Wolfson Fellow

Prof Charlotte Roberts, BA (Hons), MA, PhD, SRN

(email at c.a.roberts@durham.ac.uk)

Biography

I 'classify' myself as a bioarchaeologist. I have a background in archaeology, environmental archaeology and human bioarchaeology. I have studied and interpreted human remains from archaeological sites for the past 25 years, and I am specifically interested in the interaction of people with their environments in the past by exploring patterns of health and disease (and especially those health problems that are common today).

I also try to utilize multiple lines of evidence for reconstructing past health, including exploring the application of medical anthropological approaches to bioarchaeology. Furthermore, I have a strong active interest in the impact of concepts of disease causation on past therapeutic measures.

I have always promoted the need for the contextualisation of biological data for health problems experienced by our ancestors through many of my publications and in my teaching - see my publications below (e.g. Roberts 1991, Roberts and Cox 2003, Roberts and Buikstra 2003, Roberts and Manchester 2005, Roberts 2007, Roberts and Cox 2007).

A State Registered Nurse initially (1975-8), I completed a BA in Archaeological Studies (Leicester - 1979-1982), a MA Environmental Archaeology and Palaeoeconomy (Sheffield - 1983), and PhD (bioarchaeology/ palaeopathology/ medical history - Bradford 1988).

My nursing background, particularly, has guided me into taking an holistic approach to past ill health in bioarchaeology, something that was also considered essential in a hospital environment. Understanding why and how people and communities today experience health problems is essential to be able to understand ill health in the past. This includes a consideration of the impact of age, sex, gender, ethnicity, religion, and social, economic and political status on disease occurrence.

Appointed Lecturer (US equivalent of Assistant Professor) in 1989 and Senior Lecturer in 1994 (US equivalent of Associate Professor) at Bradford University, I moved to Durham University in 2000 to become a Reader, finally being promoted to Professor of Archaeology in 2004 (US equivalent of Full Professor).

In terms of teaching, I have successfully initiated and taught two masters courses (Bradford: MSc Osteology, Palaeopathology and Funerary Archaeology 1990-1999, and Durham: MSc Palaeopathology 2000-date), along with undergraduate teaching.

The sections below record activity within the last 3 years

External PhD supervision

I currently sit on two PhD committees of U.S. research students:

Arizona State University
Ohio State University

and I am external supervisor for a student at the University of Coimbra, Portugal

Membership of Research Groups and Centres

Bioarchaeology (Archaeology) - http://www.dur.ac.uk/archaeology/research/groupings/bioarchaeology/

Centre for the History of Medicine and Disease (Philosophy) - http://www.dur.ac.uk/chmd/

Centre for Life and Death Studies (Theology) - http://www.dur.ac.uk/cdals/

Centre for the Ethics of Cultural Heritage - http://www.dur.ac.uk/cech/staff/

Wolfson Research Institute (Durham University) - http://www.dur.ac.uk/wolfson.institute/

Northern Centre for the History of Medicine (Durham/Newcastle Universities) - http://www.nchm.ac.uk/

Outreach (selected public lectures/media)

2010: Cafe Scientifique, Stockton (The Arc): People in the past: the benefits and challenges of excavating and studying human remains from archaeological sites

2010: Natural History Museum, London: Collections Management seminar series: Human remains from archaeological sites: uses, abuses and the importance of proper curation for future teaching and research

2011: Leyburn Rotary Club: Let the dead teach the living: the study of human remains from archaeological sites

2011: BBC Radio Cambridgeshire: The Naked Scientist: programme on leprosy for World Leprosy Day (30th January)

2012: St Bede's Catholic School and 6th Form College, Lanchester, County Durham: talk about poor air quality and health in the past

2012: Worked with Kirsty McCarrison, Durham Museums, on Skeleton Science exhibition for the Old Fulling Mill Museum (May to November 2012)

2012: BBC Radio 4: Today Programme; drug resistance, malaria, and taking an historical perspective on infectious diseases

2012: Wellcome Trust, London: Member of panel discussion for Noah's Ark: Living with the animals at the Wellcome Collection

2012 Friends of Swaledale Museum, Reeth: ‘Death and disease: stories from our ancestors’

Past research students

The following lists supervision of past research students, funding source and nationality of students (B= at my previous institution, the University of Bradford):

Kirsty McCarrison 2012: Osteological and biomolecular study of prehistoric tuberculosis in Britain; UK; NERC funded

Karen Bernofsky 2010: Respiratory health in the past. A bioarchaeological study of chronic maxillary sinusitis and rib periostitis from the Iron Age to the Post Medieval period in southern England; Canadian

Jaime Jennings 2010: Stress along the medieval Anglo-Scottish border? Skeletal indicators of conflict zone health; U.S.

Paola Ponce 2010: A comparative study of activity-related skeletal changes in 3rd-2nd millennium BC coastal fishers and 1st millennium AD inland agriculturists in Chile, South America; Argentinian; Durham Doctoral Award funded

Charlotte Henderson 2009: Musculo-skeletal stress markers in bioarchaeology: Indications of activity levels or human variation? (UK)

Rosa Spencer 2008: Testing hypotheses about diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH) using stable isotope and aDNA analysis of late medieval populations; Canadian/UK (NERC funded)

Francisca Cardoso 2008: A portrait of gender in two late 19th/early 20th century Portuguese populations: a palaeopathological perspective; Portugal; Fundação Para a Ciência Tecnologia funded

Alvaro Arce 2008 Health in Southern and Eastern England: a perspective on the Early Medieval period - Venuzuela/ Canada

