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Dr Stanley Serafin
Senior Lecturer

Dr Stanley Serafin

BSc (Biomedical Engineering)

PhD (Biological Anthropology)

Medicine & Health
School of Medical Sciences

My research integrates osteological, archaeological and biogeochemical (radiocarbon, isotope, DNA, paleoclimate) data. This work is multidisciplinary in nature and involves close collaboration with local communities, archaeologists and other specialists from a variety of fields.
Phone
+61 (2) 9065 1808
E-mail
s.serafin@unsw.edu.au
Location
Wallace Wurth Room 210
  • Book Chapters | 2021
    Serafin S, 2021, 'A Bioarchaeological Perspective on Diet, Health, and Lifestyle at Mayapán', in Masson M; Hare T; Peraza Lope C; Russell B (ed.), Settlement, Economy, and Society at Mayapán, Yucatan, Mexico, University of Pittsburgh Center for Comparative Archaeology, Pittsburgh, pp. 208 - 222, https://sites.pitt.edu/~ccapubs/pdfdownloads/PITTmem27-Masson_etal_2021.pdf
    Book Chapters | 2020
    Serafin S, 2020, 'Recent Advances in the Archaeology of Maya Warfare', in Fagan GG; Fibiger L; Hudson M; Trundle M (ed.), The Cambridge World History of Violence, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 198 - 218, http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/9781316341247.011
    Book Chapters | 2016
    Kennett DJ; Masson MA; Serafin S; Culleton BJ; Lope CP, 2016, 'War and food production at the postclassic maya city of Mayapán', in The Archaeology of Food and Warfare: Food Insecurity in Prehistory, pp. 161 - 192, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18506-4_9
    Book Chapters | 2014
    Serafin S; González EU; Lope CP, 2014, 'Prácticas funerarias y rituales en el cenote san josé de mayapán', in The Archaeology of Yucatán: New Directions and Data, pp. 81 - 92, http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvqmp1bv.11
    Book Chapters | 2014
    Serafin S; Lope CP; González EU; Kú PD, 2014, 'Odontometric investigation of the origin of freestanding shrine ossuaries at Mayapan', in The Bioarchaeology of Space and Place: Ideology, Power, and Meaning in Maya Mortuary Contexts, pp. 141 - 167, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0479-2_6
    Book Chapters | 2014
    Serafin S; Peraza Lope C; Cucina A, 2014, 'Dental Nonmetric Investigation of Population Dynamics at Mayapan', in Cucina A (ed.), Archaeology and Bioarchaeology of Population Movement among the Prehispanic Maya, Springer, pp. 97 - 107, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10858-2_9
    Book Chapters | 2013
    Serafin S; Peraza Lope C; Cucina A, 2013, 'Investigación bioarqueológica de la antigua población de Mayapan', in Cucina A (ed.), Afinidades Biológicas, Etnicidad y Dinámicas poblacionales en el Área Maya y Territorios Circun-Vecinos, Departamento de Extensión, Universidad Autonoma de Yucatán, Mexico, pp. 39 - 56
    Book Chapters | 2013
    Serafin S; Štrkalj G; Štrkalj M, 2013, 'Using Anatomy Education to Develop the Research Skills of Chiropractic Students: A Brief Report', in Giardino AP; Giardino ER (ed.), Medical Education: Global Perspectives, Challenges and Future Directions, Nova Science Publishers, pp. 179 - 184
    Book Chapters | 2007
    Serafin S; Peraza Lope C, 2007, 'Human Sacrificial Rites Among the Maya of Mayapan: A Bioarchaeological Perspective', in Tiesler V; Cucina A (ed.), New Perspectives on Human Sacrifice and Ritual Body Treatments in Ancient Maya Society, Springer, New York, pp. 232 - 252
  • Journal articles | 2022
    Kennett DJ; Masson M; Lope CP; Serafin S; George RJ; Spencer TC; Hoggarth JA; Culleton BJ; Harper TK; Prufer KM; Milbrath S; Russell BW; González EU; McCool WC; Aquino VV; Paris EH; Curtis JH; Marwan N; Zhang M; Asmerom Y; Polyak VJ; Carolin SA; James DH; Mason AJ; Henderson GM; Brenner M; Baldini JUL; Breitenbach SFM; Hodell DA, 2022, 'Drought-Induced Civil Conflict Among the Ancient Maya', Nature Communications, vol. 13, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31522-x
    Journal articles | 2022
    Paris EH; Baquedano E; Peraza Lope C; Masson MA; Kennett DJ; Serafin S; Meanwell JL, 2022, 'METALWORKING AT MAYAPAN, YUCATAN, MEXICO: DISCOVERIES FROM THE R-183 GROUP', Ancient Mesoamerica, pp. 1 - 23, http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0956536122000128
    Journal articles | 2022
