About this book
Advances in Human Palaeopathology provides researchers and practitioners with a comprehensive guide to the main methods and techniques that are currently available for studying diseases and related conditions from human skeletal remains. It describes the ways in which these methods can be applied to the reconstruction of health, disease and activity patterns in the past.
The book is divided into two parts: Part I provides an up-to-date account of some of the latest techniques for studying disease in ancient remains. These include imaging techniques, such as radiography and CT scanning, and biochemical and histological analyses. Recently these have assumed a greater importance in the identification and interpretation of remains, enhancing the more traditional methods based on careful visual inspection of lesions. Part II discusses the diagnosis and interpretation of particular classes of disease. The emphasis here is on what can be learnt by taking a biocultural or holistic approach to the study of disease frequencies at a population level.
Written by an international team of experts, this book provides the first truly integrated methodological and biocultural approach to human palaeopathology. This will be essential reading for all researchers and practitioners concerned with health and disease in past populations.
Contents
Preface Simon Mays and Ron PinhasiPART I: ANALYTICAL APPROACHES IN PALAEOPATHOLOGY1. The chemical and microbial degradation of bones and teeth Gordon Turner-Walker 2. How representative are human skeletal assemblages for population analysis? Ron Pinhasi and Chryssi Bourbou 3.Epidemiological approaches in palaeopathologyRon Pinhasi and Katy Turner 4. Macroscopic analysis and data collection in palaeopathologyAnne L. Grauer 5. Radiography and allied techniques in the palaeopathology of skeletal remains Simon Mays 6. CT-scanning and 3D-visualisation of mummies and bog bodies Niels Lynnerup 7. Histological studies on ancient boneGordon Turner-Walker and Simon Mays 8. Molecular palaeopathology of human infectious disease Helen D. Donoghue 9. Databases William White PART II: DIAGNOSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DISEASE IN HUMAN REMAINS 10. Differential diagnosis of skeletal lesions in infectious disease Donald J. Ortner 11. Metabolic bone disease Simon Mays 12. Tumours and tumour-like processes Don Brothwell 13. Advances in the palaeopathology of teeth and jaws Alan Ogden 14. Trauma Pia Bennike 15. Congenital Anomalies Ethne Barnes 16. Growth in past archaeological populations Ron Pinhasi INDEX
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Biography
Ron Pinhasi received his PhD from the University of Cambridge, England in 2003. He spent two years in a Lise Meitner postdoctoral position at the Natural History museum, Vienna, examining the health status of early medieval Austrian populations. He is currently a lecturer in Archaeology, University College Cork, Ireland. His research focuses on growth and development in past populations, the origin and spread of leprosy in Eurasia, and the origins and spread of farming in the Near East. he carries out fieldwork in Israel and directs prehistoric excavations in Armenia. Key publications include 'Morbidity, rickets, and long bone growth in post-medieval Britain - a cross-population analysis' (with Shaw, White and Ogden), Annals of Human biology, 2006; 'A cross-population analysis of the growth of long bones and the os coxae of three early medieval Austrian populations' (with Teschler-Nicola, Knaus and Shaw), American Journal of Human biology, 2005; 'Tracing the origin and spread of agriculture in Europe' (with Fort and Ammerman), PLoS Biology, 2005; and 'A regional biological approach to the spread of farming in Europe: Anatolia, the Levant, south-eastern Europe, and the Mediterranean' (with Pluciennik), Current Anthropology, 2004. He is a member of the European Archaeological Association, and the Paleopathology Association. Simon Mays received his PhD from the University of Southampton, England, in 1987. He is currently Human Skeletal Biologist for English Heritage and is a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Southampton. His research encompasses most areas of human osteoarchaeology. Key publications include: the Archaeology of Human Bones (Routledge, 1998); Human Osteology in Archaeology and Forensic Science (Greenwich Medical Media, 2000, co-edited with M.Cox); 'Palaeopathological and bimolecular study of tuberculosis in a mediaeval skeletal collection from England (with Taylor, Legge, Shaw & Turner-Walker), American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2001; Skeletal manifestations of rickets in infants and young children in an historic population from England' (with Brickley and Ives), American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2006. He is a member of the managing committee of the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology (BABAO), of the Human Remains Advisory Panel of the UK Governmental Department of Culture, Media and Sport, and is Secretary of the Advisory Panel on the Archaeology of Christian Burials in England.