McNaught J 2007 A clinical and archaeological study of Schmorl’s Nodes: using clinical data to understand the past - UK

Groves SE 2006 Spears or ploughshares: multiple indicators of activity related stress and social status in four early Medieval populations from north-east England (AHRC funded) - UK

Caffell AC 2005 Dental caries in Medieval Britain (c. 450-1540): temporal, geographic and contextual patterns (NERC funded) - UK

Jakob T 2004 Prevalence and patterns of disease in early Medieval populations: a comparison of skeletal samples from 5th-8th century AD Britain and Germany (Germany)

Bernard M-C 2003 Tuberculosis: a demographic analysis and social study of admissions to a children’s sanatorium (1936-1954) in Stannington, Northumberland (Canada)

Montgomery J 2002 Lead and strontium isotope compositions of human dental tissues as an indicator of ancient exposure and population dynamics; NERC funded (B); UK

Sture J 2002 Biocultural perspectives on birth defects in late Medieval rural and urban populations in Northern England; AHRC funded; UK

Santos AL 2000 A skeletal picture of tuberculosis. Macroscopic, radiological, biomolecular and historical evidence from the Coimbra Identified Collection; Fundação Para a Ciência Tecnologia; Portugal (external supervision)

Keeping D 2000 Life and death in English nunneries: a biocultural study of variations in the health of women during the later Medieval period, 1066-1540; Commonwealth Foundation; Canada

Freeth C 1999 Dental health in biocultural perspective; UK (B)

Lewis M 1999 The impact of urbanization: an assessment of morbidity and mortality in British non-adult populations; University of Bradford funded; UK (B)

Margerison B 1997 A comparison of the palaeodemography of catastrophic and attritional cemeteries; SERC funded; UK (B)

Dalby G 1994 Middle ear disease in antiquity; UK (B)

Recent conferences

2012

Durham University Archaeology Society: Whose past? An interdisciplinary debate on the repatriation of artefacts and reburial of human remains.

Paper: Challenges to the survival of bioarchaeology as a discipline due to burial legislation: why human remains are central to our understanding of the past (Invited)

ICEPT -2. The past and present of tuberculosis: a multidisciplinary overview of the origin and evolution of TB, Szeged, Hungary (Invited).

Invited single authored paper: Old World tuberculosis: evidence from human remains with an overview of current research and future prospects

Co-authored paper: Stannington sanatorium for TB children

Co-authored poster: Tuberculosis: a demographic analysis and social study of admissions to a children's sanatorium (1936-1954) in Stannington, Northumberland

Co-authored poster: Tuberculosis across Europe: a ancient DNA study

Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, Portland, Oregon:

Co-authored paper: Understanding re-emerging infectious diseases: contributions on tuberculosis from palaeopatholgoy and biomolecular science

Co-authored paper: The shape of the sponal canal and Schmorl's nodes: two-dimensional shape analysis of lower thoracic vertebrae

2011

Institute of Archaeologists of Ireland 2011 Spring Conference (Science and archaeology): ‘Archaeology, science and human remains: developments in understanding of our ancestors over the last 25 years’. Invited keynote lecture.

Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA: Paper: An ancient DNA study of tuberculosis in Europe

Rank Prize Funds Symposium, Grasmere, Cumbria (Evolution of the human diet): Invited lecture: Health, disease and diet: perspectives from human bioarchaeology

Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists, Oslo, Norway: Invited paper: New perspectives on a long studied infectious disease: understanding leprosy in Europe through interdisciplinary studies

BABAO Annual Meeting, University of Edinburgh: Understanding re-emerging infectious diseases: contributions on tuberculosis from palaeopathology and biomolecular science

Annual Meeting of the Paleopathology Association, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA: Paper: The future of palaeopathological research: the need for databases of curated skeletal collections

North East Regional Anatomical Pathological Technologists 4th Annual Seminar, Billingham. Invited paper: Dissecting the evidence to learn about the past: contributions from bioarchaeology

4th Paleopathology Association South American Meeting, Lima, Peru. Paper: Palaeopathology and evolutionary medicine: working towards contributing to understanding present and future health

IHR Research Fellows Symposium, Arizona State University: The archaeology and bioarchaeology of leprosy.Invited Paper: Dispelling the myths of leprosy: perspectives from bioarchaeology

2010

Department of Archaeology, Cambridge University: Crisis what crisis? Advanced research seminar on the 'long' 14th century: Being unhealthy in the 14th century: the skeletal evidence and its interpretation. Invited paper.

Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA (2 posters: Hypertrophic Hypertrophic osteoarthropathy (HOA): dry-bone evidence from the Coimbra skeletal identified collection (Portugal); Health, diet and mobility at the Medieval Bowl-Hole cemetery, Bamburgh, Northumberland:a contextual study of the skeletal and isotopic data)

Annual Meeting of the Paleopathology Association, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA (paper: The origin and mobility of people with venereal syphilis buried in Hull, England in the late Medieval period)

18th Paleopathology Association European Meeting, Vienna Austria. Five co-authored posters, and one invited keynote lecture: The impact of leprosy on people living in Historic Europe: advances in what we know, what we thought we knew and what we need to know

4th Annual Palliative Care Conference, Teeside University, Middlesborough (Life and death matters through the eyes of alternative disciplines): What we can learn about death and dying from our ancestors. Invited paper.

British Association of Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology Annual Conference: Where have we been, where are we now, and what does the future hold? Palaeopathology in the UK over the last 30 years. Invited keynote paper.

