ANTHROP 2U03 Lecture : Plagues in History
9 Jan 2012
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Document Summary
How anthropologists study disease in the past: Types of evidence for disease in human history. Framework of three major shifts in disease patterns in human history. Interaction of biology and culture > disease patterns. Major shifts in human lifestyles (subsistence patterns) > new diseases. The science of interpreting evidence of disease in ancient human remains. Description and analysis of standard observations on remains > diagnosis. Indirect evidence (secondary forms copper lights, soil analysis, the study of animal remains, written reference) Situate within framework of changes in disease experience in human history. Very limited sample because they are only found in a few different places in the world. Tollund man, peat bog, ~ 2200 years ago. Can get a sense of diet and age of remains. Bones look like they have been eaten by worms. Pott"s disease in medieval spine (vertebral collapse) Leaves lesions on the skeleton especially in nasal cavity and mouth areas.
