The Archaeology of Disease

Description

Cover; Title; Copyright; Contents; Acknowledgements; 1 The Study of Palaeopathology; Introduction and definition; History of study; Working from a clinical base; Methods of study and tissue change; Terminology; Limitations of palaeopathological study; Biocultural perspectives of disease frequency; Movement of people; Climate and weather; Diet and economy; Living environment; Occupation; Treatment; 2 Back to Basics; Introduction; Population growth through time; Population growth, mortality and disease; Palaeopathology and the question of numbers; Palaeodemographic structure: age and sex.;The Archaeology of Disease shows how the latest scientific and archaeological techniques can be used to identify the common illnesses and injuries that humans suffered from in antiquity. In order to give a vivid picture of ancient disease and trauma the authors present the results of the latest scientific research and incorporate information gathered from documents, from other areas of archaeology and from art and ethnography. This comprehensive approach to the subject throws fresh light on the health of our ancestors and on the conditions in which they lived, and it gives us an intriguin.