Open Access, Peer-reviewed
pISSN 2671-5651
eISSN 2671-566X
    Korean J Phys Anthropol. 2018 Mar;31(1):27-34. Korean.
    Published online Mar 30, 2018.
    https://doi.org/10.11637/kjpa.2018.31.1.27
    © 2018 Korean Association of Physical Anthropologists
    Original Article

    Paleopathological Studies of Infectious Disease: Examination of the Osteoarchaeological Research

    Eun Jin Woo,1 Jae-Hyun Kim,2 Chae Lin Jeon,3 and Sunyoung Pak3
      • 1Department of History, College of Liberal Art, Sejong University, Korea.
      • 2Department of Archaeology and Art History, College of Humanities, Dong-A University, Korea.
      • 3Department of Anthropology, College of Social Sciences, Seoul National University, Korea.
    • Correspondence to: Sunyoung Pak. (Department of Anthropology, College of Social Sciences, Seoul National University). Email: suny@snu.ac.kr
    Received January 16, 2018; Revised March 19, 2018; Accepted March 20, 2018.

    This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

    Abstract

    Reconstructing the impact of infectious disease on past populations is one of the main fields in paleopathological studies. The initial phase of paleopathology was descriptive, focusing on the identification and presence of disease in the past. However, currently paleopathological studies are moving toward probing questions about the larger picture of origin and transmission of disease agents. In this study, paleopathological studies of major infectious disease (i.e., tubuerculosis, treponemal disease and leprosy) were reviewed through osteoarcheological work published in American Journal of Physical Anthropology, International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, Journal of Archaeological Science and International Journal of Paleopathology from 1981 to 2017.

    A basic objective of this research was to examine many types of research in paleopathology and to characterize research trend in this field. As paleopathological studies becomes more abundant, the approaches to infectious disease have been increasingly specialized and interdisciplinary from 1980. Also, methodology used in paleopathology continues to evolve through the holistic approaches of molecular analysis, radiology and histopathology. Ultimately, this study reinforces the importance for retention of large-scale skeletal collections for paleopathological study in population perspective. In the near future, Korean paleopathology can contribute in the reconstructions of the history of disease and its effect on past human populations.

    Keywords
    Infectious disease; Paleopathology; Human skeleton; Tuberculosis; Syphilis; Leprosy

    Figures

    Fig. 1
    Article categories published in AJPA and IJOA by period.

    Tables

    Table 1
    Journals included in this study

    Table 2
    Classification of articles examined in this study

    Table 3
    Articles from major anthropological journals split by article categories

    Table 4
    Methodology used in the articles by journal and period

    Table 5
    Methodology of the articles split by infectious disease

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    MeSH Terms
    Anthropology, Physical
    Communicable Diseases*
    Humans
    Leprosy
    Paleopathology
    Syphilis
    Tuberculosis
    Metrics
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