Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Recovering the Lived Body from Bodies of Evidence: Interrogation of Diagnostic Criteria and Parameters for Disease Ecology Reconstructed from Skeletons Within Anatomical and Medical Anatomical Collections

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Bioarchaeological Analyses and Bodies

Part of the book series: Bioarchaeology and Social Theory ((BST))

Abstract

Anatomical and medical anatomical skeletal collections, which are generated by physicians, morgues, and medical institutions, are central to many aspects of osteological research. These include the production and refinement of diagnostic criteria for identifying the etiology of pathological skeletal lesions. These collections are often treated as neutral bodies of evidence, representative of their original living populations. However, scholars are increasingly attending to the life histories and biosocial lived conditions of these individuals, many of whom were of lower status to impoverished during their lives. This is especially important in light of increasing empirical evidence from immunology and biodemography on the embodied synergistic effects of chronic or repeated stress and malnutrition over the life course on immune function and consequent vulnerability to disease. Accordingly, I investigate here the contingencies and considerations that should potentially be incorporated into the use of these collections to generate empirical, standardized diagnostic criteria for pathological conditions. I focus on acquired syphilis, a chronic infectious condition, and survey several of the anatomical and medical anatomical collections on which the diagnostic criteria for syphilis are based. I interrogate the utility of diagnostic criteria generated from these bodies of evidence and discuss the application of these criteria to archaeological skeletal samples.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abe, M., Akbar, F., Matsuura, B., Horiike, N., & Onji, M. (2003). Defective antigen-presenting capacity of murine dendritic cells during starvation. Nutrition, 19, 265–269.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ader, R. (2007). Psychoneuroimmunology IV. San Diego: Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Altemus, M., Cloitre, M., & Dhabhar, F. S. (2004). Enhanced cellular immune response in women with PTSD related to childhood abuse. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160(9), 1705–1707.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arrizabalaga, J., Henderson, J., & French, R. (1997). The great pox: The French disease in renaissance Europe. New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aufderheide, A. C., & Rodriguez-Martin, C. (1998). The Cambridge encyclopedia of paleopathology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bari, M., Shulkin, D., & Abell, E. (1989). Ulcerative syphilis in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome: A case of precocious tertiary syphilis in a patient infected with human immunodeficiency virus. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 21(6), 1310–1312.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Binski, P. (1996). Medieval death. London: British Museum Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boldsen, J. L. (2001). Epidemiological approach to the paleopathological diagnosis of leprosy. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 115(4), 380–387.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bouwman, A. S., & Brown, T. A. (2005). The limits of biomolecular palaeopathology: Ancient DNA cannot be used to study venereal syphilis. Journal of Archaeological Science, 32(5), 703–713.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carlson, J., Dabiri, G., Cribier, B., & Sell, S. (2011). The immunopathobiology of syphilis: The manifestations and course of syphilis are determined by the level of delayed-type hypersensitivity. The American Journal of Dermatopathology, 33(5), 433.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cherryson, A., Crossland, Z., & Tarlow, S. (2011). A fine and private place: The archaeology of death and burial in post-medieval Britain and Ireland, Leicester archaeology monograph 22. Bristol: University of Leicester School of Archaeology and Ancient History.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, S., Tyrrell, D., & Smith, A. (1991). Psychological stress and susceptibility to the common cold. New England Journal of Medicine, 325(9), 606–612.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corruccini, R. S. (1974). An examination of the meaning of cranial discrete traits for human skeletal biological studies. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 40, 425–466.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daunton, M. (1995). Progress and poverty: An economic and social history of Britain 1700–1850. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • de la Cova, C. (2010). Cultural patterns of trauma among 19th-century-born males in cadaver populations. American Anthropologist, 112(4), 589–606.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de la Cova, C. (2011). Race, health, and disease in 19th-century-born males. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 144, 526–537.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de la Cova, C. (2012). Patterns of trauma and violence in 19th-century-born African American and Euro-American females. International Journal of Paleopathology, 2(2–3), 61–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeWitte, S. N., & Stojanowski, C. M. (2015). The osteological paradox 20 years later: past perspectives, future directions. Journal of Archaeological Research, 23(4), 397–450. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10814-015-9084-1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeWitte, S., & Wood, J. (2008). Selectivity of black death mortality with respect to preexisting health. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105, 1436–1441.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dhabhar, F., & McEwen, B. F. (1996). Moderate stress enhances, and chronic stress suppresses, cell-mediated immunity in vivo. Social Neuroscience, 22, 1350.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dhabhar, F. S., & McEwen, B. (1997). Acute stress enhances while chronic stress suppresses cell-mediated immunity in vivo: A potential role for leukocyte trafficking. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 11, 286–306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ericksen, M. (1982). How “representative” is the terry collection? Evidence from the proximal femur. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 59, 345–350.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fleming, W., & Moore, J. (1941). V. Human constitution and syphilitic infection: A review of the literature, a projected method of study, and preliminary results in 36 patients. The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, 202(1), 38–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foucault, M. (2003). The birth of the clinic: An archaeology of medical perception. Abingdon: Routledge Classics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fournier, A. (1899). Traite de la Syphilis. Paris: Rueff.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fowler, L., & Powers, N. (2012). Doctors, dissection and resurrection men: Excavations in the 19th century burial ground of the London Hospital, 2006, MOLA monograph 62. London: Museum of London Archaeology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fraker, P., King, L., Laakko, T., & Vollmer, T. (2003). The dynamic link between the integrity of the immune system and zinc status. Journal of Nutrition, 130(5S), 1399–1406.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaynor Western, A. (2015). Bioarchaeological reflections of the anatomized human skeletal assemblage from the worcester royal infirmary. In K. Gerdau-Radoni & K. McSweeney (Eds.), Trends in biological anthropology (pp. 76–89). Oxford: Oxbow Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gengo, R. (2014). “Race becomes biology”: Co-occurring oral and systemic disease as embodiment of structural violence in an American skeletal sample. Kalamazoo: Western Michigan University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giles, E., & Elliott, O. (1962). Race identification from cranial measurements. Journal of Forensic Science, 7, 147–157.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenblatt, C., & Spigelman, M. (Eds.). (2003). Emerging pathogens: Archaeology, Ecology & Evolution of infectious diseases. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gregory, N., Sanchez, M., & Buchness, M. (1990). The spectrum of syphilis in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 22(6 Pt. 1), 1061–1067.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hackett, C. J. (1976). Diagnostic criteria of syphilis, yaws and treponarid (treponematoses) and of some other diseases in dry bones (for use in osteo-archaeology). Berlin: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Harper, K. N., Zuckerman, M. K., Harper, M. L., Kingston, J. D., & Armelagos, G. J. (2011). The origin and antiquity of syphilis revisited: An appraisal of old world pre-columbian evidence for treponemal infection. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology, 54, 99–133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hickie, I., Hickie, C., Lloyd, A., Silove, D., & Wakefield, D. (1993). Impaired in vivo immune responses in patients with melancholia. British Journal of Psychiatry, 162, 651–657.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunt, D., & Albanese, J. (2005). History and demographic composition of the Robert J. Terry anatomical collection. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 127, 406–417.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Janeway, C. A., Travers, P., Walport, M., & Shlomchik, M. (2005). Immunobiology: The immune system in health and disease (6th ed.). New York: Garland Science.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelley, K., Greenfield, R., Everammn, J., Parish, S., & Perryman, L. (1982). Delayed-type hypersensitivity, contact sensitivity, and PHA skin-test responses of heat- and cold-stressed calves. American Journal of Veterinary Research, 43, 775–779.

