keywords
- bioarchaeology, historical epidemiology, paleoepidemiology, paleodemography, historical demography
- Contact Info
DeWitte, Sharon Nell
Positions
- Professor, Institute of Behavioral Science (IBS)
- Professor, Anthropology
- Assoc Chair, Anthropology
Research Areas
Research
Publications
selected publications
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chapter
- Parsing the Paradox Examining Heterogeneous Frailty in Bioarchaeological Assemblages. Cambridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology. 126-145. 2020
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Archaeological Evidence of Epidemics Can Inform Future Epidemics.
Annual Review of Anthropology.
63-77.
2016
- THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF PLAGUE: INSIGHTS FROM BIOARCHEOLOGICAL ANALYSES OF EPIDEMIC CEMETERIES. 97-123. 2015
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conference proceeding
- Dying of Pestilence: Gender, Stature and Mortality Risk during a Plague Epidemic in 13th Century Kyrgyzstan. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 79-79. 2022
- Migrant health before, during, and after the 14th-century Black Death in London. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 46-47. 2022
- Dietary variation by social status and sex in the aftermath of the medieval Black Death in London. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 27-27. 2021
- Mortality risk and survival in pre- and post-Black Death Denmark. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 54-54. 2021
- Resiliency and the impact of stress accumulation over the life course in post-medieval London. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 13-13. 2021
- The second epidemiological transition: Survivorship and industrialization in London. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 116-116. 2021
- Health & Well-being in Pre- & Post-Black Death London: An Assessment of Sexual Stature Dimorphism. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 36-37. 2020
- Multiple developmental stress events and mortality outcomes in the context of medieval English famines. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 71-71. 2020
- Sex Differentials in Mortality in the Bedlam Burial Ground. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 112-113. 2020
- Temporal Comparisons of Survivorship and Frailty in Late Prehistoric East Tennessee. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 27-27. 2020
- Assessing the existence of the male-female health-survival paradox in past populations. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 58-58. 2019
- Dietary variation in an urbanizing city: A temporal analysis of diet in Late Medieval London using stable isotopes. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 261-261. 2019
- Frailty and Survivorship in Medieval Poland: A Comparison of Urban and Rural Populations. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 19-20. 2019
- Reconstructing host immune status in acquired syphilis: a bioarchaeological and immunological approach. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 64-64. 2019
- Survivorship and urbanization in medieval england. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 107-107. 2019
- Calculus and survivorship in medieval London: the association between dental disease and a demographic measure of general health. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 307-307. 2018
- Isotopes and Famine: An Isotopic Comparison of Famine and Attritional Burials in a Late Medieval London Cemetery. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 294-294. 2018
- Mitochondrial population dynamics in Black Death London. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 142-142. 2018
- Plagues past and present: the modern relevance of archaeological studies of epidemics in the past. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 67-67. 2018
- Childhood and Famine in Medieval London. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 416-416. 2017
- Effect of mycobacterial species on immune cells and its potential impact on inflammatory responses in periosteal lesions. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 168-168. 2017
- Periodontal Disease and Periosteal Lesions in a Prehistoric Population from Kentucky: Searching for Evidence of Systemic Inflammation. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 409-409. 2017
- Sex differences in pre-vs. post-Black Death trends in survivorship. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 162-162. 2017
- Urbanization's Impact: Health and Survivorship Patterns in Medieval Poland. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 121-121. 2017
- Do people with multiple injuries also have poor health?. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 265-265. 2016
- Sex and Famine: Mortality Differentials in Medieval London. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 341-341. 2016
- The effect of multiple stress events on risk of mortality during the medieval Black Death. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 130-130. 2016
- Urbanization and Mortality Risk in Late Medieval London. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 327-328. 2016
- Famine and Frailty: Crisis Mortality and Stature in Medieval London. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 121-121. 2015
- Reconstructing the impact of infectious diseases on the immune system of human populations: periodontal disease as marker to detect immunological shifts?. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 189-190. 2015
- Temporal Survival Analysis of Medieval St. Mary Spital Cemetery, London (c. 1120-1400 CE). American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 318-318. 2015
- Setting the stage for medieval plague: Pre-Black Death trends in survival and mortality (1000-1300 AD). American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 105-106. 2014
- Sex, age and caries: Sex differences of caries frequency in Medieval London c. 1120-1250. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 265-265. 2014
- A sensitivity analysis of the impact of household consumer-producer ratios on the hazard of out-migration among the Karen. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 216-217. 2013
- Health in post-Black Death London (1350-1538): Age patterns of periosteal new bone formation in a post-epidemic population.. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 112-112. 2013
- Medieval monastic mortality: hazard analysis of mortality differences between monastic and non-monastic cemeteries in England. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 86-86. 2013
- Status and stature: Analysis of the association between socioeconomic status and adult stature in medieval London c. 1350-1538. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 283-283. 2013
- A draft genome of Yersinia pestis from victims of the Black Death. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 103-104. 2012
- Medieval famine and health: skeletal markers of childhood physiological stress in survivors of the Great Famine, 1315-1322.. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 131-131. 2012
- Modeling the Second Epidemiologic Transition in London: Patterns of Mortality and Frailty during Industrialization. 35-53. 2011
- The effect of social status on risks of mortality in Roman Dorset, England. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 125-125. 2011
- The relationship between oral health and general health: associations between periodontitis and non-oral skeletal pathologies.. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 94-94. 2010
- The effect of adult age estimates on inferences about sex patterns of mortality.. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 118-118. 2009
- Comparison of paleodemographic age estimation methods: case study of the East Smithfield Black Death cemetery.. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 89-90. 2008
- Black death mortality: Selectivity with respect to frailty. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 97-97. 2007
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The temporal dynamics of the fourteenth-century Black Death: New evidence from English ecclesiastical records.
