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PALEOPATHOLOGY ASSOCIATION

FOUNDED IN 1974


INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PALEOPATHOLOGY

The International Journal of Paleopathology (IJPP) carves out a dedicated academic space for communication, collaborations and cutting-edge research in paleopathology - human and non-human. The journal seeks to encourage research and foster interdisciplinary communication. The IJPP accepts submissions towards Special Issues reflecting key themes within paleopathology, along with research articles, case-studies of impact, brief communications, and technical notes.

Editor-in-Chief: Anne L. Grauer

Associate editors: Simon Mays, Efthymia Nikita, Ana Luisa Santos, Dong Hoon Shin, Richard Thomas, Anne Teitelbaum


Volume 50 is in progress! 

Check out the latest published papers here 

Volume highlights

WHAT ARE VOLUME HIGHLIGHTS? 

With these papers, The Editor-in-Chief, Associate Editors and Advisory Board members of the IJPP seek to celebrate and promote scientific contributions that influence our field. Articles will be selected based on the potential impact on our field and other disciplines, and the broader interest beyond the academy.

Find more information here.

Volume highlights - Vol 51

Skeleton Matter(s): Reframing current approaches in bioarchaeology towards a more inclusive future

by Rebecca Gowland.

This thought-provoking article urges readers to challenge our traditional views of the human body, to expand upon the biocultural approach towards understanding health and disease, and to explore emerging theoretical frameworks such as Posthumanism and New Materialism. By highlighting ways in which our traditional approaches can limit our understanding of the past, and by introducing alternative paradigms, this article moves us beyond continuing a simplistic cause/effect or body/society dualistic construction of disease and offers promising and complex ways to embark upon paleopathological research. This contribution is included in the Virtual Special Issue, Paleopathology: The next 50 years.

This article is OPEN ACCESS and is freely available to all readers.

Volume Highlights - Vol 50

Endemic congential iodine deficiency syndrome from a 19th-20th century poorhouse cemetery in Riggisberg, Switzerland

by Christine Cooper, Florian Keller, Amelie Alterauge, and Sandra Lösch.

Focusing on the key role that iodine plays in human growth and development and the skeletal manifestations of iodine deficiency, the researchers posit that diagnostic difficulties likely obscure the prevalence of the condition in the past. The systematic integration of skeletal, historical, and environmental data enriches our paleopathological understanding of endocrine disorders, offering regionally significant insights on a condition that has been rarely examined in human skeletal populations

READ HERE

This article is OPEN ACCESS and is freely available to all readers.

Volume Highlights - Vol 49

Are endocranial granular impressions pathognomonic of tuberculous meningitis or a marker of tuberculous infection? An investigation of a medieval Italian osteoarchaeological assemblage.

by Maria L. Genchi, Valentina Giuffra, Stefano Campana, and Giulia Riccomi.

Here, the authors offer a new analysis of lesions often associated with the presence of active tuberculosis (TB) or TB meningitis and, through the use of careful methodologies and sound biological principles, carefully conclude that endocranial lesions (granular impressions) more convincingly simply represent the presence of TB infection. This analysis of lesions in a pre-antibiotic era population will certainly serve as a stimulus for further work as we seek to understand tuberculosis in the past.  

READ HERE

This article is OPEN ACCESS and is freely available to all readers.

Volume Highlights - V.48

An Index of Oro-dental Disease: a holistic method for understanding the impacts of different risk factors on oral health in archaeological populations

by Anne Davies-Barrett, Richard Holliday, Nicholas Jakubovics, and Sarah Inskip. 

Seeking to introduce a way in which paleopathologists can assess oral health in the past, this article innovatively synthesizes modern data with that from two archaeological datasets to investigate risk factors that affect overall oral health regardless of differences in antemortem and postmortem dental conditions. The method serves as a starting point not only for assessing dental disease in the past but as a means to potentially recognize the roles that environment, diet, behavior and demography play in contributing to dental health.

READ HERE

This article is OPEN ACCESS and is freely available to all readers.

Call for Papers

Paleopathology: The next 50 years
 Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the  Association

Guest Editors, Jane Buikstra and Anne Grauer, cordially invite scholars across many disciplines to contribute to a Special Issue of the International Journal of Paleopathology.

This Special Issue is intended to highlight innovative work that is forward-looking, deeply contextualized, scientifically rigorous, imaginative, and thought-provoking.

Check out the Guidelines and Processes

Open for new submissions from December 2025 

Scholars seeking support for crafting a manuscript in the English language are warmly welcome to reach out to Drs. Buikstra (buikstra@asu.edu) or Grauer (agrauer@luc.edu).

Recent Special issues

Paleopathology: The Next 50 years

edited by Anne Grauer and Jane Buikstra


Changes in Health with the Rise of Industry

Edited by Gillian Crane-Kramer, Jo Buckberry

Disability and care in Western Europe during Medieval times: a bioarchaeological perspective

Edited by Ileana MicarelliLorna TilleyMary Anne Tafuri

Ancient Rare Diseases: Definition and concept of “rare” in paleopathology

Edited by Julia Gresky, Emmanuele Petiti

Special Issue: Paleopathological Research in Continental China

Edited by Elizabeth Berger, Kate Pechenkina

useful information

Are you interested in creating an Special Issue? 

Contact the IJPP Editor-in Chief, Anne Grauer!

PPA Author Award winners

Arthur Aufderheide Student Author Award:

Jack Eggington for his contribution "A macroscopic assessment of porosity and new bone formation on the inferior pars basilaris: normal growth or an indicator of scurvy?"


The Jane E Buikstra Early Career Author Award:

Raffaele Gaeta for her contribution "Histology of pulmonary tuberculosis in a 19th-century mummy from Comiso (Sicily, Italy)."


We congratulate the authors with their well-deserved awards for their fascinating and outstanding contributions.

Volume Highlights - Vol 47

Expanding the diagnostic scope of paleopathology: Identification of Q fever (Coxiella burnetii) using a ONE Paleopathology approach.

by Christine Alvarez Jones

This article, which appears in the IJPP Special Issue “Paleopathology: the next 50 years”, focuses on a zoonotic disease affecting both animals and humans; yet it remains underdiagnosed and relatively unknown in paleopathology. Through the adoption of a ONE Paleopathology approach, advocating for the integration of multidimensional aspects of health and disease that incorporates environmental, biological, and social variables, the author emphasizes the importance of transdisciplinary research as a means to increase awareness of the disease in the past and, potentially, to shed light on its pathogenesis and evolutionary history.

READ HERE

Requires PPA Member's access

IJPP is published by Elsevier, Ltd. Need help to access the IJPP through ScienceDirect? Click here.

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