The Global History of Paleopathology Pioneers and Prospects

The Study of Ancient Disease has a history that extends across centuries and continents. Practitioners have long reported pathology in humans and other animals, basing their interpretations on mummified and skeletal remains, though never before has this information been collated and presented together in one authoritative volume. The first comprehensive compendium on the history of paleopathology, The Global History of Paleopathology explores the lives of extraordinary paleopathologists, placing their research in the larger context of the history of paleopathology. The book also considers how paleopathology as a discipline has developed throughout the world and highlights the organizations that have sponsored scientific research and communication on paleopathology, especially the Paleopathology Association. Information on training programs and important research collections is also included.

Jane E. Buikstra is Regents' Professor of Bioarchaeology and Director, Center for Bioarchaeological Research, Arizona State University. She has been a major architect of the international discipline of Bioarchaeology and her research spans North America, the Iberian Peninsula, Colonial Argentina, the west-central Andes, and Mayan Mesoamerica. In 2008, Dr. Buikstra received the T. Dale Stewart Award from the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and the Charles R. Darwin Lifetime-Achievement Award from the American Association of Physical Anthropologists. In 2010, she received the Fryxell Award for Interdisciplinary Science from the Society for American Archaeology. Charlotte A. Roberts is a Professor of Archaeology in the Department of Archaeology at Durham University, England. She is a bioarchaeologist with a background in archaeology, environmental archaeology, human bioarchaeology, and general nursing. She has studied and interpreted human remains from archaeological sites from Europe and North America for over 25 years. She is interested in the interactions between people and their environments and explores patterns of health and disease within past societies, with a particular focus on infectious disease.