Human Biology.
427-448.
2002
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journal article
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Gender, Sex, and Health in Urban and Rural Late 19th-Century New York State..
American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
e70279.
2026
-
Developmental stress and the urban-rural health spectrum in medieval Denmark..
International Journal of Paleopathology.
47-64.
2026
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Known unknowns and the osteological paradox: Why bioarchaeology needs agent-based models..
International Journal of Paleopathology.
32-43.
2026
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Sex Differences in Frailty in Milan Over the Last 2000 Years: A Hazards-Based and Cumulative Phenotype Approach.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
2025
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Childhood nutritional stress and later-life health outcomes in medieval England: Evidence from incremental dentine analysis.
Science Advances.
2025
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Selective mortality during famine and plague events in medieval London.
Scientific Reports.
2025
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Health and Mortality in the 19th-Century Rural United States: The Second Epidemiological Transition in Madison County, New York.
American Journal of Human Biology.
2025
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Insufficient evidence for natural selection associated with the Black Death.
Nature.
2025
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Global natural history infrastructure requires international solidarity, support, and investment in local capacity.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
2025
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Evolution of immune genes is associated with the Black Death (Vol 611, pg 312, 2024).
Nature.
E30-E30.
2025
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Medieval monastic health: Variation in skeletal signs of inflammation and developmental stress between religious orders in London.
American Journal of Human Biology.
2024
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Frailty or resilience? Hazard-based and cumulative phenotype approaches to discerning signals of health inequality in medieval London.
Science Advances.
2024
-
Dying of pestilence: Stature and mortality from the Black Death in 14th-century Kyrgyzstan.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
2024
-
Assessing the existence of the male-female health-survival paradox in the past: Dental caries in medieval London.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
2024
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A New Paradigm for Pandemic Preparedness.
CURRENT EPIDEMIOLOGY REPORTS.
240-251.
2023
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Frailty and survival in the 1918 influenza pandemic.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
2023
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Survivorship and the second epidemiological transition in industrial-era London.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
646-652.
2023
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Emergence, continuity, and evolution of Yersinia pestis throughout medieval and early modern Denmark.
Current Biology.
1147-1152.e5.
2023
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Ancient pathogens provide a window into health and well-being.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
2023
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Climate change, human health, and resilience in the Holocene.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
2023
- In search of earliest records of endemic plague: Past research and new endeavors. 21-29. 2023
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Race, Population Affinity, and Mortality Risk during the Second Plague Pandemic in Fourteenth- Century London, England.
Bioarchaeology International.
307-327.
2023
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Evolution of immune genes is associated with the Black Death.
Nature.
312-+.
2022
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Sexual stature difference fluctuations in pre- and post-Black Death London as an indicator of living standards.
American Journal of Human Biology.
2022
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Twenty-first century bioarchaeology: Taking stock and moving forward.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
54-114.
2022
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Toward a bioarchaeology of urbanization: Demography, health, and behavior in cities in the past.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
79-118.
2021
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Urban and rural survivorship in Pre- and Post-Black Death Denmark.
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.
2021
-
Medieval menarche: Changes in pubertal timing before and after the Black Death.
American Journal of Human Biology.
