Jenna M Dittmar

• MSc, BSc, PhD
• Assistant Professor at Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine

Objective To explore how medieval living conditions, occupation, and an individual's role within society impacted their risk of skeletal trauma. Materials The skeletal remains of 314 individuals from medieval Cambridge that were buried in the parish cemetery of All Saints by the Castle (n = 84), the Augustinian friary (n = 75), and the cemetery of...

This paper has several aims: to determine if Yersinia pestis was the causative agent in the last Scottish plague outbreak in the mid-17th century; map the geographic spread of the epidemic and isolate potential contributing factors to its spread and severity; and examine funerary behaviours in the context of a serious plague epidemic in early moder...

Health inequality is not only a major problem today; it left its mark upon past societies too. For much of the past, health inequality has been poorly studied, mostly because bioarchaeologists have concentrated upon single sites rather than a broader social landscape. This article compares 476 adults in multiple locations of medieval Cambridge (UK)...

Human sacrifice was practiced in many Neolithic and Bronze Age societies. This chapter seeks to explore the complex relationships between violence, power and societal organization during the Bronze Age by presenting skeletal evidence of human sacrifice from a cemetery site located in Mogou (磨沟), Lintan County, Gansu Province, China, a site associat...

This research explores how the prevalence of tuberculosis (TB) in a medieval hospital was affected by the demographic and social changes that following the Black Death (1346-1353 CE), the initial years of the Second Plague Pandemic. To do this, skeletal remains of individuals buried at the Hospital of St John the Evangelist in Cambridge, England, t...

The second millennium BC in Northwest China was characterised by a drastic period of climate change, technological exchange and social transformation. To explore the impact of environmental and social factors on the health of ancient communities in this region, the Mogou Bioarchaeology Project was established in 2015 in collaboration with the Gansu...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0306432.].

In recent years, sediments from cave environments have provided invaluable insights into ancient hominids, as well as past fauna and flora. Unfortunately, locations with favourable conditions for ancient DNA (aDNA) preservation in sediments are scarce. In this study we analysed a set of samples obtained from soil adhered to different human skeletal...

The Roman period saw the empire expand across Europe and the Mediterranean, including much of what is today Great Britain. While there is written evidence of high mobility into and out of Britain for administrators, traders, and the military, the impact of imperialism on local, rural population structure, kinship, and mobility is invisible in the t...

Objective: Cribra orbitalia is believed to be a skeletal indicator of chronic anaemia, scurvy, rickets or related metabolic diseases. It has been suggested that it may be used as a proxy indicator for intestinal parasite infection, as parasites often cause anaemia today. Our aim is to investigate this association in the medieval population of Camb...

Dental data can reveal evidence for a past population's oral health, nutrition, and certain cultural activities. This study aims to explore oral health and dental attrition during the late Bronze Age in order to explore health outcomes in different subgroups as well as aspects of foodways and changes in subsistence strategies during the second mill...

Medieval hospitals were founded to provide charity, but poverty and infirmity were broad and socially determined categories and little is known about the residents of these institutions and the pathways that led them there. Combining skeletal, isotopic and genetic data, the authors weave a collective biography of individuals buried at the Hospital...

Objective To combine paleopathological and biomechanical analysis to reconstruct the impact that a severe skeletal injury had on an individual’s ability to function and participate in medieval society. Materials Three medieval individuals from Cambridge, England with ante-mortem fractures to the lower limb were analyzed. Methods Plain X-rays were...

Objective: To determine the degree to which plain radiographs (x-rays) and microCT scans can improve accuracy in the diagnosis of cancer in human remains from past populations. Materials: The skeletal remains of 143 individuals from medieval Cambridgeshire, dating from 6th–16th century CE. Methods: Visual inspection of the skeletons for lesions com...

Objective To investigate how lifestyle may have impacted the risk of contracting intestinal parasites in medieval England . Regular clergy (such as those living in monasteries) and the lay population form interesting groups for comparison as diet and lifestyle varied significantly. Monasteries were built with latrine blocks and hand washing facilit...

Human herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1), a life-long infection spread by oral contact, infects a majority of adults globally. Phylogeographic clustering of sampled diversity into European, pan-Eurasian, and African groups has suggested the virus codiverged with human migrations out of Africa, although a much younger origin has also been proposed. We p...

Objective To determine the degree to which plain radiographs (x-rays) and microCT scans can improve accuracy in the diagnosis of cancer in human remains from past populations. Materials The skeletal remains of 143 individuals from medieval Cambridgeshire, dating from 6th–16th century CE. Methods Visual inspection of the skeletons for lesions comp...

Background The human pathogen Haemophilus influenzae was the main cause of bacterial meningitis in children and a major cause of worldwide infant mortality before the introduction of a vaccine in the 1980s. Although the occurrence of serotype b (Hib), the most virulent type of H. influenzae , has since decreased, reports of infections with other se...

Human herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1), a life-long infection spread by oral contact, today infects a majority of adults globally, yet no ancient HSV-1 genomes have yet been published. Phylogeographic clustering of sampled diversity into European, pan-Eurasian, and African groups(Pfaff et al. 2016; Szpara, Tafuri, et al. 2014) has suggested that the...

Clinical research into biomolecules from infectious diseases and cancers has advanced rapidly in recent years, with two key areas being DNA analysis and proteomics. If we wish to understand important diseases and their associated biomolecules in past populations, techniques are required that will allow accurate biopsy of lesions in excavated human...