Research Students

I am open to PhD student applications from well qualified and enthusiastic people who want to do research in palaeopathology. I have a particular research interest in the infectious diseases but I am willing to discuss being a supervisor in other areas in palaeopathology.

I was given one of Durham University's 'Excellence in Doctoral Supervision' Awards in 2009

I currently supervise the following research students:

Zahra Afshar (Migration, mobility and economic transition in the 3^rd millennium BC in the population of south-east of Iran, Shahr-e Sokhta); Iranian

Michaela Binder (Health and diet in ancient Nubia through political and social change); Austria (Leverhulme Trust funded)

Marta Diaz-Zorita Bonilla (Reconstructing social structure through bioarchaeological analysis); Spanish; funded by the Government of Anadalucia

Marieke Gernay (Urban health in Medieval Belgium, France and England); Belgium

Devon Kase (Congenital conditions in British populations: a contextual approach)

Julie Peacock (Disability and traumatic brain injury (TBI) in Britain: AD 1066-AD 1800); UK; AHRC funded

Kimberley Plomp (Quantifying palaeopathology: developing objective geometric morphometric methods for recording pathological conditions in human skeletal remains); Canadian; Durham Interdisciplinary Award - with Anthropology

Jennifer Sharman (Testing age and sex estimation methods on known documented skeletal collections from Portugal, England and Canada); Canadian/UK

Ashley Tallyn (A study of the health of monks' and nuns' health using multiple lines of evidence); U.S.

Indicators of Esteem

• 2012: Deputy Editor of the International Journal of Paleopathology:
• 2011: REF (Research Excellence Framework) Panel C:17 - elected member for Archaeology:
• 2010: 18th European Meeting of the Paleopathology Association: Invited keynote lecture:
• 2010: Associate Editor of International Journal of Palaeopathology and Member of the Advisory Board:
• 2010: President of the Paleopathology Association: Elected President for 2011-2013

Research Groups

Department of Archaeology

• Bioarchaeology Research Group
• North East Research Group

Research Projects

Department of Archaeology

• Amara West: Health and Diet in ancient Nubia through climate and political change
• Bamburgh Bowl-Hole Anglian Cemetery: a contextual study
• Bioarchaeology of leprosy: a global perspective on a declining disease
• Biomolecular archaeology of ancient tuberculosis in Britain and Europe
• Global History of Health Project (European Module)
• Medieval Women’s Lives in England
• The ‘Invisible Dead’ and the Development of Early Human Beliefs about the Body

Research Interests

• Bioarchaeological approaches to the history of disease and medicine worldwide and any period, especially infectious disease
• Bioarchaeology, or the integration of biological with archaeological data to study past human populations through their skeletal remains
• The application of biomolecular techniques to answer archaeological questions
• The history of the infectious diseases, especially tuberculosis and leprosy

Teaching Areas

• History of medicine (Philosophy) (1 hours/year.)
• MSc Palaeopathology: Dissertation
• MSc Palaeopathology: Identification and analysis of the normal human skeleton
• MSc Palaeopathology: Palaeopathology. Theory and method
• MSc Palaeopathology: Research and study skills in archaeological science
• MSc Palaeopathology: Themes in palaeopathology

Selected Publications

Books: authored

• Roberts, C.A. (2012). Human remains in archaeology. A handbook. Practical Handbooks in Archaeology No 19. Council for British Archaeology.
• Roberts, C.A. (2009). Human remains in archaeology: a handbook. Practical Handbooks in Archaeology No 19. York.: Council for British Archaeology.
• Roberts, C.A. & Buikstra, J.E. (2008). The bioarchaeology of tuberculosis. A global view on a reemerging disease. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida.
• Roberts, C.A. & Manchester, K. (2005). Archaeology of disease. Stroud: Sutton Publishing. Paperback of 3rd edition 2010.
• Roberts, C.A. & Cox, M. (2003). Health & disease in Britain: from prehistory to the present day. Gloucester: Sutton Publishing.
• Roberts, C.A. & Buikstra, J.E. (2003). The bioarchaeology of tuberculosis: a global view on a re-emerging disease. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida.

Books: edited

• Buikstra, JE & Roberts, CA (2012). The Global History of Paleopathology: Pioneers and Prospects. Oxford University Press.
• Roberts, C.A., Lewis, M.E., Manchester, K. & International Congress on the Evolution and Palaeoepidemiology of the Infectious Diseases (ICEPID) (3rd 1999 University of Bradford, England) (2002). The past and present of leprosy: Archaeological, historical, palaeopathological and clinical approaches: Proceedings of the International Congress on the Evolution and palaeoepidemiology of the infectious diseases (ICEPID)3rd: University of Bradford, 26th-31st July 1999. British Archaeological Reports. International Series. Oxford: Archaeopress.
• Roberts, CA, Lee, F & Bintliff, J (1989). Burial archaeology. Current research, methods and developments. British Series 211. British Archaeological Reports.

