This revised fourth edition of The Archaeology of Disease focuses on reconstructing the origin, evolution, and history of disease as seen mainly through human skeletons from archaeological sites. In addition, this edition addresses new concepts in medicine and explores the challenges faced by individuals and populations, including their children. Integrating conceptual frameworks from bioarchaeology, medical history, and clinical health, the authors take a long view of disease over thousands of years to examine how frequencies of disease have changed over time in relation to epidemiological transitions.

They further investigate the risk of disease in populations at specific time periods and geographic locations. As a result, they provide a better understanding of the impact of health problems on our ancestors and present ethical considerations for palaeopathologists around the world when working with human remains using both archaeological and historical evidence.

Charlotte Roberts is a Professor of Archaeology and director of the MSc Palaeopathology in the Department of Archaeology, at Durham University. She has authored/co-authored over 100 scientific papers, and books, including Introduction to forensic archaeology (1996), Burial archaeology: Current research, methods and developments (1989), The Past and Present of Leprosy (2002), Health and disease in Britain: From prehistory to the present day (2003), The bioarchaeology of tuberculosis: A global perspective on a reemerging disease (2003), and Human remains: A Handbook (2009).