About me
I am a trained osteoarchaeologist and palaeopathologist (the study of archaeological human remains and past diseases), with specialisms in respiratory, infectious, inflammatory, and oro-dental diseases.
I undertook my PhD in palaeopathology between the British Museum and Durham University (2015-2018), focussing on evidence for respiratory disease in the Middle Nile Valley from the Neolithic to Medieval periods.
Following this I worked as a bioarchaeologist at the British Museum (2018-2019) and as a lecturer in osteoarchaeology and British prehistory at Cardiff University (2019-2020).
I have now been a research associate within the School of Archaeology and Ancient History at the University of Leicester for over four years (2020-present).
My Research
My research spans a wide range of topics that tend to centre around new insights into the frequency and development of diseases in the past, as well as methodological improvements in my field.
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My early research focussed on identifying evidence for respiratory disease in ancient Sudanese populations in order to understand how changes in climate, environment, subsistence activities, craftwork, habitation, and cultural behaviours over time might have affected susceptibility to respiratory disease.
This research raised new insights into the impact of desertification and aridity on the development of diseases in the past, a topic which has been widely underexplored in my field. I later expanded this research out to look at pre-Colonial Peruvian individuals who were also living in a desert environment.​
I am currently working on the Tobacco, Health & History Project, run by Dr Sarah Inskip at the University of Leicester. This project is interested in investigating the impacts of tobacco on health in Europe after it was first introduced to the continent in the sixteenth century.
As part of this project, we are investigating new ways to detect individuals in the past who smoked using evidence retained in their skeletons. This allows us to investigate whether the rates of certain conditions, including respiratory, oro-dental, inflammatory, and metabolic diseases, increased in people who smoked once tobacco was introduced to Europe.
Recent articles on this research can be read here and here.
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I am also very interested in improving the methods we use in the field of palaeopathology. This has led to my publications on improvements for recording respiratory diseases, as well as my development of a new way of assessing oral health in past peoples.
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School of Archaeology and Ancient History
University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH, United Kingdom