Disease in Prehistory

Disease in Prehistory

Anthropology 275

Tu/Th 9:25 AM- 10:40 PM
PH311

Professor: Kate Pechenkina, Ph. D.
office: Powdermaker Hall 312A
telephone: (718) 997-5529
e-mail:
office hours: Tu 4:00-4:30, Th 3:00-4:00 PM

This course is a general introduction to the field of paleopathology. Paleopathology is a subfield of biological anthropology that encompasses the study of disease in antiquity using a variety of sources of information, including human mummified and skeletal remains, ancient documents, illustrations from early books, painting and sculpture from the past, and analysis of coprolites. We will begin by examining the concept of disease and the basic diagnostic criteria for different categories of disease. Next, we will focus on infectious diseases and examine their origins, the environmental factors that have affected their spread in human populations, and their impact on human cultures. We will then take a close look at human dietary adaptations and the physiological disorders associated with different subsistence practices. After the mid-term exam we will then go on to address heritable diseases and the role of environmental factors in their origin and evolution. That will be followed by an examination of the process of senescence, degenerative diseases, and traumas in communities whose contrasting resource procurement strategies result in different modes of regular physical activity. In a comprehensive review at the end of the semester, we will discuss global trends in community health and how the distribution of several disease groups was affected by increasing sedentism and settlement nucleation, the development of agriculture, agricultural intensification, urbanization, colonial expansion, and industrialization.
Grading
Your grade will be based on midterm and final exams, and four short quizzes, participation and reading assignments:
Lecture Quiz/Exam Schedule

Reading reports and participation	20 %
Quizzes	20 %
Midterm (3/17)	30 % covers lectures 1-13
Final (TBA)	30 % covers lectures 14-28

Reading reports: Reports on the assigned readings are expected at the beginning of each class. The course pack is composed of research papers, book chapters, and excerpts from the popular literature. Some of the research articles are very technical and you may find them difficult to follow. In such cases, please try to read with an eye toward understanding the general theme(s) and conclusions of the article without worrying too much about the details. I will provide you with a few specific questions to help further guide your reading. You are expected to incorporate your answers to those questions into your reading reports. Reports on the literature assigned for that day are due at the beginning of each class. Each reading report should be approximately a page long, typed in Times New Roman, 12 pt. font, 1.5 spaced, printed with 1 inch margins. It should begin with a proper bibliographic citation of the literary source and should provide a brief summary and critique of the paper, article, or book chapter. Late reports are accepted for 60% of the total credit. By the end of the semester you will be expected to have submitted reports for a total of 20 papers, articles, or book chapters.

Syllabus

Review

Lecture	Date	Topic	Reading
1	2/1	Class introduction, classification of diseases.
2	2/3	Basic terminology see hand-out	Roberts & Manchaester 1995: Ch 1 Reading report 1
3	2/8	Biology of skeletal tissue	Robling & Stout 2000 Reading Report 2
4	2/10	Quiz 1(basic terms, human skeleton) Types of skeletal lesions and their interpretation	Lovell 2000 Reading Report 3
5	2/15	Infectious diseases and immune system, co-evolution	Larsen ch. 3 Diamond 1999: Ch 11. Reading Report 4
6	2/17	Tuberculosis and leprosy	Ortner 2003, Chapter 10 Mostowy & Behr: 2005 Reading Report 5
7	2/22	Tuberculosis in the New World	Gómez i Prat & Mendonça de Souza 2003 Reading Report 6
8	2/24	Treponematosis, origin of venereal syphilis	Baker & Armelagos 1988
9	3/01	Quiz 2 (infections and immune system) Syphilis through the ages, other bacterial infections	Quetel 1-49 Reading Report 7
10	3/03	Archaeoparasitology Schistosome life cycle	Carvalho Goncalves et al. 2002 Martinson et al. 2003
11	3/08	Eukaryotic Parasites: Malaria, Hookworms	Capasso 1998 Hawdon and Johnston 1996 Reading Report 8
12	3/10	Viral Infections: Smallpox, Rubella	Li et al. 2007
13	3/15	Viral Infections: HIV, review Life Cycle of HIV	Hutchinson 2001 Reading Report 9
	3/17	MIDTERM
14	3/22	Congenital diseases, review	Roberts and Manchester, Ch 3
15	3/24	Physiological stress: anemia, scurvy, rickets	Larsen chapter 2 Reading Report 10
16	3/29	Physiological stress: osteological paradox	Blom et la. 2005 Write and Chew 1999 Reading Report 11
17	3/31	Degenerative Desieases	Roberts & Manchester. 1995. Ch 6. Rogers and Waldron 2001 Reading Report 12
18	4/05	Parturition, birth complications	Arriaza et al 1988 Sewell 1993 Ortner 119-163
19	4/07	Ancient medical practices Queez 3: (physeological stress, degenerative diseases)	Ortner 163-174
	4/12-4/26	No classes!!! AAPA meetings anf Spring Recess
20	4/28	Neoplastic Diseases	Roberts and Manchester, Ch 9Reading Report 17
21	5/03	Disease during the Paleolithic	Formicola and Buzhilova 2004 Formicola et al. 2001 Reading Report 17
22	5/05	Health index	Steckel et al. 2001 Reading Report 18
23	5/10	Quiz 4 (diseases of early humans) Vaccination and antibiotics, diseases in the 17th - 19th centuries New diseases, transatlantic exchanges	Hays 1998, pp 106-134 Reading Report 19
24	5/12	Epidemiology of the last 50 years	Barrett et al. 1998 Reading Report 20
25	5/17
		FINAL: TBA

Recommended books:
Hays, J. N. 1998. The Burdens of Disease: Epidemics and Human Response in Western History. New Brunswick, N.J. Rutgers University Press. An electronic book accessible through the World Wide Web: http://www.netlibrary.com/
Larsen, C. S. and G. R. Milner (editors) 1994. In the wake of contact. New York: Wiley-Liss.
Larsen, C. S. 1997. Bioarchaeology. Interpreting behavior from the human skeleton. Cambridge: University Press.
Levy, H. S. 1966. Chinese footbinding. The history of a curious erotic custom. New York: Walton Rawls.
Roberts, C. and K. Manchester. 1995. The archaeology of Disease. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Quetel, C. 1990. The history of syphilis. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Diamond, J. 1999. Guns, germs, and steel. New York: W. W. Norton.
Ortner, D. J. 2003. Identification of pathological conditions in human skeletal remains. Second Edition. Amsterdam: Academic Press.