    Serafin S; Masson MA; Peraza Lope C; Kennett DJ; George RJ, 2022, 'Social Identity and Dental Modification at the Postclassic Maya Urban Centre of Mayapan', Cambridge Archaeological Journal, vol. 32, pp. 117 - 135, http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0959774321000342
    Journal articles | 2021
    Masson MA; Russell BW; Serafin S; Lope CP, 2021, 'Hybridity and Mortuary Patterns at the Colonial Maya Visita Settlement of Yacman, Mexico', International Journal of Historical Archaeology, vol. 25, pp. 905 - 930, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10761-020-00581-5
    Journal articles | 2020
    Paris EH; Bravo RL; Serafin S, 2020, 'A Funerary Cave at Moxviquil, Chiapas, Mexico', Journal of Field Archaeology, vol. 45, pp. 86 - 105, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00934690.2019.1693091
    Journal articles | 2019
    Wilson A; Serafin S; Seckiner D; Berry R; Mallett X, 2019, 'Evaluating the utility of time-lapse imaging in the estimation of post-mortem interval: An Australian case study', Forensic Science International: Synergy, vol. 1, pp. 204 - 210, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fsisyn.2019.08.003
    Journal articles | 2017
    AbouHashem Y; Dayal M; Serafin S; Štrkalj G, 2017, 'Students' attitudes toward body image donation for 3D printing', Clinical Anatomy, vol. 30, pp. 1005 - 1006, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ca.22978
    Journal articles | 2017
    Paris EH; Serafin S; Masson MA; Peraza Lope C; Vidal Guzmán C; Russell BW, 2017, 'Violence, desecration, and urban collapse at the Postclassic Maya political capital of Mayapán', Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, vol. 48, pp. 63 - 86, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2017.06.002
    Journal articles | 2016
    Serafin S, 2016, 'Book review', HOMO, vol. 67, pp. 258 - 259, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jchb.2016.04.004
    Journal articles | 2014
    Alexander M; Marten M; Stewart E; Serafin S; Štrkalj G, 2014, 'Attitudes of Australian chiropractic students toward whole body donation: A cross-sectional study', Anatomical Sciences Education, vol. 7, pp. 117 - 123, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ase.1390
    Journal articles | 2014
    Serafin S; Lope CP; Uc González E, 2014, 'Bioarchaeological investigation of ancient Maya violence and warfare in inland northwest Yucatan, Mexico', American Journal of Physical Anthropology, vol. 154, pp. 140 - 151, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.22490
    Journal articles | 2012
    Serafin S, 2012, 'The context of ancient American violence', Journal of Iberian and Latin American Studies, vol. 18, pp. 79 - 85, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13260219.2012.691262
    Journal articles | 2010
    Serafin S, 2010, 'Dental caries at a late pre-Hispanic regional Maya capital', HOMO, vol. 61, pp. 217 - 218, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jchb.2010.01.035
  • Preprints | 2022
    Dorranian D; Serafin S; Lope CP; González EU; Russell B; Murphy E; Wilson L, 2022, Biomechanical Investigation of Ancient Maya Warfare at Mayapan, Yucatan, Mexico, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2022.07.11.499503

My research specifically examines mortuary practices, body modification, diet and health data in skeletal remains from Maya archaeological sites in Yucatan, Tabasco and Chiapas, Mexico.

The Conversation: Climate, conflict, collapse: how drought destabilised the last major precolonial Mayan city

My Teaching

When I teach anatomy, I leverage my background in biological anthropology to nurture student curiosity about why the human body has the structure that it does. Rather than rote memorization of dry lists of facts, I teach students to approach the subject scientifically through the critical evaluation of evidence. Through hands-on learning with fossil casts and donor specimens as well as a variety of digital resources, students learn the evolutionary origins of different aspects of human anatomy and their clinical implications, modern human variability and the plasticity of the human body.

Courses taught:

  • ANAT2521 Biological Anthropology
  • ANAT2511 Fundamentals of Anatomy
  • ANAT2111 Introductory Anatomy
  • ANAT2451 Functional Anatomy for Health and Exercise Science
  • ANAT3131 Functional Anatomy of the Head, Neck and Back