Profs & Pints DC: The Stories in Our Bones

Human history comes into focus through the bones beneath our feet in this Profs and Pints talk, where archaeology reveals stories that written records often leave behind. Anthropologist Dr. David Hunt draws on decades of forensic and archaeological work to explore what skeletal remains can uncover about the people who lived in and around Washington, D.C., from early Indigenous communities to more recent residents. Rather than treating bones as scientific curiosities, the discussion examines them as evidence of migration, health, labor, conflict, and everyday life, showing how physical remains reshape familiar narratives about the region's past. Hunt's experience with museum collections and forensic investigations grounds the evening in real case studies, turning abstract history into something tangible and unexpectedly personal. It is a perspective on the capital that begins underground, where fragments of the past continue to challenge what we think we know.