The Archaeology of Disease

By Charlotte A. Roberts, Mary E. Lewis, Jacalyn Duffin

Book Overview

This revised fourth edition of The Archaeology of Disease focuses on reconstructing the origin, evolution, and history of disease as seen mainly through human skeletons from archaeological sites. In addition, this edition addresses new concepts in medicine and explores the challenges faced by individuals and populations, including their children.

Integrating conceptual frameworks from bioarchaeology, medical history, and clinical health, the authors take a long view of disease over thousands of years to examine how frequencies of disease have changed over time in relation to epidemiological transitions. They further investigate the risk of disease in populations at specific time periods and geographic locations. As a result, they provide a better understanding of the impact of health problems on our ancestors and present ethical considerations for palaeopathologists around the world when working with human remains using both archaeological and historical evidence.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1501785796
• ISBN13: 9781501785795
• Release Date: June 2026
• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Length: 456 Pages
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Disease is not a modern era problem

The book The Archeology of Disease is a good text to have in the study of paleopathology. It is not the only one, but it is a good one because the explanation of scientific practice in paleopathology is easy to understand.

Well-written and intelligible

Well-written and intelligible book on the archaeology of disease.Good discussions both of manifestations of disease in individualskeletal remains, and in populations. Mostly oriented towardsdisease per se, but there's a good chapter on trauma, as well.Especially good coverage of dental disease. Oriented towards anacademic, rather than towards a lay, audience, but I found it very readable nonetheless.