During a salvage excavation conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority, a mass grave containing the skeletal remains from 124 individuals, many with evidence of weapon injuries, was discovered in a water cistern outside the Old City of Jerusalem. Radiocarbon dates derived from human bone and the date of the material finds suggest the skeletal re...

Objective To identify the major health problems of the Middle Ages. Bubonic plague is often considered the greatest health disaster in medieval history, but this has never been systematically investigated. Materials We triangulate upon the problem using (i) modern WHO data on disease in the modern developing world, (ii) historical evidence for Eng...

Objective Hallux valgus, the lateral deviation of the great toe, can result in poor balance, impaired mobility and is an independent risk factor for falls. This research aims to compare the prevalence of hallux valgus in subpopulations of medieval Cambridge, England, and to examine the relationship between hallux valgus and fractures to examine the...

Bioarchaeological research provides unique insights on human adaptation, diet, lifestyle and epidemiology. The Mogou Bioarchaeology Project explores how health was affected by the Bronze Age transition in north-west China. Preliminary results reveal that the inhabitants experienced substantial physiological stress, infectious disease and lethal tra...

Objective: To estimate the prevalence rate of gout and to explore the social factors that contributed to its development in the various sub-populations in medieval Cambridge. Materials: 177 adult individuals from four medieval cemeteries located in and around Cambridge, UK. Methods: Lesions were assessed macroscopically and radiographically. E...

Background To plan for cancer services in the future, the long view of cancer prevalence is essential. It might be suspected that cancer prevalence before tobacco and industrial revolution pollutants was quite different to today. Methods To quantify the degree to which cancer prevalence may be changing over time, the authors analyzed 143 skeletons...

Objective: Paleopathological evidence of cancer from past populations is rare, especially outside of Europe and North Africa. This study expands upon the current temporal and spatial distribution of cancer by presenting a probable case of multiple myeloma from Bronze Age China. Material: The human skeletal remains of an adult male from the Qijia c...

This research explores how social and environmental factors may have contributed to conflict during the early Bronze Age in Northwest China by analyzing violent trauma on human skeletal remains from a cemetery of the Qijia culture (2300-1500 BCE). The Qijia culture existed during a period of dramatic social, technological, and environmental change,...

Evidence of cranial surgery, in the form of trepanations, has been found at prehistoric archaeological sites from all over the world. Within this large body of evidence, it is clear that trepanations vary in size, location and the reason for which they were performed． Numerous trepanations have been discovered at archaeological sites across China,...

What is osteobiography good for? The last generation of archaeologists fought to overcome the traditional assumption that archaeology is merely ancillary to history, a substitute to be used when written sources are defective; it is now widely acknowledged that material histories and textual histories tell equally valid and complementary stories abo...

Since the medieval period, anatomical dissection has been considered a cornerstone of medical education. In recent decade, a number of archaeological excavations have uncovered evidence of this practice in the form of tool marks on human skeletal remains. At the majority of sites where dissected individuals were uncovered, remains of men considerab...

This research examines violence as an essential mechanism for the construction of power structures in early complex societies by examining evidence of violent trauma on human skeletal remains from Bronze Age China.

The examination and identification of traumatic lesions within forensic and archaeological contexts is a crucial element in understanding the events surrounding the death and postmortem treatment of an individual. The enhanced imaging capabilities of scanning electron microscopes (SEMs) enable human interactions, primarily in the form of interperso...

This study presents a unique case of osteomyelitis in the rib of an adult male (M995: R2) excavated from a large Bronze Age cemetery in use from 1700-1100 BCE in Lintan County, Gansu Provence, China. Commonly caused by bacterial and mycobacterial infectious agents, osteomyelitis most frequently effects the long bones in the lower limb and less than...

The preponderance of men in the narrative of anatomical education during the 1800s has skewed the historical perception of medical cadavers in favour of adult men, and stifled the conversation about the less portrayed individuals, especially children. Although underrepresented in both the historical literature and skeletal remains from archaeologic...

This paper aims to highlight the practice of body snatching from graves in the 1700s for the purpose of providing corpses for anatomical dissection, and for stocking anatomy museums. To do this, we examine the exhumation and dissection of the famous eighteenth-century novelist Laurence Sterne and explore the involvement of Charles Collignon, Profes...

The preponderance of men in the narrative of anatomical education during the 1800s has skewed the historical perception of medical cadavers in favour of adult men, and stifled the conversation about the less portrayed individuals, especially children. Although underrepresented in both the historical literature and skeletal remains from archaeologic...

The analysis of tool marks in bone is important in both archaeological and forensic examination to enhance our knowledge of the funerary context. Some tool mark characteristics are difficult to identify macroscopically and often additional imaging equipment is needed. Microscopic analysis of trauma has proven to be beneficial in determining individ...

This research examines the unique role of foetal and infant cadavers in anatomical education during the 1800s by examining skeletal remains and historical texts.

This paper aims to highlight the practice of body snatching from graves in the 1700s for the purpose of providing corpses for anatomical dissection, and for stocking anatomy museums. To do this, we examine the exhumation and dissection of the famous eighteenth-century novelist Laurence Sterne and explore the involvement of Charles Collignon, Profes...

For a more comprehensive understanding of the history of anatomical study, we examine the skeletal remains of dissected and autopsied individuals from archaeological sites in the UK. Recently excavated burial grounds at hospitals, prisons and workhouses demonstrate how and on whom procedures were conducted, what instruments were used, and the dispo...