A Companion to Paleopathology offers a comprehensive overview of this rapidly growing sub- field of physical anthropology.
Presents a broad overview of the field of paleopathology, integrating theoretical and methodological approaches to understand biological and disease processes throughout human history
Demonstrates how paleopathology sheds light on the past through the analysis of human and non-human skeletal materials, mummified remains and preserved tissue
Integrates scientific advances in multiple fields that contribute to the understanding of ancient and historic diseases, such as epidemiology, histology, radiology, parasitology, dentistry, and molecular biology, as well as archaeological, archival and historical research.
Highlights cultural processes that have an impact on the evolution of illness, death and dying in human populations, including subsistence strategies, human environmental adaptations, the effects of malnutrition, differential access to resources, and interpersonal and intercultural violence
The book charts developing maturity reflecting the excellent work of the early pioneers but emphasising the bigger questions which research today facilitates such as how and why diseases develop, determining their frequency in the past and identifying how humans respond under different conditions and circumstances. Such questions have relevance for understanding diseases and their trajectories in contemporary populations. (Chromatographia, 1 August 2013)
List of Illustrations xi
List of Tables xvii
Notes on Contributors xix
Acknowledgements xxviii
1 Introduction: The Scope of Paleopathology 1 Anne L. Grauer
Part I Approaches, Perspectives and Issues 15
2 Ethics and Issues in the Use of Human Skeletal Remains in Paleopathology 17 Patricia M. Lambert
3 Evolutionary Thought in Paleopathology and the Rise of the Biocultural Approach 34 Molly K. Zuckerman, Bethany L. Turner, and George J. Armelagos
4 The Bioarchaeological Approach to Paleopathology 58 Michele R. Buzon
5 The Molecular Biological Approach in Paleopathology 76 James H. Gosman
6 The Ecological Approach: Understanding Past Diet and the Relationship Between Diet and Disease 97 M. Anne Katzenberg
7 An Epidemiological Approach to Paleopathology 114 Jesper L. Boldsen and George R. Milner
8 The Promise, the Problems, and the Future of DNA Analysis in Paleopathology Studies 133 Mark Spigelman, Dong Hoon Shin, and Gila Kahila Bar Gal
9 The Analysis and Interpretation of Mummifi ed Remains 152 Michael R. Zimmerman
10 The Study of Parasites Through Time: Archaeoparasitology and Paleoparasitology 170 Katharina Dittmar, Adauto Araújo, and Karl J. Reinhard
11 More Than Just Mad Cows: Exploring Human Animal Relationships Through Animal Paleopathology 191 Beth Upex and Keith Dobney
12 How Does The History of Paleopathology Predict its Future? 214 Mary Lucas Powell and Della Collins Cook
Part II Methods and Techniques of Inquiry 225
13 A Knowledge of Bone at the Cellular (Histological) Level is Essential to Paleopathology 227 Bruce D. Ragsdale and Larisa M. Lehmer
14 Differential Diagnosis and Issues in Disease Classifi cation 250 Donald J. Ortner
15 Estimating Age and Sex from the Skeleton, a Paleopathological Perspective 268 George R. Milner and Jesper L. Boldsen
16 The Relationship Between Paleopathology and the Clinical Sciences 285 Simon Mays
17 Integrating Historical Sources with Paleopathology 310 Piers D. Mitchell
18 Fundamentals of Paleoimaging Techniques: Bridging the Gap Between Physicists and Paleopathologists 324 Johann Wanek, Christina Papageorgopoulou, and Frank Rühli
19 Data and Data Analysis Issues in Paleopathology 339 Ann L.W. Stodder
Part III Diseases of the Past: Current Understandings and Controversies 357
20 Trauma 359 Margaret A. Judd and Rebecca Redfern
21 Developmental Disorders in the Skeleton 380 Ethne Barnes
22 Metabolic and Endocrine Diseases 401 Tomasz Koz owski and Henryk W. Witas
23 Tumors: Problems of Differential Diagnosis in Paleopathology 420 Don Brothwell
24 Re–Emerging Infections: Developments in Bioarchaeological Contributions to Understanding Tuberculosis Today 434 Charlotte Roberts
25 Leprosy (Hansen s disease) 458 Niels Lynnerup and Jesper Boldsen
26 Treponematosis: Past, Present, and Future 472 Della Collins Cook and Mary Lucas Powell
27 Nonspecifi c Infection in Paleopathology: Interpreting Periosteal Reactions 492 Darlene A. Weston
28 Joint Disease 513 Tony Waldron
29 Bioarchaeology′s Holy Grail: The Reconstruction of Activity 531 Robert Jurmain, Francisca Alves Cardoso, Charlotte Henderson, and Sébastien Villotte
30 Oral Health in Past Populations: Context, Concepts and Controversies 553 John R. Lukacs
Index 582
Anne L. Grauer is Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Loyola University Chicago. She is the editor of
Bodies of Evidence: Reconstructing History Through Skeletal Analysis (1995) and co–editor of
Sex and Gender in Paleopathological Perspective (with Stuart–Macadam, 1998). She has served on the editorial board of the
American Journal of Physical Anthropology, the executive board of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, and is a past President of the Paleopathology Association.
A Companion to Paleopathology offers a comprehensive overview of this growing interdisciplinary field, with newly commissioned essays written by distinguished researchers from the biological, medical and social sciences. Together, these essays explore advances and provide analyses for a more effective understanding of the history of human illness and disease.
Each essay provides a snapshot of a key area of research in paleopathology, such as histology, epidemiology, diet, or DNA analysis, describing its theoretical underpinnings, methods and techniques, and exposing ongoing issues and controversies. A Companion to Paleopathology provides a unique resource on the scope and future direction of paleopathology.