Bioarchaeology with Jordan Wilson and Janet Kay
Episode 136 - May 2, 2025
Jordan Wilson (Georgetown University) and Janet Kay (Independent scholar) join Merle and Lee to talk about bioarchaeology in light of an article they wrote on the bioarchaeology of the first plague pandemic. The conversation starts off with an explanation of bioarchaeology, its methodologies (including bone identification!) and how does daily work in that field look like. Within the context of the joint paper, Jordan and Janet also explain how they see collaborations in general and working with historians more specifically. They also weigh in on how one might reconcile both disciplines, and speculate about collaborations in the future and their potential.
Further Reading
- T. Brown and K. Brown (2011), Biomolecular Archaeology: An Introduction. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
- S. DeWitte (2016), “Archaeological Evidence of Epidemics Can Inform Future Epidemics,” Annual Review of Anthropology 45: 63-77.
- J.E. Kay, “Moving from Wales and the West in Fifth-Century Britain: Isotope Evidence for Eastward Migration,” in Patricia Skinner, ed., The Welsh and the Medieval World: Travel, Migration and Exile (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2018), 17-47.
- A.W. Kim and S.C. Agarwal (2023), “From ancient pathogens to modern pandemics: Integrating evolutionary, ecological, and sociopolitical dynamics of infectious disease and pandemics through biological anthropology,” American Journal of Biological Anthropology 182: 505-512.
- Y. Tian, I. Koncz, S. Defant et al., "The role of emerging elites in the formation and development of communities after the fall of the Roman Empire," PNAS 121 (36) e2317868121.
- J. Wilson, D.G. Pickel, T. Newfield and S. Malis (2023), “Nested Environments: A Biocultural Examination of Malaria, Disease Stress, and Mother-Infant Health in a Rural Community in Late Antique Umbria,” Environmental Archaeology, February, 1-16.
Our Guests
Jordan Wilson
Earth Commons postdoctoral fellow – Georgetown University
Janet Kay
Independent Scholar