2021
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Assessment of nutritional stress in famine burials using stable isotope analysis.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
214-226.
2020
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Sex differences in adult famine mortality in medieval London.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
164-169.
2020
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A new method for investigating the relationship between diet and mortality: hazard analysis using dietary isotopes.
Annals of Human Biology.
378-387.
2019
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HUNTER-GATHERER ADAPTATION AND RESILIENCE: A BIOARCHAEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE.
New Directions for Evaluation.
224-225.
2019
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Genetic resiliency and the Black Death: No apparent loss of mitogenomic diversity due to the Black Death in medieval London and Denmark.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
240-252.
2019
-
Calculus and survivorship in medieval London: The association between dental disease and a demographic measure of general health.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
552-565.
2019
-
Demographic anthropology.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
893-903.
2018
-
Stress, sex, and plague: Patterns of developmental stress and survival in pre- and post-Black Death London.
American Journal of Human Biology.
2018
-
Trends in mortality and biological stress in a medieval polish urban population.
International Journal of Paleopathology.
24-36.
2017
-
Disease epidemics: lessons for resilience in an increasingly connected world.
Journal of Public Health.
254-257.
2017
- Integrating Identities: An Innovative Bioarchaeological and Biogeochemical Approach to Analyzing the Multiplicity of Identities in the Mortuary Record Comment. Current Anthropology. 400-401. 2017
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Multiple Injury and Health in Past Societies: An Analysis of Concepts and Approaches, and Insights from a Multi-Period Study.
International Journal of Osteoarchaeology.
418-429.
2017
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Disease and Discrimination: Poverty and Pestilence in Colonial Atlantic America..
American Antiquity.
419-420.
2017
-
Do leprosy and tuberculosis generate a systemic inflammatory shift? Setting the ground for a new dialogue between experimental immunology and bioarchaeology.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
143-156.
2017
-
Urban and rural mortality and survival in Medieval England.
Annals of Human Biology.
338-348.
2017
-
Bioarchaeology: Interpreting Behavior from the Skeleton, 2nd edition.
American Journal of Human Biology.
596-597.
2016
-
Frailty and Famine: Patterns of Mortality and Physiological Stress Among Victims of Famine in Medieval London.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
272-283.
2016
-
Sex differentials in caries frequencies in Medieval London.
Archives of Oral Biology.
32-39.
2016
-
Wealth, health and frailty in industrial-era London.
Annals of Human Biology.
241-254.
2016
-
The Osteological Paradox 20 Years Later: Past Perspectives, Future Directions.
Journal of Archaeological Research.
397-450.
2015
-
Setting the stage for medieval plague: Pre-black death trends in survival and mortality.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
441-451.
2015
-
Urban-Rural Differences in Roman Dorset, England: A Bioarchaeological Perspective on Roman Settlements.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
107-120.
2015
-
Bioarchaeology and the Ethics of Research Using Human Skeletal Remains.
History Compass.
10-19.
2015
-
Differential survival among individuals with active and healed periosteal new bone formation.
International Journal of Paleopathology.
38-44.
2014
-
Health in Post-Black Death London (1350-1538): Age Patterns of Periosteal New Bone Formation in a Post-Epidemic Population.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
260-267.
2014
-
Mortality Risk and Survival in the Aftermath of the Medieval Black Death.
PLoS ONE.
2014
-
Household ecology and out-migration among ethnic Karen along the Thai-Myanmar border.
Demographic Research.
1129-1156.
2014
-
Yersinia pestis and the Plague of Justinian 541-543 AD: a genomic analysis.
The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
319-326.
2014
-
Ancient pathogen DNA in archaeological samples detected with a Microbial Detection Array.
Scientific Reports.
2014
-
Medieval Monastic Mortality: Hazard Analysis of Mortality Differences Between Monastic and Nonmonastic Cemeteries in England.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
322-332.
2013
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Between Famine and Death: England on the Eve of the Black Death-Evidence from Paleoepidemiology and Manorial Accounts.
Journal of Interdisciplinary History.
37-60.
2013
-
Yersinia pestis: New Evidence for an Old Infection.
PLoS ONE.
2012
-
Sex differences in periodontal disease in catastrophic and attritional assemblages from medieval london.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
405-416.
2012
-
Stature and frailty during the Black Death: the effect of stature on risks of epidemic mortality in London, A.D. 1348-1350.
Journal of Archaeological Science.
1412-1419.
2012
-
Using spatial analysis to estimate depopulation for Native American populations in northeastern North America, AD 1616-1645.
