Definition and history of study
Paleopathology is defined as the scientific study of the evidence of disease in human and non human remains from archaeological sites (Tombs) and was first described as such by Marc Armand Ruffer in the early twentieth century (Ruffer, 1910). Human remains are the primary source of evidence for past disease (Roberts and Manchester, 2005). Other forms of evidence are provided in historical documents and art (e.g., Rawcliffe, 2006on leprosy in medieval England), but these data can prove difficult to interpret. Whilst evidence for disease in human remains can be challenging to diagnose and interpret, artists and authors may be biased in their representations of the range of diseases from which people suffered, and signs and symptoms illustrated and written about can often be very difficult to associate with specific diseases. Furthermore, it was often the more dramatic diseases that were considered, while the more commonplace ones were ignored. However,...
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Roberts, C.A. (2017). Paleopathology. In: Gilbert, A.S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geoarchaeology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4409-0_53
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