YSU student gets grant to study remains

Staff report

youngstown

Molly E. Toth of Struthers, a senior anthropology major at Youngstown State University, has been awarded a grant to study human remains on San Salvador Island in the Bahamas.

The $800 grant from the Gerace Research Centre on San Salvador Island will allow Toth to conduct a detailed study of human skeletal remains on the site of the research center. In addition to performing metric and nonmetric analysis to make estimations of age, sex and ancestry, she also will be implementing a short-term conservation program to ensure proper care and storage for the remains.

Toth first traveled to the GRC a year ago as part of a YSU archaeology class, at which time she was shown the remains and made a proposal to conduct a more in-depth study.

With the grant, Toth will return to the GRC to continue the research under the supervision of Tom Delvaux, an adjunct YSU anthropology faculty member. The grant will be used to offset transportation costs and room-and-board expenses.

The College of the Bahamas’ Gerace Research Centre (formerly the Bahamian Field Station), which occupies a former U.S. Naval Base on the island of San Salvador, has been in operation for more 30 years as an educational and research institution. The GRC provides accommodations, laboratory space and logistical support for teachers and researchers interested in the tropical environments available on San Salvador.

For more information, visit www.geraceresearchcentre.com/.

In 1492, Christopher Columbus made his first landfall in the New World at San Salvador. The island is one of the outermost of a chain of some 700 islands sprinkled throughout more than 5,000 square miles of the waters.