    Google Scholar 

  • King, L., Osati-Ashtiani, F., & Frake, P. (2002). A distinct role for apoptosis in the loss of precursor lymphocytes during zinc deficiency. Journal of Nutrition, 132, 974–979.

    Google Scholar 

  • Komar, D., & Grivas, C. (2008). Manufactured populations: What do contemporary reference skeletal collections represent? A comparative study using the Maxwell Museum documented collection. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 137(2), 224–233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lynnerup, N., & Rhee, N. (2010). Prevalence of syphilitic lesions in a Danish 18th century population. Paper presented at the 37th annual meeting of the Paleopathology Association, Albuquerque, April 12–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marklein, K. E., Leahy, R. E., & Crews, D. E. (2016). In sickness and in death: Assessing frailty in human skeletal remains. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 161(2), 208–225.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McEwen, B., & Wingfield, J. (2003). The concept of allostasis in biology and biomedicine. Hormones & Behavior, 43(1), 2–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miles, A., & White, W. (2008). Burial at the site of the Parish Church of St Benet Sherehog before and after the great fire: Excavations at 1 Poultry, City of London, Monograph series, No. 39. London: Museum of London Archaeological Services.

    Google Scholar 

  • Montiel, R., Solórzano, E., Díaz, N., Álvarez-Sandoval, B. A., González-Ruiz, M., Pau Cañadas, M., Simões, N., Isidro, A., & Malgosa, A. (2012). Neonate human remains: A window of opportunity to the molecular study of ancient syphilis. PLoS One, 7(2), e36371.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muller, J. L. (2006). Trauma as a biocultural consequence of ineqaulity: A biocultural analysis of the skeletal remains of Washington D.C.’s African American poor. Buffalo: State University of New York at Buffalo.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ortner, D. (1991). Theoretical and methodological issues in paleopathology. In D. Ortner & A. Aufderheide (Eds.), Human paleopathology: Current syntheses and future options (pp. 5–11). Washington, DC: Smithsonian University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ortner, D. (2003). Identification of pathological conditions in human skeletal remains (2nd ed.). Amsterdam: Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Padro, C. J., & Sanders, V. M. (2014). Neuroendocrine regulation of inflammation. Seminars in Immunology, 26(5), 357–368.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peeling, R., & Hook, E. (2006). The pathogenesis of syphilis: The great mimicker, revisited. Journal of Pathology, 208, 224–232.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pelly, T., Santillan, C., Gilman, R., Cabrera, L., Garcia, E., Vidal, C., Zimic, M., Moore, D., & Evans, C. (2005). Tuberculosis skin testing, anergy and protein malnutrition in Peru. The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, 9(9), 977–984(978).

