Warning: this page contains images and discussion of human remains
Diseases in London is a fully illustrated reference text detailing the effects of disease on the human skeleton. Focussing on skeletal remains found on archaeological excavations in London, the specimens date from the Roman period to the 19th century. Human health affects all aspects of everyday life and skeletal remains represent direct evidence of the experiences of people in the past.
The diseases we observe in the archaeological record provide material evidence for the most serious conditions that are not commonly seen or understood in modern medicine. Diseases in London collates this invaluable information.
The Diseases in London book is designed to appeal to students and practitioners of osteology and palaeopathology, medical historians and forensic archaeologists. Author Don Walker, MOLA senior human osteologist and one of the foremost experts in the health of London’s past populations, collated information from the extensive collections of MOLA and the Museum of London to bring together more than 400 photographic and radiographic images of disease and traumatic injury.
This archaeological material provides evidence of conditions which are now rarely encountered and with the most severe expressions of disease in a pre-antibiotic era. The research provides a unique opportunity to explore the lives of past communities.
