People

Petra Banks

Petra Banks, Term Assistant Professor, PhD, Texas State University, 2024

Phone: 907-474-6755Petra Banks, UAF Photo
Office: Bunnell Building 401
Lab: Zooarchaeology Lab Bunnell Building 403
Email: pmbanks@alaska.edu

 

Interests:

Forensic Anthropology, Skeletal Trauma, Blast Trauma, Mass Disasters, Disaster Victim Identification, Forensic Archaeology, Bioarchaeology, Historic Cemeteries, 3D Imaging

 

Research:

I am trained as a forensic anthropologist and bioarchaeologist with a strong foundation in skeletal analysis and excavation, and a focus on skeletal trauma. My research examines the patterns of skeletal trauma in a variety of traumatic contexts, including falls from height, motor vehicle and pedestrian impacts, blast events, and aircraft crashes. With my research, I aim to create a referential database which would allow comparison of the locations of skeletal trauma in existing traumatic cases from modern contexts with the skeletal trauma of unidentified persons, and to continue to study skeletal blast trauma using experimental methods and computed tomography. I am experienced in the excavation of historic cemeteries including work in historic cemeteries in Texas, and a Stalin-era mass grave in the Republic of Georgia. As part of Operation Identification, I worked on the exhumation of unidentified remains of deceased individuals from modern Texas cemeteries who died crossing the US/Mexico border for the purpose of identification and repatriation. I am currently a consultant for local law enforcement and the Alaska State Medical Examiner for forensic anthropological casework.

Courses Offered:

  • Introduction to Anthropology (ANTH 101X)
  • Special Topics: Forensic Anthropology (ANTH 293)
  • Human Origins (ANTH 423/623)
  • Human Osteology (ANTH 422/625)

Selected Works:

2024 Banks, P. Identifying Skeletal Trauma Distribution Patterns by Event Type: A Comparison between Blast and Non-Blast Events with Similar Physical Etiologies. PhD Dissertation. Department of Anthropology. Texas State University.

2022 Banks, P., Osterholtz, A. The Crumbling of the State Asylum: Structural and Physical Violence and the Loss of Moral Treatment. In A. Schrenk and L. Tremblay (Eds.). Bioarchaeology of Care Through Population-Level Analyses. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida.

2017 Banks, P. Interpreting Conflict in the Past: Applying the Dirty War Index to a Bioarchaeological Setting. Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science (IAPHS) Blog. May 15, 2017. https://iaphs.org/interpreting-conflict-past-applying-dirty- war-index-bioarchaeological-setting/

2015 Banks, P. The Journal of Fred W. Fickett: A Gritty Perspective into Lt. Allen’s 1885 Copper River Expedition. UAA Student Showcase Journal: Recognizing Excellence.

2024 Zuckerman, M., Davenport, M., DeGaglia, C.M.S., Banks, P., Miller, D.S., Siddiqui, S.N., The Poetics of Violence in Post-Medieval England: Identification of Gendered Performative Violence in the Past. In R.A. Campbell & A.J. Osterholtz (Eds.). The Poetics of Violence in Afroeurasian Bioarchaeology. Springer.

2022 Goldstein, J.Z., Moe, M.E., Wiedenmeyer, E.L., Banks, P.M., Mavroudas, S.R., & Hamilton, M.D. Humanitarian action in academic institutions: A case study in the ethical stewardship of unidentified forensic cases. Forensic Sciences Research. 7:3, 358-365.

2017 Zuckerman M, Davenport M, King R, Banks P. Disease, trauma, and embodied stigma: did chronic infection with syphilis influence experiences of trauma and recidivistic trauma in post-medieval London?. In: C. Tegtmeyer, D.L. Martin (Eds.). Broken Bones, Broken Bodies: Bioarchaeology and Forensic Approaches of Accumulative Trauma and Violence. Lexington Books. p 83-103.

2017 Zuckerman MK, Banks P. Potential Applications of Public Health Tools to Bioarchaeological Data Sets: The “Dirty War Index” and the Biological Costs of Armed Conflict for Children. In: C. Tegtmeyer, D.L. Martin (Eds.). Bioarchaeology of Women and Children in Times of War. Springer Publishing Co. p 149-175.