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Annual Review of Anthropology

Volume 45, 2016

Archaeological Evidence of Epidemics Can Inform Future Epidemics

Abstract

The recent Ebola epidemic provides a dramatic example of the devastation and fear generated by epidemics, particularly those caused by new emerging or reemerging diseases. A focus on the control and prevention of diseases in living populations dominates most epidemic disease research. However, research on epidemics in the past provides a temporal depth to our understanding of the context and consequences of diseases and is crucial for predicting how diseases might shape human biology and demography in the future. This article reviews recent research on historic epidemics of plague and tuberculosis, both of which have affected human populations for millennia. Research on these diseases demonstrates the range (and differential availability) of various lines of evidence (e.g., burial context, diagnostic skeletal lesions, molecular data) that inform about past disease in general. I highlight how research on past epidemics may be informative in ways that benefit living populations.

Keyword(s): bioarchaeology, emerging diseases, paleomicrobiology, plague, tuberculosis
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2016-10-21
2025-04-30
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