Books: reviews

• Roberts, C.A. (2010). Book review of Luke Demaitre: Leprosy in Premodern Medicine. A malady of the whole body. The Historian 72(3): 718-719.
• Roberts, C.A. (2009). Book Review of 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. (MoLAS Monograph 39). By Adrian Miles & William White, with Danae Tankard. London: Museum of London, 2008. Medieval Archaeology 53: 464-465.
• Roberts, C.A. (2009). Book review of M Signoli, D Chevé, P Adalaina, G Boëtsch, O Dutour (editors) 2008 Peste: entre épidemies et sociétés, Plague: epidemics and societies, 2007, Firenze University Press. Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d'Anthropologie de Paris 20(3-4): 287-288.
• Roberts, C.A. (2009). Book review of R David (ed): Egyptian mummies and modern science, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Journal of Archaeological Science 36(8): 1816-1817.
• Roberts C.A. (2009). Book review of The Black Death Cemetery, East Smithfield, London (MoLAS Monograph 43). By Ian Grainger, Duncan Hawkins, Lynne Cowal & Richard Mikulski. London: English Heritage/Museum of London Archaeology Service, 2008. Medieval Archaeology 53: 462-463.
• Roberts, C.A. (2008). Book Review of T Waldron: St Peter’s, Barton-on-Humber, Lincolnshire. A Parish Church and its community. Volume 2. The human remains. Oxbow Books. Medieval Archaeology 52: 428-430.
• Roberts, C.A. (2008). Book review of The Churchyard. Wharram: a Study of Settlement on the Yorkshire Wolds, XI by S. Mays, C. Harding, C. Heighway. York University Archaeological Publications, Vol. 13, York, 2007). Journal of Archaeological Science 35(7): 2083-2084.
• Roberts, C.A. (2006). Book review of ‘Backbone of history. Health and nutrition in the Western Hemisphere’ edited by JC Rose and RH Steckel, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Social History of Medicine 19(2): 345-346.
• Roberts, C.A. (2005). Book review of C. Greenblatt and M. Spigelman (eds): Emerging pathogens. Archaeology, ecology and evolution of infectious disease, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2003. American Journal of Archaeology 109(3): 572-573.
• Roberts, C.A. (2001). Book review of 'The Tarim Mummies Ancient China and the mystery of the earliest peoples from the West' by J. P. Mallory & Victor H. Mair, London Thames & Hudson, 2000. International Journal of Heritage Studies 7(1): 102-103.
• Roberts, C.A. & Brown, T. A. (2000). 'Digging for pathogens. Ancient emerging diseases: Their evolutionary, anthropological and archaeological context' Book review of 'Digging for pathogens' edited by C.L. Greenblatt, Rehovot, Israel: Balaban Publishers, 1998. American Journal Physical Anthropology 112(2): 288-290.
• Roberts, C.A. (2000). Book review of 'The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Human Paleopathology' by A. Aufderheide and C. Rodriguez Martin, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1998. Medical History 44(1): 121-123.
• Roberts, C.A. (1999). Book review of 'The archaeology of human bones.' by Simon Mays, London and New York Routledge, 1998. Journal of Archaeological Science 26(9): 1235-1236.
• Roberts, C.A. (1995). Book review of 'Counting the Dead. The epidemiology of skeletal populations' by T. Waldron, Chichester John Wiley, 1994. Journal of human evolution 29(2): 194-197.

Books: sections

• Roberts, CA (2012). Re-emerging infections: developments in bioarchaeological contributions to understanding tuberculosis today. In A companion to paleopathology. Grauer, A Wiley-Blackwell. 434-457.
• Roberts, CA (2012). Where have we been, where are we now, and what does the future hold? palaeopathology in the Uk over the last 30 years, with a few bees in my bonnet. In Proceedings of the 12th Annual Conference of the British Association of Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology. Mitchell, PD & Buckberry, J Archaeopress. 43-52.
• Roberts, C.A. (2011). The bioarchaeology of leprosy and tuberculosis: a comparative study of perceptions, stigma, diagnosis and treatment. In Social Bioarchaeology. Agarwal, S. & Glencross, B. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. 252-281.
• Roberts, C.A. (2010). Human Remains. In Excavations at Baldock, Hertfordshire, 1978-1994. Volume 1. An Iron Age and Romano-British cemetery at Wallington Road. Burleigh, G.R & Fitzpatrick-Matthews, K.J. Letchworth Garden City: North Hertfordshire District Council Museums Service and North Hertfordshire Archaeological Society. 1: 187-197.
• Roberts, CA. (2009). Health and welfare in medieval England: the human skeletal remains contextualised. In Reflections:50 years of medieval archaeology 1957-2007. Gilchrist, R. & Reynolds, A. Leeds: Maney Publishers. 307-325.
• Roberts, C.A. (2009). Health and welfare: lessons from the past. In Thinking about almost everything new ideas to light up minds. Amin, A. & O'Neill, M. London.: Profile Books Ltd.
• Roberts, C.A. (2008). Commentary I: Understanding health: past and present. In Health, risk and adversity. Panter-Brick, C. & Fuentes A. New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books. Volume 2, Studies of the Biosocial Society.: 13-25.
• Roberts, C.A. (2008). Health, healing and disease. In Encylopedia of Archaeology. Pearsall, D. New York: Academic Press. 1417-1426.
• Roberts, C.A. & Buikstra, J.E. (2008). The history of tuberculosis from earliest times to the development of drugs. In Clinical tuberculosis. Davies, P.D.O., Barnes, P.F. & Gordon, S.B. London: Hodder Arnold. 3-19.
• Roberts, C.A. (2007). Medical science and archaeology. In Discovery! Unearthing the new treasures of archaeology. Fagan, B. London: Thames and Hudson. 234-237.
• Roberts, C.A. & Buikstra, J.E. (2007). The evidence for tuberculosis in the Eastern Mediterranean:past and current research and future prospects. In Faces from the Past: Diachronic Patterns in the Biology of Human Populations from the Eastern Mediterranean. Faerman, M., Horwitz, L.K., Kahana, T. & Zilberman, U. Oxford: Archaeopress. 1603: 213-227.
• Roberts, C.A. & Cox, M. (2007). The impact of economic intensification and social complexity on human health in Britain from 6000 BP (Neolithic) and the introduction of farming to the mid-nineteenth century AD. In Ancient health:skeletal indicators of agricultural and economic intensification. Cohen, M.N. & Crane-Kramer, G. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida. 149-163.
• Roberts, C.A. (2006). A view from afar. Bioarchaeology in Britain. In Bioarchaeology. The contextual analysis of human remains. Buikstra, J.E. & Beck, L.A. Amsterdam Boston: Elsevier. 417-439.
• Roberts, C.A. & Cox, M. (2006). The Human Population: Health and Disease. In A companion to Roman Britain. Todd, M. Oxford: Blackwell. 242-272.
• Roberts, C.A., Lagia, A., Triantaphyllou, S., Bourbou, C. & Tsaliki, A. (2005). Health and disease in Greece: past, present and future. In Health in antiquity. King, H. London: Routledge. 32-58.
• Roberts, C A (2004). General medicine. In The 70 Great Inventions of the Ancient World. Fagan, B. London: Thames & Hudson. 225-260.
• Roberts, C A & Connell, B (2004). Guidance on recording palaeopathology. In Guidelines to the standards for recording human remains. Brickley, M. & McKinley, J.I. Reading and Southampton: British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology and Institute of Field Archaeologists. IFA Paper No: 7: 34-39.
• Roberts, C.A. & Buikstra, J.E. (2003). History of tuberculosis from the earliest times to the introduction of drug therapy. In Clinical tuberculosis. Davies, P. D. O. London: Edward Arnold. 3-20.
• Roberts, C.A. & Lewis, M.E. (2002). Ecology and infectious disease in Britain from prehistory to the present: the case of respiratory infection. In Ecological aspects of past human settlements in Europe. Bennike, P., Bodzsar, E. & Susanne, C. Budapest: Eotvos University Press. 179-192.
• Roberts, C.A. (2002). Palaeopathology and archaeology: the current state of play. In The archaeology of medicine. Arnott, R. Oxford: Archaeopress. BAR international series, 1046: 1-20.
• Roberts, C.A. (2000). Did they take sugar:the use of skeletal evidence in the study of disability in past populations. In Madness, disability and social exclusion: The archaeology and anthropology of difference. Hubert, J. London: Routledge. 46-59.
• Roberts, C.A. (2000). Infectious disease in biocultural perspective: past, present and future work in Britain. In Human Osteology: In Archaeology and Forensic Science. Cox, M. & Mays, S. London: Greenwich Medical Media. 145-162.
• Roberts, C. (2000). Trauma in biocultural perspective: past, present and future work in Britain. In Human osteology in archaeology and forensic science. Cox, M. & Mays, S. London: Greenwich Medical Media. 337-356.
• Roberts, C.A. (1999). Rib lesions and tuberculosis: the state of play. In Tuberculosis. Past and Present. Palfi, G. Dutour, O. Deak, J. & Hutas, I. Budapest and Szeged: Golden Book and Tuberculosis Foundation. 311-322.
• Roberts C.A., Lewis, M.E. & Boocock, P. (1998). Infectious disease, sex and gender: the complexity of it all. In Sex and gender in paleopathological perspective. Grauer, A. & Stuart-Macadam, P. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 93-113.
• Roberts, C.A. (1994). Treponematosis in Gloucester, England: a theoretical and practical approach to the pre-Columbian theory. In L'origine de la syphilis en Europe avant ou après 1493 ? = The origin of syphilis in Europe before or after 1493? actes du colloque international de Toulon, 25-28 Novembre 1993. Dutour, O. Palfi, G., Berato, J. & Brun J-P. Toulon, France.: Centre Archeologique du Var, Editions Errance. 101-108.

Conference papers

• Redfern, R. & Roberts, C.A. (2005), Health in Romano-British urban communities: reflections from the cemeteries, Association for Environmental Archaeology Symposium: Papers in honour of Susan Limbrey. Birmingham, England, Oxbow, Oxford, 115-129.
• Roberts, C.A. & McKinley, J. (2003), A review of trepanations in British antiquity focusing on funerary context to explain their occurrence, in Arnott, R., Finger, S. & Smith, C.U.M. eds, Trepanation. History, discovery, theory. International Colloquium on cranial trepanation in human history. Birmingham University, Swets and Zeitlinger, Lisse, 55-78.
• Schultz, M. & Roberts, C.A. (2002), Diagnosis of leprosy from an English later Medieval leprosy hospital using histological analysis, in Roberts, C.A., Lewis, M.E. & Manchester, K. eds, British Archaeological Reports International Series 1054: The past and present of leprosy. Archaeological, historical, palaeopathological and clinical approaches. Proceedings of the International Congress on the Evolution and palaeoepidemiology of the infectious diseases 3 (ICEPID). Bradford University, Archaeopress, Oxford, 89-110.
• Roberts, C.A. (2002), The antiquity of leprosy in Britain: The skeletal evidence, in Roberts, C.A., Lewis, M.E. & Manchester, K. eds, British Archaeological Reports International Series 1054: The past and present of leprosy. Archaeological, historical, palaeopathological and clinical approaches. International Congress on the Evolution and palaeoepidemiology of the infectious diseases 3 (ICEPID), 26th-31st July 1999. Bradford University, Archaeopress, Oxford, 213-222.
• Roberts, C.A. (2002), Tuberculosis:a multidisciplinary approach to past and current concepts, causes and treatment of this infectious disease, in Baker, P. A. & Carr, G. eds, Practitioners, practices and patients. New approaches to medical archaeology and anthropology. Magdalene College, Cambridge University, Oxbow, Oxford, 30-46.
• Roberts, C.A. (2001), Health and disease in past British populations, prehistory to the later Medieval period: some perspectives on the evidence and its problems, in Schultz, M. eds, 4th Kongress der Gesellschaft fur Anthropologie. Potsdam, Germany, Cuvillier Verlag, Gottingen, 414-422.
• Janaway, R.C., Wilson, A.S., Caffell, A.C. & Roberts, C.A (2001), Human skeletal collections: the responsibilities of project managers, physical anthropologists and conservators, and the need for standardized condition assessment, in Williams, E. eds, 934: Human remains. Conservation, retrieval and analysis. Williamsburg, Virginia, USA, Archaeopress, Oxford, 199-208.
• Caffell, A.C., Roberts, C.A., Janaway, R.C. & Wilson, A.S. (2001), Pressures on osteological collections: the importance of damage limitation, in Williams, E. eds, 934: Human remains. Conservation, retrieval and analysis. Williamsburg, Virginia, USA, Archaeopress, Oxford, 187-197.

Edited works: journals

• Roberts, C.A. (2007). International Journal of Osteoarchaeology. Special Volume (Symposium in Honour of Aidan and Eve Cockburn, Durham University, 2004). International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 17 (4): John Wiley.

Journal papers: academic

• Rissech, C, Roberts, CA, Tomás-Batlle, X, Tomás-Gimeno, X, Fuller, B, Fernandez, PL & Botella, M (2013). Possible case of treponematosis in the north-east of the Iberian peninsula during the late Roman period? A morphological and radiological study. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology
• Grimoud,AM, Roberts, CA, Sevin, A, Passarius, O, Lucas, S & Crubezy, E (2012). A new topographic representation of dental characteristics: application to dental wear in medieval skeletal remains. Archives of Oral Biology 57(6): 841-852.
• Assis, S, Santos, AL & Roberts, CA (2012). Does hypertrophic osteoarthropathy help in the diagnosis of pulmonary diseases: evidence from the Coimbra Skeletal Identified Collection. International Journal of Palaeopathology 1(3-4): 155-163.
• Bouwman, AS, Kennedy, SL, Muller, R, Stephens, RH, Holst, M, Caffell, AC, Roberts, CA & Brown, TA (2012). Genotype of a historic strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 109(45): 18511-18516.
• Roberts, CA, Millard, AR, Nowell, GM, Grocke, D, Macpherson, C, Pearson G & Evans, DH (2012). Isotopic tracing of the impact of mobility on infectious disease: The origin of people with treponematosis buried in hull, England, in the late medieval period. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 150(2): 273-285.
• Plomp,KA, Roberts,CA & Strand Vidarsdottir, U (2012). Vertebral Morphology Influences the Development of Schmorl’s Nodes in the Lower Thoracic Vertebrae. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 149: 572-582.
• Roberts, C.A. & Mays, S. (2011). Study and restudy of curated skeletal collections in bioarchaeology: a perspective on the UK and the implications for future curation of human remains. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 21(5): 626-630.
• Roberts, C.A. (2010). Adaptation of populations to changing environments: Bioarchaeological perspectives on health for the past, present and future. Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d'Anthropologie de Paris 22(1-2): 38-46.
• Wilbur, AK., Bouwman, AS., Stone, AC. Roberts, CA., Pfister, L. Buikstra, JE. & Brown, TA. (2009). Deficiencies and challenges in the study of ancient tuberculosis DNA. J Archaeological Science 36(9): 1990-1997.
• Roberts, CA., Pfister, L. & Mays, S. (2009). Letter to the editor. Was tuberculosis present in Homo erectus in Turkey?. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 139(3): 442-444.
• Stone, AC. Wilbur, AK. Buikstra, JE. & Roberts, CA. (2009). Mycobacterial disease in perspective. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 52: 66-94.
• Redman, J.E., Shaw, M.J., Mallet, A.I., Santos, A.L., Roberts, C.A., Gernaey, A.M. & Minnikin, D.E. (2009). Mycocerosic acid biomarkers for the diagnosis of tuberculosis in the Coimbra skeletal collection. Tuberculosis 89(4): 267-277.
• Park, V., Roberts, CA. & Jakob, T. (2009). Palaeopathology in Britain: a critical analysis of publications with the aim of exploring recent trends (1997-2006). International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 19: 1-11.
• Jurmain, R. & Roberts, C.A. (2008). Juggling the evidence: the purported 'acrobat' from Tell Brak. Antiquity 82(318).
• Roberts, C.A. & Ingham, S. (2008). Using ancient DNA analysis in palaeopathology: a critical analysis of published papers with recommendations for future work. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 18(6): 600-613.
• Roberts, C.A. (2007). A bioarchaeological study of maxillary sinusitis. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 133(2): 792-807.
• Roberts, C.A., Powell, M.L. & Buikstra, J.E. (2007). Preface. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 17(4): 327-336.
• Santos, A.L. & Roberts, C.A. (2006). Anatomy of a serial killer: differential diagnosis of tuberculosis based on rib lesions of adult individuals from the Coimbra Identified Skeletal Collection,Portugal. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 130(1): 38-49.
• Djuric, M.P., Roberts, C.A. , Rakocevic, Z.B., Djonic, D.D. & Lesic, A. (2006). Fractures in late Medieval skeletal populations from Serbia. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 130(2): 167-178.
• Von Hunnius, T., Roberts, C.A., Saunders S. & Boylston, A. (2006). Histological identification of syphilis in pre-Columbian England. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 129(4): 559-566.
• Montgomery, J., Evans, J., Powlesland, D. & Roberts, C.A. (2005). Continuity or colonization in Anglo-Saxon England? Isotope evidence for mobility, subsistence practice, and status at West Heslerton. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 126(2): 123-138.
• Millard, A.R., Roberts, C.A. & Hughes, S.S. (2005). Isotopic evidence for migration in Medieval England: the potential for tracking the introduction of disease. Society, Biology and Human Affairs 70: 9-13.
• Roberts, C. A., Knusel, C. & Race, L. (2004). A foot deformity from a Romano-British cemetery at Gloucester, England and the current evidence for Talipes in palaeopathology. International Journal for Osteoarchaeology 14(5): 389-403.
• Budd P, Millard A, Chenery C, Lucy S & Roberts C (2004). Investigating population movement by stable isotope analysis: a report from Britain. Antiquity 78(299): 127-141.
• Groves, S., Roberts, C.A., Johnstone, C., Hall, R. & Dobney, K. (2003). A high status burial from Ripon Cathedral, North Yorkshire, England: differential diagnosis of a chest deformity. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 13(6): 358-368.
• Byers, S. & Roberts, C.A. (2003). Bayes' theorem in palaeopathological diagnosis. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 121(1): 1-9.
• Roberts, C.A. (2003). Bees in my bonnet:reflections on biological anthropology in the UK. Archaeological Review from Cambridge 16(2): 96-116.
• Roberts, C.A. (2002). Tuberculosis in Britain: its history and palaeoepidemiology. Antropologia Portuguesa 19: 101-119.
• Santos, A.L. & Roberts, C.A. (2001). A picture of tuberculosis in young Portuguese people in the early 20th century: A multidisciplinary study of the skeletal and historical evidence. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 115(1): 38-49.
• Roberts, C.A. & Grauer, A.L. (2001). Commentary: Bones, bodies and representivity in the archaeological record. International Journal of Epidemiology 30(1): 109-110.
• Dixon, R. & Roberts, C.A. (2001). Modern and ancient scourges:the application of ancient DNA to the analysis of tuberculosis and leprosy from archaeologically derived human remains. Ancient Biomolecules 3(3): 181-193.
• Gernaey, A., Minnikin, D., Copley, M., Dixon, R., Middleton, J. & Roberts, C.A. (2001). Mycolic acids and ancient DNA confirm an osteological diagnosis of tuberculosis. Tuberculosis 81(4): 259-265.
• Djuric-Srejic, M. & Roberts, C.A. (2001). Palaeopathological evidence of infectious disease in skeletal populations from later medieval Serbia. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 11(5): 311-320.
• Boylston, A., Knusel, C., Roberts, C.A. & Dawson, M. (2000). Investigation of a Romano-British rural ritual in Bedford, England. Journal of Archaeological Science 27(3): 241-254.
• Judd, M. & Roberts, C.A. (1999). Fracture trauma in a Medieval British farming village. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 109(2): 229-243.
• Ackroyd, R.G., Lucy, D. Pollard, A.M. & Roberts, C.A. (1999). Nasty, brutish, but not necessarily short: A reconsideration of the statistical methods used to calculate age at death from adult human and dental age indicators. American Antiquity 64(1): 55-70.
• Judd, M.A. & Roberts, C.A. (1998). Fracture patterns at the medieval leper hospital in Chichester. American journal of physical anthropology 105(1): 43-55.
• Roberts, C.A., Boylston, A., Buckley, L., Chamberlain, A. & Murphy, E. (1998). Rib lesions and tuberculosis: the palaeopathological evidence. Tubercle and Lung Disease 79(1): 55-60.
• Ribot, I. & Roberts, C.A. (1996). A study of non-specific stress indicators and skeletal growth in two Medieval subadult populations. J. Archaeological Science 23: 67-79.
• Knusel, C., Roberts, C. & Boylston, A. (1996). Brief communication When Adam delved an activity-related lesion in three human skeletal populations. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 100(427-434): 427-434.
• Grauer, A. & Roberts, C. A. (1996). Palaeoepidemiology, healing and possible treatment of trauma in the Medieval cemetery population of St. Helen-on-the-Walls, York, England. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 100(4): 531-544.
• Lewis, M., Roberts, C.A. & Manchester, K. (1995). A comparative study of the prevalence of maxillary sinusitis in Medieval urban and rural populations in Northern England. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 98(4): 497-506.
• Boocock, P., Roberts, C. & Manchester, K. (1995). Maxillary sinusitis in Medieval Chichester, England. American journal of physical anthropology 98(4): 483-495.
• Roberts, C., Lucy, D. & Manchester, K. (1994). Inflammatory lesions of ribs: an analysis of the Terry Collection. American journal of physical anthropology 95(2): 169-182.

Other publications: research

• Roberts, CA, Alves Cardoso, F, Bernofsky, K, Henderson, C, Jakob T, Plomp, K, Ponce, P, Sharman, J & Spencer, R (2012). Palaeopathology: studying the origin, evolution and frequency of disease in human remains from archaeological sites. UNESCO EOLSS.

Show all publications

Media Contacts

Available for media contact about:

• Infectious diseases: Disease in Britain from 10,500 BC to the mid 19th century AD
• Environment and culture: The study of human remains from archaeological sites, and particularly the evidence for disease
• Medical and health research topics: Disease in Britain from 10,500 BC to the mid 19th century AD
• Environment and culture: Disease in Britain from 10,500 BC to the mid 19th century AD
• European Prehistory: Disease in Britain from 10,500 BC to the mid 19th century AD
• Medieval history: Disease in Britain from 10,500 BC to the mid 19th century AD
• Middle Ages & Early Modern History: Disease in Britain from 10,500 BC to the mid 19th century AD
• People: Evolution and Biology: Disease in Britain from 10,500 BC to the mid 19th century AD
• Infectious diseases: Infectious disease: leprosy in past populations
• Medical and health research topics: Infectious disease: leprosy in past populations
• Environment and culture: Infectious disease: leprosy in past populations
• Medieval history: Infectious disease: leprosy in past populations
• Middle Ages & Early Modern History: Infectious disease: leprosy in past populations
• People: Evolution and Biology: Infectious disease: leprosy in past populations
• Infectious diseases: Infectious disease: tuberculosis in past populations
• Medical and health research topics: Infectious disease: tuberculosis in past populations
• Environment and culture: Infectious disease: tuberculosis in past populations
• European Prehistory: Infectious disease: tuberculosis in past populations
• Genetics: Infectious disease: tuberculosis in past populations
• Medieval history: Infectious disease: tuberculosis in past populations
• Middle Ages & Early Modern History: Infectious disease: tuberculosis in past populations
• People: Evolution and Biology: Infectious disease: tuberculosis in past populations
• Infectious diseases: Infectious disease: treponemal disease (syphilis) in past populations
• Medical and health research topics: Infectious disease: treponemal disease (syphilis) in past populations
• Environment and culture: Infectious disease: treponemal disease (syphilis) in past populations
• Medieval history: Infectious disease: treponemal disease (syphilis) in past populations
• Middle Ages & Early Modern History: Infectious disease: treponemal disease (syphilis) in past populations
• Pollution: Air quality and health in past populations
• Medical and health research topics: Air quality and health in past populations
• Environment and culture: Air quality and health in past populations
• European Prehistory: Air quality and health in past populations
• Medieval history: Air quality and health in past populations
• Middle Ages & Early Modern History: Air quality and health in past populations
• Infectious diseases: Ancient DNA analysis and its contribution to understanding infectious disease in the past
• Medical and health research topics: Ancient DNA analysis and its contribution to understanding infectious disease in the past
• Environment and culture: Ancient DNA analysis and its contribution to understanding infectious disease in the past
• European Prehistory: Ancient DNA analysis and its contribution to understanding infectious disease in the past
• Genetics: Ancient DNA analysis and its contribution to understanding infectious disease in the past
• Medieval history: Ancient DNA analysis and its contribution to understanding infectious disease in the past
• Middle Ages & Early Modern History: Ancient DNA analysis and its contribution to understanding infectious disease in the past
• People: Evolution and Biology: Ancient DNA analysis and its contribution to understanding infectious disease in the past
• Ethics: Ethical issues and the study of human remains from archaeological sites
• Medical and health research topics: Ethical issues and the study of human remains from archaeological sites
• Environment and culture: Ethical issues and the study of human remains from archaeological sites
• European Prehistory: Ethical issues and the study of human remains from archaeological sites
• Genetics: Ethical issues and the study of human remains from archaeological sites
• Medieval history: Ethical issues and the study of human remains from archaeological sites
• Middle Ages & Early Modern History: Ethical issues and the study of human remains from archaeological sites
• People: Evolution and Biology: Ethical issues and the study of human remains from archaeological sites
• Medical and health research topics: Medical and surgical treatment in the past: trepanation as seen in human remains (skull surgery)
• Environment and culture: Medical and surgical treatment in the past: trepanation as seen in human remains (skull surgery)
• European Prehistory: Medical and surgical treatment in the past: trepanation as seen in human remains (skull surgery)
• Medieval history: Medical and surgical treatment in the past: trepanation as seen in human remains (skull surgery)
• Middle Ages & Early Modern History: Medical and surgical treatment in the past: trepanation as seen in human remains (skull surgery)
• Medical and health research topics: Reconstructing activity/occupation in the past using skeletal remans
• Environment and culture: Reconstructing activity/occupation in the past using skeletal remans
• European Prehistory: Reconstructing activity/occupation in the past using skeletal remans
• Medieval history: Reconstructing activity/occupation in the past using skeletal remans
• Middle Ages & Early Modern History: Reconstructing activity/occupation in the past using skeletal remans
• Individual sports and leisure: Reconstructing activity/occupation in the past using skeletal remans

Grants Awarded

• 2012: Templeton Foundation (The invisible dead). PI Chris Scarre; Co-Leader with Graham Philip (£211-539)
• 2009: Leverhulme Trust: Health and diet in ancient Nubia through political and climate change (Co-I with Neal Spencer, British Museum); £52,066 for tied studentship at Durham plus FEC costs as Co-I
• 2008: British Aacdemy (Indigenous or incomers. A mobility study of people with pre-Columbian venereal syphilis at Hull Magistrates Court) - PI with Co-Is Dr Andrew Millard and Professor Graham Pearson (£2765)
• 2008: Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Dating Service Programme - six dates for Bamburgh Castle Project)
• 2007: Natural Environmental Research Council (Biomolecular archaeology of tuberculosis in ancient Britain and Europe) – Co-PI with Terry Brown, Manchester University (£211,427 – FEC - to Durham for tied PhD studentship and postdoctoral research associate, and research costs)
• 2005: Arts and Humanities Research Council (The Bamburgh Bowl-Hole Anglian cemetery: a contextual study) - PI with Co-Is Sam Lucy and Graham Pearson (£220,563 – for postdoctoral research associate, and research costs)