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All Outputs (224)

Palaeopathology and its relevance to understanding health and disease today: the impact of the environment on health, past and present (2016)
Journal Article
Roberts, C. (2016). Palaeopathology and its relevance to understanding health and disease today: the impact of the environment on health, past and present. Anthropological Review, 79(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1515/anre-2016-0001

This paper considers the discipline of palaeopathology, how it has developed, how it is studied, and what limitations present challenges to analysis. The study of disease has a long history and has probably most rapidly developed over the last 40-50... Read More about Palaeopathology and its relevance to understanding health and disease today: the impact of the environment on health, past and present.

‘Til Poison Phosphorous Brought them Death’: A potentially occupationally-related disease in a post-medieval skeleton from north-east England (2016)
Journal Article
Roberts, C., Caffell, A., Filipek-Ogden, K., Gowland, R., & Jakob, T. (2016). ‘Til Poison Phosphorous Brought them Death’: A potentially occupationally-related disease in a post-medieval skeleton from north-east England. International Journal of Paleopathology, 13, 39-48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpp.2015.12.001

This paper describes the pathological changes observed on the skeleton of a c.12–14 year old person buried in a north-east England Quaker cemetery dated to AD 1711–1857. Bone formation (woven and lamellar) and destruction are present mainly on the ma... Read More about ‘Til Poison Phosphorous Brought them Death’: A potentially occupationally-related disease in a post-medieval skeleton from north-east England.

Gendered Differences in Accidental Trauma to Upper and Lower Limb Bones at Aquincum, Roman Hungary (2015)
Journal Article
Gilmour, R., Gowland, R., Roberts, C., Bernert, Z., Klara Kiss, K., & Lassanyi, G. (2015). Gendered Differences in Accidental Trauma to Upper and Lower Limb Bones at Aquincum, Roman Hungary. International Journal of Paleopathology, 11, 75-91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpp.2015.08.004

It was hypothesized that men and women living in the border provinces of the Roman Empire may have encountered different risks associated with their different occupations and activities. Limb bone trauma data were used to assess sex-based differences... Read More about Gendered Differences in Accidental Trauma to Upper and Lower Limb Bones at Aquincum, Roman Hungary.

Paleopathology. (2015)
Book Chapter
Roberts, C., & Gowland, R. (2015). Paleopathology. In K. Metheny, & M. Beaudry (Eds.), Archaeology of food (385-398). Rowman & Littlefield

Making the Dead Visible: Problems and solutions for "big" picture approaches to the past, and dealing with large "mortuary" datasets (2015)
Journal Article
Bradbury, J., Davies, D., Jay, M., Philip, G., Roberts, C., & Scarre, C. (2016). Making the Dead Visible: Problems and solutions for "big" picture approaches to the past, and dealing with large "mortuary" datasets. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 23(2), 561-591. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-015-9251-1

There can be few “bigger” questions than the nature and development of human experience and self-awareness and few better ways to study it than through the changing treatment of the dead over time. Funded by the John Templeton Foundation, the ‘Invisi... Read More about Making the Dead Visible: Problems and solutions for "big" picture approaches to the past, and dealing with large "mortuary" datasets.

Does the correlation between Schmorl’s nodes and vertebral morphology extend into the lumbar spine? (2015)
Journal Article
Plomp, K., Roberts, C., & Strand Viðarsdόttir, U. (2015). Does the correlation between Schmorl’s nodes and vertebral morphology extend into the lumbar spine?. American journal of physical anthropology, 157(3), 526-534. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.22730

Schmorl's nodes are depressions on vertebrae due to herniation of the nucleus pulposus of the intervertebral disc into the vertebral body. This study provides an extension of our previous study which analyzed the shape of the lower thoracic spine and... Read More about Does the correlation between Schmorl’s nodes and vertebral morphology extend into the lumbar spine?.

Tuberculosis: a biosocial study of admissions to a children’s sanatorium (1936-1954) in Stannington, Northumberland, England (2015)
Journal Article
Roberts, C., & Bernard, M. (2015). Tuberculosis: a biosocial study of admissions to a children’s sanatorium (1936-1954) in Stannington, Northumberland, England. Tuberculosis, 95(Supplement 1), S105-S108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tube.2015.02.012

This study considers the biosocial profile of children admitted to the Philipson Children's Sanatorium at Stannington, Morpeth, Northumberland, England (1936–1954). The objective was to understand the differential impact of TB on male and female admi... Read More about Tuberculosis: a biosocial study of admissions to a children’s sanatorium (1936-1954) in Stannington, Northumberland, England.

Old World tuberculosis: evidence from human remains with a review of current research and future prospects (2015)
Journal Article
Roberts, C. (2015). Old World tuberculosis: evidence from human remains with a review of current research and future prospects. Tuberculosis, 95(Supplement 1), S117-S121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tube.2015.02.018

The evidence for TB in archaeological human remains for the Old World is reviewed in published and some unpublished sources. The evidence of Pott's disease was considered specific for TB, with other bone changes, such as rib lesions, as non-specific.... Read More about Old World tuberculosis: evidence from human remains with a review of current research and future prospects.

Complications in the study of ancient tuberculosis: non-specificity of IS6110 PCRs (2015)
Journal Article
Müller, R., Roberts, C., & Brown, T. (2015). Complications in the study of ancient tuberculosis: non-specificity of IS6110 PCRs. Science and Technology of Archaeological Research, 1(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1179/2054892314y.0000000002

The insertion sequence IS6110 is frequently used as a marker for the presence of ancient DNA (aDNA) derived from bacteria of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) in human archaeological remains. The specificity of polymerase chain reactions... Read More about Complications in the study of ancient tuberculosis: non-specificity of IS6110 PCRs.

Pathological conditions and anomalies in archaeological investigations. (2014)
Book Chapter
Roberts, C. (2014). Pathological conditions and anomalies in archaeological investigations. In S. Blau, & D. Ubelaker (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology (5823-5829). Springer Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_145

The World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” This definition has not been amended since 1948 (http://​www.​who.​int/​suggestions/​faq/... Read More about Pathological conditions and anomalies in archaeological investigations..

Human remains (2014)
Book Chapter
Roberts, C. (2014). Human remains. In J. Balme, & A. Paterson (Eds.), Archaeology in practice. A student guide to archaeological analyses (300-335). (2nd ed.). Wiley

Diet and dental caries in post-medieval London (2014)
Journal Article
Mant, M., & Roberts, C. (2015). Diet and dental caries in post-medieval London. International Journal of Historical Archaeology, 19(1), 188-207. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-014-0286-x

This paper explores the dentition of individuals excavated from two post-medieval London cemeteries. Individuals from Chelsea Old Church, a middle-class group, and St. Bride’s lower churchyard, a working-class group, were selected and studied. The re... Read More about Diet and dental caries in post-medieval London.

Manchester, Keith. (2014)
Book Chapter
Roberts, C. (2014). Manchester, Keith. In S. Blau, & D. Ubelaker (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology (4618-4621). Springer Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_164

Keith Manchester was born in Leicestershire, England, on the 21 June 1938. Attending King Edward VII Grammar School in Melton Mowbray from 1946 to 1956, he gained his “A” levels which allowed him entry to study medicine at St Bartholomew’s Hospital M... Read More about Manchester, Keith..

Calcified structures associated with human skeletal remains: Possible atherosclerosis affecting the population buried at Amara West, Sudan (1300–800 BC) (2014)
Journal Article
Binder, M., & Roberts, C. (2014). Calcified structures associated with human skeletal remains: Possible atherosclerosis affecting the population buried at Amara West, Sudan (1300–800 BC). International Journal of Paleopathology, 6, 20-29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpp.2014.03.003

Today, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death worldwide. Atherosclerosis, the thickening of the artery wall due to accumulating lipids, is one of the major causes. Generally assumed to be a disease of modern life-style related... Read More about Calcified structures associated with human skeletal remains: Possible atherosclerosis affecting the population buried at Amara West, Sudan (1300–800 BC).

Genotyping of ancient Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains reveals historic genetic diversity (2014)
Journal Article
Müller, R., Roberts, C., & Brown, T. (2014). Genotyping of ancient Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains reveals historic genetic diversity. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 281(1781), Article 20133236. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.3236

The evolutionary history of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) has previously been studied by analysis of sequence diversity in extant strains, but not addressed by direct examination of strain genotypes in archaeological remains. Here, we... Read More about Genotyping of ancient Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains reveals historic genetic diversity.

On the Antiquity of Cancer: Evidence for Metastatic Carcinoma in a Young Man from Ancient Nubia (c. 1200BC) (2014)
Journal Article
Binder, M., Roberts, C., Spencer, N., Antoine, D., & Cartwright, C. (2014). On the Antiquity of Cancer: Evidence for Metastatic Carcinoma in a Young Man from Ancient Nubia (c. 1200BC). PLoS ONE, 9(3), Article 90924. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0090924

Cancer, one of the world’s leading causes of death today, remains almost absent relative to other pathological conditions, in the archaeological record, giving rise to the conclusion that the disease is mainly a product of modern living and increased... Read More about On the Antiquity of Cancer: Evidence for Metastatic Carcinoma in a Young Man from Ancient Nubia (c. 1200BC).

Tuberculosis and leprosy in Italy. New skeletal evidence (2014)
Journal Article
Rubini, M., Zaio, P., & Roberts, C. (2014). Tuberculosis and leprosy in Italy. New skeletal evidence. HOMO, 65(1), 13-32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jchb.2013.07.006

Tuberculosis (TB) and leprosy are infections caused by Mycobacteria. This paper documents new skeletal evidence in Italy from the Iron Age site of Corvaro (Central Italy; 5th century BCE) and the Roman site of Palombara (Central Italy; 4th–5th centur... Read More about Tuberculosis and leprosy in Italy. New skeletal evidence.