    Google Scholar 

  • Phenice, T. (1969). A newly developed visual method of sexing the os pubis. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 30, 297–301.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Powell, M. L., & Cook, D. C. (Eds.). (2005). The myth of syphilis: The natural history of treponematosis in North America, Ripley P. Bullen Series. Gainesville: University Press of Florida/Florida Museum of Natural History.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quétel C. (1990). History of syphilis (trans: Braddock J, Pike B). Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reinarz, J. (2005). The age of museum medicine: The rise and fall of the medical museum at Birmingham’s school of medicine. Social History of Medicine, 18(3), 419–437.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Resnick, D., & Niwayama, G. (1995). Osteomyelitis, septic arthritis, and soft tissue infection: Organisms. In D. Resnick (Ed.), Diagnosis of bone and joint disorders (pp. 2448–2558). Philadephia: Saunders.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richardson, R. (2001). Death, dissection and the destitute. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, C., & Cox, M. (2003). Health & disease in Britain: From prehistory to the present day. Thrupp: Sutton Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Savino, W. (2003). The thymus gland is a target in malnutrition. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 56(S3), 46–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Savino, W., & Dardenne, M. (2010). Nutritional imbalances and infections affect the thymus: Consequences on T-cell-mediated immune responses. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 69(4), 636–643.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schaible, U. E., & Kaufman, S. H. (2007). Malnutrition and infection: Complex mechanisms and global impacts. PLoS Medicine, 4(5), e115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schultz, M. (2001). Paleohistopathology of bone: A new approach to the study of ancient diseases. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 116(33), 106–147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scott, S., & Duncan, C. (1998). Human demography and disease. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Siena, K. (2004). Venereal disease, hospitals, and the urban poor: London’s ‘foul wards,’ 1600-1800. Rochester: University of Rochester Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siena, K. (2005). The clean and the foul: paupers and the pox in London Hospitals, c. 1550–1700. In K. Siena (Ed.), Sins of the flesh: Responding to sexual disease in early modern Europe (pp. 261–285). Toronto: CCRS Publications, Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies, Victoria University in the University of Toronto.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh, A., & Romanowski, B. (1999). Syphilis: Review with emphasis on clinical, epidemiologic, and some biologic features. Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 12(2), 187–209.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith-Guzmán, N. E. (2015). The skeletal manifestation of malaria: An epidemiological approach using documented skeletal collections. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 158(4), 624–635.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steinbock, R. (1976). Paleopathological diagnosis and interpretation. Springfield: C.C. Thomas.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tampa, M., Sarbu, I., Matei, C., Benea, V., & Georgescu, S. (2014). Brief history of syphilis. Journal of Medicine and Life, 7(1), 4–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trotter, M., & Glesser, G. (1952). Estimation of stature from long bones of American Whites and Negroes. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 10, 463–514.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Usher, B. M. (2002). Reference samples: The first step in linking biology and age in the human skeleton. In R. D. Hoppa & J. W. Vaupel (Eds.), Paleodemography: Age distributions from human skeletal samples (pp. 29–47). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Waldron, T. (2009). Palaeopathology. Cambridge, NY: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watkins, R. J. (2003). To know the brethren: A biocultural analysis of the W. Montague Cobb skeletal collection. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, J., Milner, G. R., Harpending, H., & Weiss, K. (1992). The osteological paradox: Problems of inferring prehistoric health from skeletal samples. Current Anthropology, 33(4), 343–370.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wrigley, E. A., & Schofield, R. S. (1989). The population history of England 1541–1871. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yoder, C. J., Ubelaker, D. H., & Powell, J. (2001). Examination of variation in sternal rib end morphology relevant to age assessment. Journal of Forensic Science, 46(2), 223–227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zuckerman, M. (2017). Mercury in the midst of mars and venus: Reconstructing gender and socioeconomic status in the context of mercury treatments for acquired syphilis in 17th to 19th century England. In S. Agarwal & J. Wesp (Eds.), Exploring sex and gender in bioarchaeology (pp. 223–262). Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zuckerman, M., & Armelagos, G. (2012). Overall health and the pathophysiology of tertiary syphilis. Paper presented at the Paper presented at the 81st Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, April 11–14th, Portland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zuckerman, M., & Harper, K. (2013). The people behind the pox: Paleoepidemiological approaches to treponemal disease. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 150(S1), 301.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zuckerman, M. K., Harper, K. N., & Armelagos, G. J. (2016). Adapt or die: Three case studies in which the failure to adopt advances from other fields has compromised paleopathology. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 26(3), 375–383.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS, USA

    Molly K. Zuckerman PhD

Authors
  1. Molly K. Zuckerman PhD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Molly K. Zuckerman PhD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Critical Social Inquiry, Hampshire College, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    Pamela K. Stone

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Zuckerman, M.K. (2018). Recovering the Lived Body from Bodies of Evidence: Interrogation of Diagnostic Criteria and Parameters for Disease Ecology Reconstructed from Skeletons Within Anatomical and Medical Anatomical Collections. In: Stone, P. (eds) Bioarchaeological Analyses and Bodies. Bioarchaeology and Social Theory. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71114-0_6

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71114-0_6

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-71113-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-71114-0

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation