Staff

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

ORCID profile

Professor in the Department of Archaeology

Telephone: +44 (0) 191 33 41154

Room number: 223

Fellow of the Wolfson Research Institute for Health and Wellbeing

Telephone: +44 (0) 191 33 41154

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

BIOGRAPHY

I now work part-time, 3 days a week.

BACKGROUND

I am a bioarchaeologist, and have a background in archaeology, environmental archaeology and human bioarchaeology. I have studied and interpreted human remains from archaeological sites for the past 35 years, and I am specifically interested in exploring the interaction of people with their environments in the past through patterns of health and disease (palaeopathology), and especially those health problems that are common today. My key research interests lie in:

- contextual approaches to past human health (palaeopathology);

- ethics and human remains;

- contemporary health;

- evolutionary approaches to the origin and history of infectious diseases;

- big data projects in palaeopathology;

I am also very passionate about engaging audiences with my research beyond academia.

I try to utilize multiple lines of evidence for reconstructing past health, including exploring the application of medical anthropological and evolutionary biological approaches to bioarchaeology. Furthermore, I have a strong active interest in past concepts of disease causation and 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. see books: Roberts and Cox 2003, Roberts and Buikstra 2003, Roberts and Manchester 2005, Roberts 2018, Steckel, Larsen, Roberts and Baten eds. 2018).

MY CAREER

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 a PhD (bioarchaeology/ palaeopathology/ medical history - Bradford 1988).

I was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2014, gained an Excellence in Teaching Award in 1999, and an Excellence in Doctoral Supervision Award in 2009

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 on two one year masters courses (Bradford: MSc Osteology, Palaeopathology and Funerary Archaeology 1990-1999, and Durham: MSc Palaeopathology 2000-date).

MY OTHER LIFE:

I do other things too, because I strive to have a work-life balance (!), and since starting to work part-time (October 2017), I am having more time to do more of the things I do in my "other life"! I love all things natural history, the outdoors and the countryside. I am very sport active, my main sports being running, including orienteering and two day mountain marathon events (off road), hiking (Pennine Way, Cleveland Way, South Downs Way, West Highland Way, John Muir Trail), downhill and cross-country skiing (in season in North America and Europe), and road cycling (Lands End to John O’Groats June 2012) – I also do yoga! My current favourite runs where I live are in Wensleydale (Cover Bridge to Coverham Abbey along the river, and back via Middleham Castle) and in Swaledale (from Muker to Keld along the river and back over the tops). However, in the past, I have been a very active participant in caving, partaking in several foreign expeditions, and horse riding (competing). I have also experienced kayaking, coasteering, surfing, triathlons, water skiing, wind surfing (Greece on a course), parachuting (twice), canyoning in France and hang gliding (a course). I completed the Everest Marathon in Nepal in 1999 (starting at 17,000 feet ASL), and the Bob Graham Round in 1996 (66 miles, 27,000 feet of ascent, and 42 mountain tops in 24 hours - in the Lake District); these are both achievements that are dear to my heart in places I love.

I was Treasurer of the Archaeology Society in at Leicester University in the 1980s, and President of the Calder Valley Fell Runners for two years in the 1990s. I am currently a member of the Fell Runners Association. I am also a member of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, We Are Cycling UK, and I garden, flower arrange (awarded a diploma in 2017), am an active member of the Women’s Institute of East Witton (President, and responsible for PR and the annual event programme), ring the local church bells, sing in the Dales Community Pop Choir (awarded the Richard Whiteley prize in 2020 at the Yorkshire Awards) and, until recently, the Northwest Federation of the Women’s Institute Choir, completed a beekeeping course in 2019, and have a qualification in dry stone walling. Life is not a dress rehearsal.

I have a great healthy interest in all things natural history, and I have travelled widely (Europe, USA, Canada, China, Mongolia, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Europe, Iceland, India, Jordan, Nepal, New Zealand, Middle East, Russia). I also enjoy good food and wine with dear friends, cinema, theatre, have wide music tastes (which includes seeing live bands), like reading non-fiction when I have the time (usually on holiday!), and support Manchester United Football Club.

MY ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES

The sections below record activity within the last 3 years

MEMBERSHIP OF RESEARCH GROUPS AND CENTRES

Bioarchaeology (based in the Department of Archaeology) - https://www.dur.ac.uk/archaeology/research/research_environment/research_groups/bioarchaeology/

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

Centre for Life and Death Studies (based in the Department if Theology) - http://www.dur.ac.uk/cdals/

Centre for the Ethics of Cultural Heritage (University wide Research Centre) - 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)

I enjoy talking about my research to beneficiaries beyond academia, and have taught classes for the public since the 1980s, along with giving many public lectures and taking part in TV and radio programmes. Here are the last three years of talks to the public/exhibitions/engagement etc:

2019: Palace Museum, Beijing, China: Bioarchaeology: past, present and future prospects AND Air quality and health in the past: Contributions from bioarchaeology to a growing global problem

2019: School of Archaeology, Jilin University, Changchun, China: Bioarchaeology: past, present and future prospects

2019: Coquetdale Community Archaeology : From nursing to the archaeology of disease: a life caring for the living and the dead

2019: Leyburn University of the Third Age: workshop on human remains

2019 Preston under Scar Women's Group: From nursing to the archaeology of disease: a life caring for the living and the dead (talk and practical)

2019 Swaledale and Arkengarthdale Archaeology Group: From nursing to the archaeology of disease: a life caring for the living and the dead (talk and practical)

2019 Settle Women’s Institute: From nursing to the archaeology: my life as a nurse and as a bioarchaeologist (talk and practical)

2019 Explore Lifelong Learning, Newcastle University: Archaeological human remains: why they are important (talk and practical)

2019 Snape Local History Group: The 17th century Scottish Soldiers Project at Durham University: revealing their lives and deaths

2019: Science Museum: part of a film on leprosy for the permanent Medical Galleries (medical isolation)

2018: Part of the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) on the Scottish Soldiers Project: specifically the bioarchaeology and on the ethics sections

2018: Lead on the Skeleton Science part of the Bodies of Evidence: How science unearthed Durham's dark secret Palace Green Library Exhibition (June-October), and related public events

2018: Talk at the Northwest Federation of Women's Institute's Autumn Council Meeting, Coniston Cold, North Yorkshire

2018: Kirkby Fleetham Women’s Institute: From nursing to the archaeology of disease: a life caring for the living and the dead

2018: Masham Local History Group: From nursing to the archaeology of disease: a life caring for the living and the dead

2018: East Witton Women’s Institute: From nursing to the archaeology of disease: a life caring for the living and the dead

2018: Wensleydale Flower Club: From nursing to the archaeology of disease: a life caring for the living and the dead

2018: North Cowton Women’s Institute: From nursing to the archaeology of disease: a life caring for the living and the dead

2018: Middleton St George History Group: From nursing to the archaeology of disease: a life caring for the living and the dead

2018: (Wensleydale) Ladies over 45 (LAFF): From nursing to the archaeology of disease: a life caring for the living and the dead

2017: Council for British Archaeology Wessex Annual Conference: Ancient DNA and the origins and evolution of infectious disease

2017: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge: Cambridge Archaeology's Garrod seminar series: Everything you might want to know about leprosy, past and present: dispelling some myths

2017: Austrian Archaeological Institute, Vienna, Austria: Bioarchaeology: past, present and future prospects

2017: Middleham and Dales Local History Group: What the study of human remains from archaeological sites can tell us about our ancestors' lives

2017: Newton-le-Willows Women's Institute: From nursing to the archaeology of disease: A life caring for the living and the dead

2017: U3A (University of the 3rd Age), Leyburn: From nursing to the archaeology of disease: A life caring for the living and the dead

2017: TV Channel 5: Headless gladiators of York

2016: Archaeology for the older generation. Worked with care home residents, Bedale, North Yorkshire and produced a resource booklet (with Kirsty McCarrison, Durham Museums) - see website which includes both this project and Skeleton Science: http://skeletonscience.weebly.com

2016: Skeleton science exhibition: worked with Kirsty McCarrison and Bedale Museum to bring this to Bedale during June

2016: Wensleydale Society: : "Skeletons in closets": what have our ancestors told us about living in northern England in the past?

2015: Gresham College Free Lectures, Museum of London: The archaeology of disease documented in skeletons (http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-archaeology-of-disease-documented-in-skeletons)

2015: Harmby and Spennithorne Women's Institute: Human bones do tell tales

2015: Skeleton science exhibition: worked with Kirsty McCarrison and Matt Storey to bring this to Bede's World, Tyneside during August

2015: Series of six lectures on palaeopathology to students from various disciplines at the Federal University of Espirito Santo, Vitoria, Brazil

2015: Two lectures on palaeopathology to students on the Transylvania Bioarechaeology fieldschool in Cluj, Romania

2015: Inaugural lecture to open the Centre for Medical History, University of Winchester (Archaeological human remains and the history of infectious disease: possibilities and realities)

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):

Kayla Crowder 2019 (Early-life stress in Transylvania: the use of macroscopic and isotopic analyses to examine how early life stress affected survival during periods of political transition.Self funded. 50:50 supervised with Janet Montgomery

Anna Barrett-Davies 2018 (The impact of sociocultural and environmental change on air quality and respiratory health in the 4th Cataract, Sudan: a bioarchaeological perspective). UK: AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award with the British Museum (Daniel Antoine)

Joint publications

Davies-Barrett A, Antoine D, Roberts CA 2019 Inflammatory periosteal reaction on ribs associated with lower respiratory disease. A method for recording prevalence from sites with differing preservation. Amer J Phys Anthropology doi: 10.1002/ajpa.23769

Claire Hodson (Stressed at Birth: Investigating Fetal, Perinatal and Infant Growth and Health Disruption); UK; AHRC funded. 2nd Supervisor.

Elina Petersone-Gordina 2018 (Living outside the city gates: a palaeopathological, demographic, isotopic and comparative analysis of the post-medieval St Gertrude Church cemetery population in Riga, Latvia). Latvia; AHRC and Wenner Gren funded

Joint publications:

Petersone-Gordina, Montgomery J, Millard AR, Nowell G, Peterkin J, Roberts CA, Gerhards G, Zelcs V 2020 Investigating dietary life histories and mobility in buried in St Gertrude Church cemetery Riga, Latvia (15^th-17^th centuries AD). Archaeometry

Petersone-Gordina E, Roberts CA, Millard A, Montgomery J, Gerhards G 2018 Dental disease and dietary isotopes of individuals from St Gertrude Church cemetery, Riga, Latvia. Plos One https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0191757

Kendra Quinn (A Bioarchaeological Study of the Impact of Mobility on the Transmission of Tuberculosis in Roman Britain). UK; self funded

Marieke Gernay (Health in late medieval urban north-west Europe: a bioarchaeological study of Caen, Canterbury and Ghent Belgium, France and England); self funded

Zahra Afshar 2015 (Mobility and economic transition in the 5th to the 2nd millennium B.C. in the population of the Central Iranian Plateau, Tepe Hissar); Iran; self funded

Joint publications:

Afshar Z, Roberts CA, Millard, A, Gröcke D 2019 The Evolution of Diet During the 5th to 2nd millennium BC for the ‎population buried at Tepe Hissar, North-eastern Central Iranian Plateau: ‎The Stable Isotope Evidence. J Archaeological Science Reports 27: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2019.101983

Afshar Z, Roberts CA, Millard A 2018 Interpersonal violence among the Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages inhabitants living on the Central Plateau of Iran: A voice from Tepe Hissar. Anthropologischer Anzeiger 75: 49-66.

Michaela Binder 2014 (Health and Diet in Upper Nubia through Climate and Political Change - A bioarchaeological investigation of health and living conditions at ancient Amara West between 1300 and 800BC); Austrian; Leverhulme Trust funded

Joint publications:

Binder M, Roberts CA 2014 Calcified structures associated with human skeletal remains: Possible atherosclerosis affecting the population buried at Amara West, Sudan (1300–800 BC). Int J Paleopathology 6:20-29

Binder M, Roberts CA, Spencer N 2014 On the antiquity of cancer – evidence for metastatic carcinoma in a young man from Ancient Nubia (c. 1200BC). PLOS ONE DOI:10.1371/journal pone.0090924

Devon Lee Kase Tancock 2014 Congenital Defects in 18th and 19th Century Populations from Rural and Urban Northeast England; U.S. self funded

Ashley Tallyn 2014 A study of the health of monks' and nuns' health using multiple lines of evidence. U.S. Self funded

Sharman J 2013: Age, sex and the life course: population variability in human ageing and implications for bioarchaeology. Canada; Self funded

Joint publication:

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 (http://www.eolss.net/)

Marta Diaz-Zorita Bonilla 2013 The copper age in South West Spain: a bioarchaeological approach to prehistoric social organization. Spanish; Government of Anadalucia

Joint publications:

Díaz-Zorita Bonilla M, RobertsCA, García Sanjuán L, Hurtado Pérez V 2017 Tomb 3 at La Pijotilla (Solana de los Barros, Badajoz, Spain): A Bioarchaeological Study of a Copper Age Collective Burial. Current Approaches to Collective Burials in the Late European Prehistory. In: T Tomé, M Díaz-Zorita Bonilla, AM Silva, C Cunha, RBoaventura (eds): Current Approaches to Collective Burials in the Late

European Prehistory. Proceedings of the XVII UISPP World Congress (1–7 September 2014, Burgos, Spain) Volume 14 / Session A25b Archaeopress archaeology

Kimberley Plomp 2013: Quantifying palaeopathology: developing objective geometric morphometric methods for recording pathological conditions in human skeletal remains. Canadian; Durham Interdisciplinary Award - with Anthropology

Joint publications:

Plomp KA, Roberts CA, Strand Viðarsdόttir U 2015 Does the correlation between Schmorl’s nodes and vertebral morphology extend into the lumbar spine. American J Physical Anthropology 157:526-534

Plomp KA, Roberts CA, Strand Viðarsdόttir U 2013 Morphological characteristics of healthy and osteoarthritic joint surfaces in archaeological skeletons. Int J Osteoarchaeology 25: 515–527

Plomp KA, Roberts CA, Strand Vidarsdottir U. 2012. Vertebral morphology influences the development of Schmorl’s Nodes in the lower thoracic vertebrae. American J Physical Anthropology 149:572-582

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

Joint publications:

McCarrison KE, Roberts CA 2016 Skeleton Science. Archaeology for the older generation. Durham University, Palace Green Library

McCarrison KE, Roberts CA 2014 Skeleton Science. Teacher’s Resource Pack. Durham University, Palace Green Library

Ryan Franklin 2011 (University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa; external supervision); The Recognition, Frequency, and Taxonomic Association of Skeletal Pathology from Selected Plio-Pleistocene-aged Sites from the Cradle of Humankind, Witwatersrand, South Africa

Heather Jarrell 2011: (Ohio State University; external supervision) Association Between Skeletal Fractures and Locomotor Behavior, Habitat Use, and Body Mass in Nonhuman Primates

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; self funded

Joint publication:

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

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

Joint publication:

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

Joint publication:

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

Joint publication:

Francisca Alves 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

Joint publication:

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

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

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

Joint publication:

Groves SE, Roberts CA, Lucy S, Pearson G, Nowell G, Macpherson CG, Gröcke D, Young G 2013 Mobility histories of 7^th-9^th century AD people buried at Early Medieval Bamburgh, Northumberland, England. American J Physical Anthropology 151(3): 462-476

Groves S, Roberts CA, Johnstone C, Hall R, Dobney K 2003 A high status burial from Ripon Cathedral, North Yorkshire, England: differential diagnosis of a chest deformity. Int. J. Osteoarchaeology13:358-368

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

Roberts CA, Caffell A, Filipek-Ogden KL, Jakob T, Gowland R ‘Til Poison Phosphorous Brought them Death’ 2016 An occupationally-related disease in a post-medieval skeleton from Coach Lane, North Shields, north-east England. Int J Paleopathology 13:39-48

Bouwman AS, Bunning SL, Müller R, Holst M, Caffell AC, Roberts CA, Brown TA. 2012 The Genotype of a Historic Strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 109:18511-6

Caffell AC, Roberts CA, Janaway RC, Wilson A 2001 Pressures on osteological collections: the importance of damage limitation. In E Williams (ed): Human remains. Conservation, retrieval and analysis. Proceedings of a conference held in Williamsburg, VA, Nov 7-11^th 1999. Oxford, British Archaeological Reports International Series 934, pp. 187-197

Janaway RC, Wilson A, Caffell AC, Roberts CA 2001 Human skeletal collections: the responsibilities of project managers, physical anthropologists and conservators, and the need for standardized condition assessment. In E Williams (ed): Human remains. Conservation, retrieval and analysis. Proceedings of a conference held in Williamsburg, VA, Nov 7-11^th 1999. Oxford, British Archaeological Reports International Series 934, pp. 199-208

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; self funded

Joint publications:

Park V, Roberts CA, Jakob T 2010 Palaeopathology in Britain: a critical analysis of publications to explore recent trends. Int. J. Osteoarchaeology 19:1-11

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

Joint publication:

Roberts CA, Bernard M-C 2015 Tuberculosis: a demographic analysis and social study of admissions to a children’s sanatorium (1936-1954) in Stannington, Northumberland, England. Tuberculosis Special Issue 95: S105-108

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

Joint publication:

Montgomery J, Evans J, Powesland D, Roberts CA 2005 Continuity or colonization in Anglo-Saxon England? Isotope evidence for mobility, subsistence practice, and status at West Heslerton. American J. Physical Anthropology 126(2):123-138

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

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

Joint publications:

Santos A, Roberts CA 2001 A picture of tuberculosis in young Portuguese people in the early 20th century. Amer.J.Phys.Anthrop. 115:38-49

Santos AL, Roberts CA 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 J. Physical Anthropology 130: 38-49

Redman JE, Shaw MJ, Mallet AI, Santos AL, Roberts CA, Gernay AM, Minnikin DE 2009 Mycocerosic acid biomarkers for the diagnosis of tuberculosis in the Coimbra skeletal collection. Tuberculosis 89:267-277

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. Canada; Commonwealth Foundation funded

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

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

Joint publications:

Roberts CA, Lewis ME, Manchester K (eds) 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 3 (ICEPID), University of Bradford, 26^th-31^st July 1999. British Archaeological Reports. International Series 1054. Oxford, Archaeopress.

Roberts CA, Lewis ME 2002 Ecology and infectious disease in Britain from prehistory to the present: the case of respiratory infection. In P Bennike, E Bodzsar, C Susanne (eds): Ecological aspects of past human settlements in Europe. European Anthropological Association Biennial Yearbook. Budapest, Eotvos University Press, pp. 179-192

Lewis ME, Roberts CA 1997 Growing pains: the interpretation of stress indicators. Int.J.Osteoarchaeology 7:581-586

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

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

Joint publication:

Dalby G, Manchester K, Roberts CA 1993 Osteosclerosis and stapedial footplate fixation in archaeological material. International J. Osteoarchaeology 3:207-212

RECENT CONFERENCES

2019

BABAO Annual Conference, Natural History Museum, London: co-authored poster: Destructive sampling of human tissues: guidelines got best practice in collections-based research

National Undergraduate Conference for Clinical Anatomy, Barts and King’s College, London Anatomy Societies, London: Palaeopathology and its relevance to clinical anatomy (invited paper)

Bones, bodies and disease: conference and launch event for the Calvin Wells Archive, University of Bradford: Calvin Wells and his bioarchaeological legacy: the good, the bad and the ugly (invited paper)

Annual Meeting of the Paleopathology Association Cleveland, Ohio: co-organizer of workshop on treponemal disease; paper for Jane Buikstra symposium (invited); paper on DNA analysis

Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists Cleveland, Ohio: Invited discussant at poster symposium on the Bioarchaeology of Urbanization; Paper in special session on treponemal disease; poster on tuberculosis in China

2018

Association of Social Anthropologists: Sociality, matter, and the imagination: re-creating Anthropology, Oxford. Panel discussion representing BABAO

BABAO Annual Conference, Cranfield University. Co-authored paper:The Global History of Health Project – The Backbone of Europe

Dead images. Facing the history, ethics and politics of European skull collections, Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh. Invited conversation with the artist Tal Adler

Seminar on The Evolution of Syphilis: A New Approach to an Old Debate, School of Advanced Research in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Paper: Roberts CA 2018: Treponemal disease in the Old World (Europe): a critical review of the skeletal evidence. Invited participant

Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, Austin, Texas: 1. Poster in Session on A Community of Care: Expanding Bioarchaeology of Care to Population Level Analyses: Conceptual approaches to the bioarchaeology of “community” care using knowledge from personal experiences of care giving; invited; 2. Co-authored poster: A child with probable skeletal tuberculosis from a cemetery in Turaida, Lativia (15^th-16^th centuries AD); 3. Co-authored poster: Untangling the relationship between paleopathology and funerary behaviours in the Italian Neolithic: new data from Arene dell’Aquila (Finale, Ligure, Liguria region, northwestern Italy); 4. Co-authored poster: Call the doctor!: Identifying limitations in using clinical data to interpret health in human skeletal remains from a post-medieval English cemetery

Annual Meeting of the Paleopathology Association, Austin, Texas: Co-authored papers: 1. Educating the older generation through palaeopathology; 2. Compromised childhood health and incremental dentine analysis of St Gertrude Church cemetery population (15th-17^th centuries AD) from Riga, Latvia. Co-authored posters: 1. The health impact of civilization on society: disease patterns of citizens during the Late Zhou Dynasty in China (877 BC - 771 BC; 2. The impact of mobility on the transmission of tuberculosis in Roman Britain: a bioarchaeological study

Health, disease, and lifestyle. Global history of Health Asia Organizational Conference), Jilin University, Jilin, Changchun, China. Paper: “Big picture” approaches in palaeopathology: Britain, the Global History of Health (European module), and their impact on health and well-being today. Invited speaker

2017

International (and interdisciplinary) Symposium on the subject of Disease and the Ancient World, Oxford; The archaeology of disease: how studying human remains informs us about health and well-being. Invited keynote speaker

Annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropology, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Stressed in Transylvania: utilizing macroscopic skeletal analysis to track metabolic stress between late Antiquity and Middle Ages in Romania

Annual meeting of thePaleopathology Association, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA: Investigating the impact of air quality on the occurrence of Respiratory Disease in the Middle Nile Valley Comparing Kerma and Medieval sites

BABAO Annual Conference, Liverpool: Ethics and archaeological human remains: let’s take a step back

2016

Annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA: Posters: Keeping up with the kids: mobility patterns of young individuals from the St Mary Magdalen leprosy hospital (Winchester); A skeleton with possible leprosy from a post-Medieval cemetery in Riga, Latvia

21^st European Meeting of the Paleopathology Association, Moscow, Russia: Keynote lecture: The development of diagnostic criteria for tuberculosis in palaeopathology: a temporal perspective and a cautionary tale.

Annual Conference of the BABAO, University of Kent, Canterbury: Posters: Assessing physiological stress in young people with leprosy buried at a Medieval English leprosarium using stable isotope analyses from high-resolution incremental dentine; Spondylolysis in ancient Nubia during the Meroitic to Christian periods; A 6500 years old Middle Neolithic child from Pollera Cave, Liguria, Northwestern Italy with probably multifocal osteoarticular tuberculosis

19^th International Leprosy Congress, Beijing, China: applying the “index of care” to a person who experienced leprosy in late Medieval Chichester, England

19^th International Leprosy Congress, Beijing, China: Assessing physiological stress in young people with leprosy buried at a Medieval English leprosarium using stable isotope analyses from high-resolution incremental dentine

Economic and Human Biology Conference, Tubingen, Germany: The developmental origins hypothesis. Early life stress and adult age at death in Europe: evidence from skeletal remains

Australasian Society for Human Biology Conference, Otago, New Zealand; invited keynote speaker: Palaeopathology: its value in understanding our ancestors’ lives, and some perspectives on its development over the last 30 or so years (with a focus on the UK), and for the University of Otago's meeting on the theme of Asia-Pacific Biocultural Health: The implications of our past on human health today:The bioarchaeology of infectious disease: synergies between past and present

2015

Launch of new Centre for Medical History, University of Winchester: Archaeological human remains and the history of infectious disease: possibilities and realities. Invited keynote speaker

Annual Meeting of the Paleopathology Association, St Louis, Missouri, USA: Symposium: Exploring the Theme of Migration in Paleopathology: Past, Present, and Future. Invited paper: The impact of migration on health: past palaeopathological perspectives and future prospects; and two other papers: Assessing leprosy stigmata in medieval England (AD11th-15^th centuries); Migrant health, an analysis of prehistoric health in relation to mobility in a Wadi Suq population at Ra’s Al-Khaimah, UAE

Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, St Louis, Missouri, USA: Organisation of Poster Symposium: The Bioarchaeology of Cardiovascular Disease; 3 posters: The impact of bioarchaeological study on understanding the evolution of cardiovascular disease; Calcified structures as potential evidence of atherosclerosis associated with human skeletal remains from Amara West (1300–800BC); Survival of calcified atheromata in the archaeological record - The effect of taphonomy, excavation and curation strategies on preservation and analysis.

Annual Conference of the Society for General Microbiology, Birmingham: Invited paper for session on Microbial Archaeology: Palaeopathology: using evidence from archaeological skeletons to track the origin, evolution and history of infectious disease

Annual Conference of the Society of American Archaeology, San Francisco, USA: Invited paper for session on the Bioarchaeology of care: The potential and challenges of constructing a bioarchaeology of care for a person with leprosy in the late Medieval period

Health care: supply and demand in prehistory and history, Goththenburg, Sweden: Assessing the evidence for health care using bioarchaeology: potential, limitations and thoughts for future work. Invited keynote lecture

South American Conference of the Paleopathology Association, Buenos Aires, Argentina: Palaeopathological research: The impact on beneficiaries beyond academia in the UK

45th Biannual Polish Anthropological Society Conference: Facing challenges of human-environment interactions, Poznan: Palaeopathology and its relevance to unerstanding health and disease today: the impact of the environment on health past and present. Keynote lecture

Sex, Disease, and Fertility in History: An Interdisciplinary Conference, University of Cambridge: 'The history of treponematosis contirnues to be one of the most contentious issues in science' (Ortner 2003:273): perspectives from bioarchaeology. Invited lecture

'Life of Breath' research project launch, Durham University: Respiratory health in the archaeological record. Invited lecture

BABAO Annual Conference, Sheffield University: Co-authored presentations with Durham PhD students: Zahra Afshar (Violence in Iran), Kori Filipek-Ogden (Mobility of children with leprosy at Winchester), Petersone-Gordina (Dental disease and diet in Latvia), with a Durham MSc Palaeopathology student: Becca Cadbury-Simmons (The bioarchaeology of multiple sclerosis), and with Durham postdoc Vitale Sparacello (Funerary dynamics at Arena Candide, Italy), along with colleagues at Cranfield University: Emma Saunders and Nick Marquez-Grant (Bioarchaeology of the 21st century).

7th International Colloquium, Ten Duinen, Abdjimuseum, Koksjide, Belgium: Dead men talking. Interdisciplinary research into archaeological burial contexts in Northwest Europe (10th-16th centuries): The application of bioarchaeology to reconstructing our ancestors' lives in late medieval British funerary contexts: a brief history. Invited speaker

Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Denver, Colorado, USA: Session on Strange Bodies, Familiar Divides: Embodiments of Otherness: ‘Til Poison Phosphorous Brought Them Death’: The Construction and Othering of Working Class Bodies in 19th Century England

RESEARCH STUDENTS

I welcome 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; unless otherwise stated I act as primary supervisor:

Susan Aylard (Does Parasitic Infection Correlate With Stress During Childhood? Exploring the Impact of Poor Living Environments on the Development of Skeletal Indicators of “Stress” and Parasitic Infection in the Bioarchaeological Record); Canadian; self funded

Kori Filipek-Ogden (Illness, Isolation, and Isotopes: Assessing leprosy stigma in late Medieval England (12^th-16^th centuries AD) and its impact on health and contemporary society). USA; self funded

Joint publications:

Filipek K, Roberts CA in press Specific infectious disease (leprosy, TB, treponematosis, others documented in bones/teeth. In W Trevathan (ed): Int Encyclopedia of Biological Anthropology

Simon Hughes (Human Remains in a Museum Contexts: Storage and Study); UK; self-funded

Mocen Li (Diachronic changes in health and the transition to agriculture in China); Chinese; self-funded

Joint publications:

Li M, Chen L, Zhao D, Roberts CA 2019 A male adult skeleton from the Han Dynasty in Shaanxi, China (202 BC-220 AD) with bone changes that possibly represent spinal tuberculosis. Int J Paleopathology 27: 9-16

Aryel Pacheco (Tuberculosis in Andean communities from the Tarapacá area (North of Chile) between 900 BC to 1450 AD. Chile; Chilean government funded

Joint publications:

Mora A, Pacheco A, Roberts CA, Smith C 2018 Pica 8: Refining dietary reconstruction through amino acid δ¹³C analysis of tendon collagen and hair keratin. J Archaeological Science 93:94-100

Julie Peacock (Disability and traumatic brain injury (TBI) in Britain: AD 1066-AD 1800). U.K. AHRC funded

Samantha Tipper (A Bioarchaeological approach to the analysis of Vertebral Fractures amongst the Ancient Nubians from 5000B.C to 1500 A.D); UK; self funded

Indicators of Esteem

2019: AAPA Repatriation Committee : Invited to serve as a member of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists’ AAPA Repatriation Committee 2019-2022
2019: Accessing Aidan: Invited to sit in Steering Committee for Heritage Lottery Funded Project on public engagement
2019: Jilin University: Invited to be an International Strategic Advisor for Jilin University, Changchun, China
2018: REF2021 (Research Excellence Framework). Elected subpanel member of C15 :
2017: Eve Cockburn Service Award, Paleopathology Association:
2017: Invited keynote speaker at the International Symposium on Disease and the Ancient World, Oxford University:
2017: Invited seminar: Austrian Archaeological Institute, Vienna, Austria:
2017: Invited seminar: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge:
2017: Invited to be a member of the Pomerance Science Medal Committee (AIA) :
2017: Invited to membership of the Scientific Advisory Board, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria:
2016: Invited keynote lecture: 21st European Meeting of the Paleopathology Association, Moscow, Russia:
2016: Invited keynote speaker at the Australasian Society for Human Biology Conference, Otago, New Zealand:
2016: Invited on panel for ‘Biological Anthropology: Possible Futures: A discussion from across the field’, Oxford University:
2016: Invited seminar speaker, Department of Anthropology, University of Tennessee Visiting Lecture Series:
2015: Elected President of the British Association of Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology (2015-2018):
2015: Invited chair of (Purposeful Pain) session at the American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado, USA:
2015: Invited inaugural speaker for the opening of the new Centre for Medical History, University of Winchester:
2015: Invited keynote speaker at a conference on ‘Healthcare: Supply and Demand in Prehistory and History’, University of Gothenburg, Sweden:
2015: Invited keynote speaker at the 45th Biannual Polish Anthropological Society conference, Poznan, Poland:
2015: Invited keynote speaker at the First Meeting of Paleopathology at the Universidade Federal do Espirito Santo (UFES),Vitoria, Brazil:
2015: Invited keynote speaker for the Medieval Archaeology Society conference (Being Medieval: Archaeology, Society and the Human Experience), UCLAN:
2015: Invited lecturer, Gresham College, London:
2015: Invited speaker for a conference on 'Sex, Disease, and Fertility', University of Cambridge:
2015: Invited speaker in ‘Microbial archaeology’ session at the Society for General Microbiology Conference, Birmingham:
2015: Invited speaker in session on “Migration and palaeopathology”, Paleopathology Association Annual Meeting, St Louis, Missouri, USA:
2015: Invited speaker in session on the ‘Bioarchaeology of care’, Society for American Archaeology, San Francisco, USA:
2015: Invited to Notre Dame University, South Bend, Indiana, USA :
2014: Elected a Fellow of the British Academy:
2014: Invited speaker at a workshop on Disability, University of Bremen, Germany :
2014: Invited speaker at the Congress of Biomedical Sciences in Archaeology, Bordeaux, France:
2014: Invited speaker at the Royal Archaeological Institute Annual Conference:
2014: REF2014 (Research Excellence Framework). Subpanel member of C17 - elected member for Archaeology:
2013: Annual Conference of the Society for American Archaeology, Honolulu, Hawaii: invited paper:
2013: Durham Institute for Medieval and Renaissance Studies (MEMSA) 7th Annual Postgraduate Conference (The Mutilated Body): invited keynote paper:
2013: Finnish Medico-Historical Society’s 24th Nordic Medical History Congress, Helsinki, Finland: invited keynote paper:
2013: Invited discussant for 2 sessions at the 2013 American Association of Physical Anthropology Meeting, Knoxville, Tennessee:
2012: Deputy Editor of the International Journal of Paleopathology:
2012: ICEPT -2. The past and present of tuberculosis: a multidisciplinary overview of the origin and evolution of TB, Szeged, Hungary:invited paper:
2011: Advisor on Digitised Diseases JISC-funded project (University of Bradford): 2011-2013:
2011: Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists, Oslo, Norway: invited paper:
2011: Arizona State University: IHR Fellows Symposium: invited paper:
2011: Institute of Irish Archaeologists Annual Conference on Science and Archaeology, Dublin, Ireland: : invited keynote paper:
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: First entry to Who's Who:
2010: President of the Paleopathology Association 2011-2013: Elected President for 2011-2013
2010: Working party member for BABAO Ethics and Practice Policies:
2008: Invited to be Discussant at symposium at the Annual Meeting of the Paleopathology Association in Chicago, 2009 (interpersonal violence):
2007: Invited by the Natural History Museum to be a member of the Human Remains Data Collection Workshop :
2007: Invited to be Discussant at symposium at the Society for American Archaeology conference, Vancouver, Canada:
2006: Invited discussant for Plague Workshop, Wellcome Trust, London:
2006: Invited to be a member of the Grants Review Panel for 2 years for the Wenner Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, New York:
2005: Invited to be consultant for Leicester University Archaeological Services :
2003: Elected Vice President of the Paleopathology Association :
2003: Invited to be a consultant for Museum of London Spitalfields Market Project:
2002: Invited member of the BABAO Working Group on recording standards :
2001: Director at Large, Paleopathology Association, 2001-3:
2001: Invited to be part of the Calouste Gulbenkian Trust (London) Scientists Diary:
2001: Invited to be U.K. representative for ‘Health in Europe’ project; initial meeting in Columbus, Ohio, June 2001:
2001: Invited to chair a session at the ‘Holocene environmental catastrophes and recovery’ conference, Brunel University, London:
1999: Invited discussant for session at Theoretical Archaeology Group Conference, Cardiff:
1998: Invited discussant for symposium at the Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Philadelphia, PA, U.S.A. :
Invited paper at the Annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropology, Austin, Texas: Session on A Community of Care: Expanding Bioarchaeology of Care to Population Level Analyses:
Invited to be part of Seminar on The Evolution of Syphilis: A New Approach to an Old Debate, School of Advanced Research in Santa Fe, New Mexico:
Invited to the Global History of Health Project East Asia Module Kick off Conference, Jilin, China:

Research Interests

Contextual approaches to past human health (palaeopathology)
Ethics and human remains
Contemporary health
Evolutionary approaches to the origin and history of infectious diseases
Big data projects in palaeopathology

Selected Publications

Authored book

Roberts, CA (2018). Human remains in archaeology. A Handbook. Practical Handbook 18. Second edition. York: Council for British Archaeology.
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.

Book review

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 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. (2008). Book Review of: St Peter’s, Barton-on-Humber, Lincolnshire. A Parish Church and its community. Volume 2. The human remains. By Tony Waldron, Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2007. Medieval Archaeology 52: 428-430.
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.

Chapter in book

Roberts, C.A. (Accepted). Bioarchaeology. In What to anthropologists do?. Strang, V. Berg.
Roberts, C.A. (Forthcoming). Conceptual approaches to the bioarchaeology of “community” care using knowledge from personal experiences of care giving. In A Community of Care: Expanding Bioarchaeology of Care to Population Level Analyses. Tremblay, L. & Schrenk, A. University Press of Florida.
Roberts, C.A. & Buikstra, J.E. (Submitted). History of tuberculosis from the earliest times to the development of drugs. In History of tuberculosis from the earliest times to the development of drugs. Davies, P.D.O. Barnes, P.F. & Gordon, S.B. Hodder Arnold.
Roberts, C.A. (Forthcoming). Paleopathology and the Coming Crisis? Understanding the Third Epidemiological Transition. In The Routledge Handbook of the Bioarchaeology of Environmental Change. Schug, G. Routledge.
Roberts, CA (Accepted). Pathological conditions in a bioarchaeology context. In Encyclopedia of Global Archaeolog. Blau, S & Ubelaker, D Springer.
Roberts, C.A. (Forthcoming). Reflections on the bioarchaeology of leprosy and identity. In Leprosy and identity in the Middle Ages: from England to the Mediterranean. Brenner, E. Manchester University Press.
Davies-Barrett, A., Antoine, D. & Roberts, C.A. (Forthcoming). Respiratory disease in the Middle Nile Valley: The impact of environment and aridification. In The Routledge Handbook of the Bioarchaeology of Environmental Change. Schug, G. Routledge.
Petersone-Gordina, E. , Montgomery, J. , Roberts, C.A. & Beaumont, J. (Accepted). The evolution of life history approaches to understanding diet using isotope analysis: Palaeopathological perspectives on early studies of bone collagen to later high-resolution incremental dentine analysis. In Routledge Handbook on Bioarchaeology and Isotopes. Hamilton, D. Bocheren, H. & Knudson, K. Routledge.
Roberts, C.A. (2020). Fashionable but Debilitating Diseases: Tuberculosis Past and Present. In Purposeful pain: bioarchaeological and biocultural perspective on the embodiment of intentional suffering. Sheridan, S. & Gregoricka, L. Springer. 21-38.
Roberts, CA & Manchester, K (2019). A tribute to Don Ortner. In Ortner’s Identification of pathological conditions in human skeletal remains. Buikstra, JE Elsevier. xvii-xviii.
Roberts, CA & Buikstra, JE (2019). Bacterial infections. In Ortner’s Identification of pathological conditions in human skeletal remains. Buikstra, JE Elsevier. 321-439.
Roberts, C.A. (2019). Ethical challenges of working with archaeological human remains, with a focus on the UK. In Ethical Approaches to Human Remains: A Global Challenge in Bioarchaeology and Forensic Anthropology. Squires, K, Errickson, D & Márquez-Grant, N Cham: Springer. 133-155.
Grauer, AL & Roberts, CA (2019). Fungal, viral, multicelled parasitic and protozoan infections. In Ortner’s Identification of pathological conditions in human skeletal remains. Buikstra, JE Elsevier. 441-478.
Roberts, CA (2019). Infectious Disease: Introduction, periostosis, periostitis, osteomyelitis, and septic arthritis. In Ortner’s Identification of pathological conditions in human skeletal remains. Buikstra, JE Elsevier. 285-319.
Squires, K, Booth, T & Roberts, CA (2019). The Ethics of Sampling Human Skeletal Remains for Destructive Analyses: A UK Perspective. In Ethical Approaches to Human Remains: A Global Challenge in Bioarchaeology and Forensic Anthropology. Squires, K, Errickson, D & Márquez-Grant, N Springer. 265-297.
Roberts, CA & Redfern, R (2019). The history of treponematosis continues to be one of the most contentious issues in science ‘ (Ortner 2003:273) – some perspectives from bioarchaeology. In The Hidden Affliction: sexually-transmitted infections and infertility in history. Sretzer, S University of Rochester Press and Boydell & Brewer. 93-123.
Redfern, R & Roberts, CA (2019). Trauma. In Ortner’s Identification of pathological conditions in human skeletal remains. Buikstra, JE Elsevier. 211-284.
Roberts, CA, Steckel, RH & Larsen, CS (2018). Appendix 2: Database creation, management, and analysis. In The backbone of Europe. Health, Diet, Work and Violence over Two Millennia. Steckel, RH, Larsen, CS, Roberts, CA & Baten, J Cambridge University Press. 80: 428-448.
Sparacello, VS, Panelli, C,, Rossi, S, Dori, I, Varalli, A, Goude, G, Kacki, S, Partit, C, Roberts, CA & Moggi-Cecchi, J (2018). Archaeothanatology and palaeobiology of the burials and “scattered human remains” from Arma dell’Aquila (Finale Ligure, Savona). In Gli scavi all’Arma dell’Aquila (Finale Ligure, Savona): le ricerche e I materiali degli scavi del Novecento. Biagi, P & Starnini, E Società per la Preistoria e Protostoria della Regione Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trieste. 15: 145-184.
Roberts, C.A. (2018). Guidance on recording palaeopathology (abnormal variation). In Updated Guidelines to the Standards for Recording Human Remains. Mitchell, P.D. & Brickley, M. CIfA and BABAO. 44-47.
Roberts, CA, Redfern, R & Bekvalac, J (2018). Health and well-being: the contribution of the study of human remains to understanding the late medieval period in Britain. In The Oxford Handbook of Later Medieval Archaeology in Britain. Gerrard, C & Gutiérrez, A Oxford: Oxford University Press. 819-836.
Roberts, CA & Brickley, M (2018). Infectious and metabolic diseases: a synergistic bioarchaeology. In Biological anthropology of the human skeleton. Katzenberg, MA & Grauer, AL Wiley. 415-446.
Steckel, RH, Larsen, CS, Roberts, CA & Baten, J (2018). Introduction to the European History of Health Project . In The backbone of Europe. Health, Diet, Work and Violence over Two Millennia. Steckel, RH, Larsen, CS, Roberts, CA & Baten, J Cambridge University Press. 80: 1-10.
Steckel, RH, Larsen, CS, Roberts, CA & Baten J (2018). Multidimensional patterns of European health, work, and violence over the last two millennia. In The backbone of Europe. Health, Diet, Work and Violence over Two Millennia. Steckel, RH, Larsen, CS, Roberts, CA & Baten J Cambridge University Press. 80: 381-396.
Jay, M, Scarre, C, Roberts, CA, Philip, G, Bradbury J & Davies D (2018). The ‘Invisible Dead’ Project: The database as a work-in-progress. In Trends in Biological Anthropology. Holst, M & Alexander, M Oxbow. 2: 18-28.
Roberts, CA (2018). The bioarchaeology of leprosy: learning from the past. In International textbook of leprosy. Scollard, DM & Gillis, TP
Roberts, CA & Steckel, RH (2018). The developmental origins hypothesis and the history of health project. In The backbone of Europe. Health, Diet, Work and Violence over Two Millennia. Steckel, RH, Larsen, CS, Roberts, CA & Baten, J Cambridge University Press. 325-351.
Roberts, CA (2017). A bioarchaeology of care. In Pre-Modern Dis/ability History. A Handbook. Nolte, C, Frohne, B, Halle, U & Kerth, S Affalterbach Didymos-Verlag. 107-109.
Roberts, CA (2017). Applying the “Index of care” to a person who experienced leprosy in late Medieval Chichester, England. In New developments in the bioarchaeology of care. Tilley, L & Schrenk, AA Cham: Springer. 101-124.
Roberts, CA (2017). Developing and implementing 'big picture' approaches in bioarchaeology: opportunities and challenges. In Engaging with the dead. Exploring changigng human beliefs about death, mortality and the human body. Bradbury, J & Scarre, C Oxbow. 117-128.
Roberts, CA (2017). Guidance on recording palaeopathology (abnormal variation). In Updated Guidelines to the Standards for Recording Human Remains. Mitchell, PD & Brickley, M CIfA and BABAO. 44-47.
Roberts, CA (2017). Navigating approaches to impairment, "disability" and care in the past: the need for reflection. In Care in the past. Archaeological and interdisciplinary persectives. Powell, L, Southwell-Wright, W & Gowland, R Oxbow. xi-xviii.
Roberts, CA (2017). Paleopathology. In Encyclopedia of Geoarchaeology. Gilbert, AS Springer. 607-613.
Díaz-Zorita Bonilla, M Roberts, CA , García Sanjuán, L & Hurtado Pérez, V (2017). Tomb 3 at La Pijotilla (Solana de los Barros, Badajoz, Spain): A Bioarchaeological Study of a Copper Age Collective Burial. In Current Approaches to Collective Burials in the Late European Prehistory. Tomé, T, Díaz-Zorita Bonilla, M, Silva, AM Cunha,C & Boaventura, R Archaeopress Archaeology. 1-10.
Roberts, C.A. & Gowland, R.L. (2015). Paleopathology. In Archaeology of food. Metheny, K.B. & Beaudry, M.C. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. 2: 385-398.
Roberts, C.A. (2015). What did agriculture do for us? The bioarchaeology of health and diet. In The Cambridge World History. Volume 2: A world with agriculture, 12,000 BCE-500 CE. Barker, G. & Goucher, C. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 93-123.
Roberts, CA & Buikstra, JE (2014). History of tuberculosis from the earliest times to the development of drugs. In Clinical tuberculosis. Davies, PDO, Barnes, PF & Gordon SB Hodder Arnold.
Roberts, C.A. (2014). Human remains. In Archaeology in practice. A student guide to archaeological analyses. Balme, J. & Paterson, A. Wiley Blackwell. 300-335.
Roberts, C.A. (2014). Manchester, Keith. In Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Blau, S. & Ubelaker, D. Springer. 4618-4621.
Roberts, C.A. (2014). Pathological conditions and anomalies in archaeological investigations. In Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Blau, S. & Ubelaker, D. Springer. 5823-5829.
Roberts, C.A. (2013). Archaeological human remains and laboratories: attaining acceptable standards for curating human skeletal remains for teaching and research. In Curating human remains: caring for the dead in the United Kingdom. Giesen, M. Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer. 123-134.
Roberts, C.A. (2013). Malnutrition. In The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England. Lapidge, M., Blair, J., Keynes, S. & Scragg, D. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. 304-305.
Roberts, CA (2013). Parasites. In The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England. Lapidge, M, Blair, J, Keynes S & Scragg, D Wiley-Blackwell. 362.
Roberts, CA (2013). Social aspects of the Bioarchaeology of leprosy. In The dead tell tales: Essays in honor of Jane E. Buikstra. Lozada,N & O’Donnabhain B Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press. 136-144.
Roberts, CA (2013). Surgery. In The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England. Lapidge, M, Blair, J, Keynes, S & Scragg, D Wiley-Blackwell. 445-447.
Roberts, C.A. (2013). The bioarchaeology of health and well-being: its contribution to understanding the past. In The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Death and Burial. Stutz, L.N. & Tarlow, S. Oxford University Press. 79-98.
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). Social aspects of the bioarchaeology of leprosy. In The dead tell tales: jane E. Buikstra and narratives of the past. Lozada, MC & O'Donnabhain, B Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press.
Roberts, CA (2012). The bioarchaeology of health and well being: its contribution to understanding the past. In Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Death and Burial. Stutz, LN & Tarlow, S Oxford University Press.
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. (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., 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.

Conference Proceeding

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. Archaeopress.
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.
Roberts, C.A. & McKinley, J. (2003). A review of trepanations in British antiquity focusing on funerary context to explain their occurrence. Trepanation. History, discovery, theory. International Colloquium on cranial trepanation in human history, Birmingham University, Swets and Zeitlinger.
Schultz, M. & Roberts, C.A. (2002). Diagnosis of leprosy from an English later Medieval leprosy hospital using histological analysis. 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.
Roberts, C.A. (2002). Palaeopathology and archaeology: the current state of play. Archaeopress.
Roberts, C.A. (2002). The antiquity of leprosy in Britain: The skeletal evidence. 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.
Roberts, C.A. (2002). Tuberculosis:a multidisciplinary approach to past and current concepts, causes and treatment of this infectious disease. Practitioners, practices and patients. New approaches to medical archaeology and anthropology, Magdalene College, Cambridge University, Oxbow.
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. 4th Kongress der Gesellschaft fur Anthropologie, Potsdam, Germany, Cuvillier Verlag.
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. Human remains. Conservation, retrieval and analysis, Williamsburg, Virginia, USA, Archaeopress.
Caffell, A.C., Roberts, C.A., Janaway, R.C. & Wilson, A.S. (2001). Pressures on osteological collections: the importance of damage limitation. Human remains. Conservation, retrieval and analysis, Williamsburg, Virginia, USA, Archaeopress.
Roberts, C.A. (1999). Rib lesions and tuberculosis: the state of play. Golden Book and Tuberculosis Foundation.
Roberts, C.A. (1994). Treponematosis in Gloucester, England: a theoretical and practical approach to the pre-Columbian theory. Centre Archeologique du Var, Editions Errance.

Edited book

Steckel, RH, Larsen, CS, Roberts, CA & Baten J (2018). The backbone of Europe. Health, Diet, Work and Violence over Two Millennia. Cambridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology. Cambridge University Press.
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.
Hunter, J, Roberts, CA & Martin, A (1996). Studies in crime: an introduction to forensic archaeology. BT Batsford Ltd.
Roberts, CA, Lee, F & Bintliff, J (1989). Burial archaeology. Current research, methods and developments. British Series 211. British Archaeological Reports.

Edited Journal

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 Article

Petersone-Gordina, E., Roberts, C.A. , Kazarina, A. Jakob, T., Ranka, R., Zole, E., Gerhards, G. & Kimsis, J. (Submitted). Differential diagnosis of abnormal enlargement and bending deformities in the skeleton of a medieval child from St Peter’s Church cemetery, Riga, Latvia. International Journal of Paleopathology
Baker, BJ, Crane-Kramer, G, Dee, MW, Gregoricka, LA, Henneberg, M, Lee, C, Lukehart, SA, Mabey, DC, Roberts, CA, Stodder, ALW, Stone, AC & Winingear, S (2020). Advancing the understanding of treponemal disease in the past and present. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 1-37.
Petersone‐Gordina, E., Montgomery, J., Millard, A. R., Roberts, C., Gröcke, D. R. & Gerhards, G. (2020). Investigating dietary life histories and mobility of children buried in St Gertrude Church Cemetery, Riga, Latvia (15th– 17th centuries AD). Archaeometry 62(S1): 3-18.
Li, Mocen, Roberts, Charlotte A., Chen, Liang & Zhao, Dongyue (2019). A male adult skeleton from the Han Dynasty in Shaanxi, China (202 BC–220 AD) with bone changes that possibly represent spinal tuberculosis. International Journal of Paleopathology 27: 9-16.
Davies-Barrett, Anna M., Antoine, Daniel & Roberts, Charlotte A. (2019). Inflammatory periosteal reaction on ribs associated with lower respiratory tract disease: A method for recording prevalence from sites with differing preservation. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 168(3): 530-542.
Crespo, F. White, J. & Roberts, C.A. (2019). Revisiting the tuberculosis and leprosy cross-immunity hypothesis: expanding the dialogue between immunology and paleopathology. International Journal of Paleopathology 26: 37-47.
Afshar, Z. Roberts, C.A. , Millard, A. & Gröcke, D. (2019). The Evolution of Diet During the 5th to 2nd millennium BCE for the ‎population buried at Tepe Hissar, North-eastern Central Iranian Plateau: ‎The Stable Isotope Evidence. Journal of Archaeological Science Reports 27: 101983.
Petersone-Gordina, P., Roberts, C.A., Millard, A.R., Montgomery, J. & Gerhards, G. (2018). Dental disease and dietary isotopes of individuals from St Gertrude Church cemetery, Riga, Latvia. PLOS ONE 13(1): e0191757.
Perri, A, Power, R Stuijts, I Heinrich, S, Talamo, S, Hamilton-Dyer, S & Roberts, C.A. (2018). Detecting hidden diets and disease: Zoonotic parasites and fish consumption in Mesolithic Ireland. Journal of Archaeological Science 97: 137-146.
Afshar, Z., Roberts, C. & Millard, A. (2018). Interpersonal violence among the Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages inhabitants living on the Central Plateau of Iran: A voice from Tepe Hissar. Anthropologischer Anzeiger 75(1): 49-66.
Sparacello, VS, Rossi, S Pettitt, P, Roberts, CA, Salvatore, JR & Formicola, V (2018). New insights on Final Epigravettian funerary behaviour at Arene Candide Cave (Western Liguria, Italy) from osteological and spatial analysis of secondary bone deposits. Journal of Anthropological Sciences 96: 1-24.
Mora, Alice, Pacheco, Aryel, Roberts, Charlotte & Smith, Colin (2018). Pica 8: Refining dietary reconstruction through amino acid δ 13 C analysis of tendon collagen and hair keratin. Journal of Archaeological Science 93: 94-109.
Hunt, K, Roberts, CA & Kirkpatrick, C (2018). Taking Stock: A systematic review of archaeological evidence of cancers in human and early hominin remains. International journal of paleopathology 21: 12-26.
Sparacello, Vitale S., Roberts, Charlotte A., Kerudin, Ammielle & Müller, Romy (2017). A 6500-year-old Middle Neolithic child from Pollera Cave (Liguria, Italy) with probable multifocal osteoarticular tuberculosis. International Journal of Paleopathology 17: 67-74.
Roberts, C. A., Caffell, A., Filipek-Ogden, K., Gowland, R. L. & Jakob, T. (2016). ‘Til Poison Phosphorous Brought them Death’ A potentially occupationally-related disease in a post-medieval skeleton from north-east England. International Journal of Paleopathology 13: 39-48.
Müller, R., Roberts, C.A. & Brown, T.A. (2016). Complications in the study of ancient tuberculosis: Presence of environmental bacteria in human archaeological remains. Journal of Archaeological Science 68: 5-11.
Sparacello, V.S., Roberts, C.A., Canci, A., Moggi-Cecchi, J. & Marchi, D. (2016). Insights on the paleoepidemiology of ancient tuberculosis from the structural analysis of postcranial remains from the Ligurian Neolithic (northwestern Italy). International Journal of Paleopathology 15: 50-64.
Bradbury, J., Davies, D., Jay, M., Philip, G., Roberts, C. A. & Scarre, C. (2016). Making the Dead Visible: Problems and solutions for "big" picture approaches to the past, and dealing with large "mortuary" datasets. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 23(2): 561-591.
Roberts, C.A. (2016). Palaeopathology and its relevance to understanding health and disease today: the impact of the environment on health, past and present. Anthropological Review 79(1): 1-16.
Müller, R., Roberts, C.A. & Brown, T.A. (2015). Complications in the study of ancient tuberculosis: non-specificity of IS6110 PCRs. Science and Technology of Archaeological Research 1(1): STAR2014112054892314Y.0000000002, 1-8.
Mant, M. & Roberts, C.A. (2015). Diet and dental caries in post-medieval London. International Journal of Historical Archaeology 19(1): 188-207.
Plomp, K.A., Roberts, C.A. & Strand Viðarsdόttir, U. (2015). Does the correlation between Schmorl’s nodes and vertebral morphology extend into the lumbar spine?. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 157(3): 526-534.
Gilmour, R. L., Gowland, R. L., Roberts, C. A., Bernert, Z., Klara Kiss, K & Lassanyi, G. (2015). Gendered Differences in Accidental Trauma to Upper and Lower Limb Bones at Aquincum, Roman Hungary. International Journal of Paleopathology 11: 75-91.
Plomp, K.A., Roberts, C.A. & Strand Viðarsdόttir, U. (2015). Morphological Characteristics of Healthy and Osteoarthritic Joint Surfaces in Archaeological Skeletons. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 25(4): 515-527.
Roberts, C.A. (2015). Old World tuberculosis: evidence from human remains with a review of current research and future prospects. Tuberculosis 95(Supplement 1): S117-S121.
Roberts, CA (2015). The application of bioarchaeology to reconstructing our ancestors' lives in late Medieval British funerary contexts: a brief history. Novi Monasterii 15: 41-46.
Roberts, C.A. & Bernard, M-C. (2015). Tuberculosis: a biosocial study of admissions to a children’s sanatorium (1936-1954) in Stannington, Northumberland, England. Tuberculosis 95(Supplement 1): S105-S108.
Müller, R., Roberts, C.A. & Brown, T.A. (2014). Biomolecular identification of ancient Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex DNA in human remains from Britain and continental Europe. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 153(2): 178-189.
Binder, M. & Roberts, C.A. (2014). Calcified structures associated with human skeletal remains: Possible atherosclerosis affecting the population buried at Amara West, Sudan (1300–800 BC). International Journal of Paleopathology 6: 20-29.
Müller, R., Roberts, C.A. & Brown, T.A. (2014). Genotyping of ancient Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains reveals historic genetic diversity. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 281(1781): 20133236.
Binder, M., Roberts, C., Spencer, N., Antoine, D. & Cartwright, C. (2014). On the Antiquity of Cancer: Evidence for Metastatic Carcinoma in a Young Man from Ancient Nubia (c. 1200BC). PLOS One 9(3): 90924.
Rubini, M., Zaio, P. & Roberts, C.A. (2014). Tuberculosis and leprosy in Italy. New skeletal evidence. Homo: Journal of Comparative Human Biology 65(1): 13-32.
Rissech, C., Roberts, C.A., Tomás-Batlle, X., Tomás-Gimeno, X., Fuller, B., Fernandez, P.L. & Botella, M. (2013). A Roman Skeleton with Possible Treponematosis in the North-East of the Iberian Peninsula: A Morphological and Radiological Study. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 23(6): 651-663.
Roberts, C.A., Millard, A.R., Nowell, G.M., Gröcke, D., Macpherson, C., Pearson, G. & Evans, D.H. (2013). 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.
Groves, S.E., Roberts, C.A., Lucy, S., Pearson, G., Gröcke, D.R., Nowell, G., Macpherson, C.G. & Young, G. (2013). Mobility histories of 7th-9th century AD people buried at Early Medieval Bamburgh, Northumberland, England. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 151(3): 462-476.
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 Paleopathology 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.
Grimoud, A.M., Roberts, C.A., Boimond, A., Sevin, A., Lucas, S. & Passarius, O. (2012). Topographical presentation of dental wear as arches in a French mediaeval population. Archives of Oral Biology 57(6): 841-852.
Plomp, KA, Roberts, CA & Strand Viðarsdóttir, U (2012). Vertebral morphology influences the development of Schmorl's nodes in the lower thoracic vertebrae. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 149(4): 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.
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.
Stone, A.C., Wilbur, A.K., Buikstra, J.E. & Roberts, C.A. (2009). Tuberculosis and leprosy in perspective. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 140(Supplement 49): 66-94.
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. Journal of 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.

Newspaper/Magazine Article

Roberts, C.A. (2019). Life-long learning using archaeology in care homes. British Archaeology July/August: 8-9.
Roberts, CA (2013). Human remains: should we study them? Young Archaeologist 156: 8-9.

Other (Digital/Visual Media)

Roberts, C.A. (2019). Teaching archaeology in care homes, I learned how older people are often the best students.
Hind, K. & Roberts, C.A. (2018). We have weaker bones than our hunter-gatherer ancestors – this is what you can do about it'.

Other (Print)

Roberts, CA (Published). Paleopathology. 607-613.
Roberts, CA & Gowland, R (2018). Bioarchaeology. 2: 385-398.
Filipek, K & Roberts, CA (2018). Bioarchaeology of infectious diseases.
Roberts, C.A. (2018). Guidance on recording palaeopathology (abnormal variation) - long version.
Roberts, CA (2017). Keith Manchester.
Roberts, CA (2017). Palaeopathology: The Study of Ancient Disease in Archaeological Human and Nonhuman Remains.
McCarrison, K & Roberts CA (2016). Skeleton Science. Archaeology for the older generation.
McCarrison, K & Roberts, CA (2014). Skeleton Science. Teacher’s Resource Pack.
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.

Show all publications

Media Contacts

Available for media contact about:

Environment and culture: The study of human remains from archaeological sites, and particularly the evidence for disease
Infectious diseases: Disease in Britain from 10,500 BC to the mid 19th century AD
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

Selected Grants

2019: Research Impact Fund for Skeleton Science Touring exhibition (£4,250 for the year 2018-19 and £6,225.44 for the year 2019-20.
2016: Seedcorn funding (£6672), Durham University. Learning about health and well-being in the past: engaging care home residents with the archaeology of human health. Seedcorn funding for development of Impact Case Study
2014: COFUND Round 4, European Commission, £81,311
2014: Wadsworth International Fellowship Renewal, £6665
2013: Natural Environmental Research Council (Palaeopopulation genomics of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Co-I with Terry Brown, Manchester University) - total £486,419 (£44,500 to Durham)
2013: Renewal of Wadsworth Fellowship, Wenner Gren Foundation, £5845 (for Elina Petersone-Gordina)
2012: Templeton Foundation (The invisible dead). PI Chris Scarre; Co-Leader with Graham Philip (£211-539)
2011: Durham International Fellowships for Research and Enterprise - DIFeREns (£83406.97 from European Commission)
2011: Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, Oxford: NERC Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Dating Service (£13,110) – Biomolecular archaeology of ancient TB
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)

2015: Collaborative Doctoral Award: The impact of sociocultural and environmental change on air quality and respiratory health in the 4th Cataract Sudan: a bioarchaeological perspective (£3500.00 from The British Museum)
2014: 2 year Junior Research Fellowship, Cofund Round 4, European Commission; for Vitale Sparacello
2013: Palaeopopulation genomics of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (£44515.07 from NERC - Natural Environment Research Council)
2013: Renewal of Wadsworth Fellowship, Wenner Gren Foundation, £5845 (for Elina Petersone-Gordina)

Supervises

▸ Honorary Research Staff

Joining Durham University means so much more than working at one of the world’s top universities.

Staff

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

BIOGRAPHY

MEMBERSHIP OF RESEARCH GROUPS AND CENTRES

OUTREACH (selected public lectures/media)

PAST RESEARCH STUDENTS

RECENT CONFERENCES

RESEARCH STUDENTS

Indicators of Esteem

Research Interests

Related Links

Selected Publications

Authored book

Book review

Chapter in book

Conference Proceeding

Edited book

Edited Journal

Journal Article

Newspaper/Magazine Article

Other (Digital/Visual Media)

Other (Print)

Media Contacts

Selected Grants

Supervises