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology.
83-92.
2012
-
A draft genome of Yersinia pestis from victims of the Black Death (vol 478, pg 506, 2011).
Nature.
278-278.
2011
-
The Association Between Periodontal Disease and Periosteal Lesions in the St. Mary Graces Cemetery, London, England A. D. 1350-1538.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
609-618.
2011
- The Black Death decoded (vol 478, pg 444, 2011). Nature. 163-163. 2011
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A draft genome of Yersinia pestis from victims of the Black Death.
Nature.
506-510.
2011
-
Status and Health in Roman Dorset: The Effect of Status on Risk of Mortality in Post-Conquest Populations.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
197-208.
2011
-
Targeted enrichment of ancient pathogens yielding the pPCP1 plasmid of Yersinia pestis from victims of the Black Death.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
E746-E752.
2011
-
A New Approach to the Study of Romanization in Britain: A Regional Perspective of Cultural Change in Late Iron Age and Roman Dorset Using the Siler and Gompertz-Makeham Models of Mortality.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
269-285.
2011
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Palaeoepidemiology: The Measure of Disease in the Human Past.
Medical Anthropology Quarterly.
127-128.
2011
-
Age patterns of mortality during the Black Death in London, AD 1349-1350.
Journal of Archaeological Science.
3394-3400.
2010
-
Sex Differentials in Frailty in Medieval England.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
285-297.
2010
-
Oral Health and Frailty in the Medieval English Cemetery of St Mary Graces.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
341-354.
2010
-
What Do We Know about the Agricultural Demographic Transition?.
Current Anthropology.
649-655.
2009
-
The Effect of Sex on Risk of Mortality During the Black Death in London, AD 1349-1350.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
222-234.
2009
-
Selectivity of Black Death mortality with respect to preexisting health.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
1436-1441.
2008
-
Demography in archaeology.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
247-248.
2008
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Was the black death yersinial plague?.
The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
485-485.
2004
-
Was the Black Death yersinial plague?.
The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
327-328.
2003
-
Gender, Sex, and Health in Urban and Rural Late 19th-Century New York State..
American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
e70279.
2026
Teaching
courses taught
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ANTH 1155 - Exploring Global Cultural Diversity
Primary Instructor - Fall 2023 / Fall 2024
Examines the geography, kinship, politics and religious values of various cultures globally in historical and contemporary context through an anthropological perspective. Check with department for semester offerings. May be repeated up to 9 total credit hours. -
ANTH 2600 - Plagues and the Human Response from Past to Present
Primary Instructor - Spring 2026
This course uses an anthropological perspective to explore important infectious diseases in human history. We will learn about how human behavior affects the emergence, spread, and control of disease, how human culture, social inequalities, and demography influence the variety of diseases we are exposed to, and how diseases have shaped human biology and culture. We will emphasize the ways in which the study of disease in the past may benefit people today and in the future. -
ANTH 4120 - Advanced Biological Anthropology
Primary Instructor - Spring 2024 / Spring 2025
Selected topics in physical anthropology emphasizing faculty specialties. Topics may include population genetics and its application to understanding modern human diversity, human population biology, and primate ecology and evolution. Check with department for semester offerings. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours. Same as ANTH 5120. Recommended prerequisite: ANTH 2010 or ANTH 2020 or EBIO 1210 or EBIO 1220. -
ANTH 4180 - Anthropological Perspectives: Contemporary Issues
Primary Instructor - Spring 2025 / Fall 2025
Students read, discuss, and write critical evaluations of contemporary publications in anthropology. Identifies basic themes that inform major anthropological perspectives. Students then bring these perspectives to bear on issues currently facing the human species. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours. Same as ANTH 5180. -
ANTH 5120 - Advanced Biological Anthropology
Primary Instructor - Spring 2024 / Spring 2025
Selected topics in physical anthropology emphasizing faculty specialties. Topics may include population genetics and its application to understanding modern human diversity, human population biology, and primate ecology and evolution. Check with department for semester offerings. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours. Same as ANTH 4120. -
ANTH 7020 - Seminar: Biological Anthropology
Primary Instructor - Spring 2024
In-depth discussion of selected topics in physical anthropology with emphasis on recent research. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours.
Background
education and training
- Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University 2006
- M.A., Pennsylvania State University 2001
- B.A., Sonoma State University 1999
International Activities
geographic focus
- Australia Country
- Austria Country
- Canada Country
- China Country
- Netherlands Country
- Portugal Country
- South Korea Country
- United Kingdom Country