some of her late father's bones. Presented by Jim Al-Khalili Produced for BBC Studios by Lucy Taylor Reversion for World Service by Minnie Harrop
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  • This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK.

  • I have the feeling that Shopify optimizes their platform continuously.

  • Everything is super simple, integrated and linkable.

  • And the time and the money that I save can be invested in other ways.

  • Especially in growth.

  • How much information can you extract from a burnt fragment of bone?

  • The answer might surprise you because today,

  • through a combination of science, technology and detective work,

  • cremated bone and indeed other remains from ancient burial sites can tell us a huge amount about their backstories.

  • This subterranean world where science meets history is where today's guest digs for answers,

  • quite literally.

  • Jacqueline McKinley is a principal osteoarcheologist with Wessex archaeology and has analysed thousands of burial sites across the British Isles,

  • dating from around 9,000 BC through to the comparatively modern 18th century.

  • Over her career, Jackie's brought to life ancient societies via burned bone fragments,

  • helped criminal investigators with forensic analysis and contributed to some of Britain's best-loved archaeological TV shows.

  • And one thing she's absolutely clear on is that far from being macabre,

  • osteoarchaeology is actually more about the living than the dead.

  • That being said, we are going to be talking a lot about bones,

  • burials and skeletal remains over the next half hour.

  • So if you are eating your breakfast, you have been warned.