Biological anthropology combines the social sciences with biological studies. Two of the major foci of the field are human evolution and human biosocial variation. Primate studies are a part of biological anthropology and assist anthropologists in understanding how humans evolved from earlier life forms. Bioarchaeology is a combination of archaeology with the human skeletal knowledge of biological anthropologists. They are people who specialize in the study of human remains from archaeological sites.
Forensic anthropology is another subfield of biological anthropology. Forensic anthropology uses the knowledge of the human skeleton that biological anthropologists have in order to assist law enforcement in identifying unknown skeletons and estimating time since death in the extended post-mortem interval. CMU has a minor in forensic anthropology, centered on the Forensic Investigation Research Station, one of a handful of places in the world that use human remains to study decomposition. The Donated Human Skeletal Collection is also an incredible resource for both education and research involving the human skeleton.