{"title":"Developing an archaeology of malaria. A critical review of current approaches and a discussion on ways forward","authors":"Rachel Schats","doi":"10.1016/j.ijpp.2023.03.002","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><p>This paper presents the current state of the art in the investigation of past malaria by providing an extensive review of previous studies and identifying research possibilities for the future.</p></div><div><h3>Materials</h3><p>All previous research on the detection of malaria in human skeletal material using macroscopic and biomolecular approaches is considered.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>The approaches and methods used by scholars and the results they obtained are evaluated and the limitations discussed.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>There is a link between malaria and porous lesions with significantly higher prevalence in malaria-endemic areas, however, they are not pathognomonic or specific for malaria. Malaria can be identified using biomolecular techniques, yet, to date there is no completely satisfactory method that is able to consistently diagnose the disease.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>Using macroscopic and biomolecular techniques, malaria can be investigated in past populations and the impact of the disease studied. Yet, this is not a straightforward process and the use of multiple lines of evidence is necessary to obtain the best results.</p></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><p>The extensive discussion on ways malaria can and cannot be identified in past populations and the suggestions for new approaches provide a steppingstone for future research into this debilitating, global disease.</p></div><div><h3>Limitations</h3><p>Malaria is a difficult disease to study archaeologically and successful identification depends on many intrinsic and extrinsic factors.</p></div><div><h3>Suggestions for further research</h3><p>More large-scale spatial analyses of porous lesions as well as targeting different tissues or molecules for biomolecular identification may improve the archaeological understanding of malaria.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48817,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Paleopathology","volume":"41 ","pages":"Pages 32-42"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3000,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"2","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Paleopathology","FirstCategoryId":"89","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1879981723000177","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"PALEONTOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 2
Abstract
Objective
This paper presents the current state of the art in the investigation of past malaria by providing an extensive review of previous studies and identifying research possibilities for the future.
Materials
All previous research on the detection of malaria in human skeletal material using macroscopic and biomolecular approaches is considered.
Methods
The approaches and methods used by scholars and the results they obtained are evaluated and the limitations discussed.
Results
There is a link between malaria and porous lesions with significantly higher prevalence in malaria-endemic areas, however, they are not pathognomonic or specific for malaria. Malaria can be identified using biomolecular techniques, yet, to date there is no completely satisfactory method that is able to consistently diagnose the disease.
Conclusions
Using macroscopic and biomolecular techniques, malaria can be investigated in past populations and the impact of the disease studied. Yet, this is not a straightforward process and the use of multiple lines of evidence is necessary to obtain the best results.
Significance
The extensive discussion on ways malaria can and cannot be identified in past populations and the suggestions for new approaches provide a steppingstone for future research into this debilitating, global disease.
Limitations
Malaria is a difficult disease to study archaeologically and successful identification depends on many intrinsic and extrinsic factors.
Suggestions for further research
More large-scale spatial analyses of porous lesions as well as targeting different tissues or molecules for biomolecular identification may improve the archaeological understanding of malaria.
期刊介绍：
Paleopathology is the study and application of methods and techniques for investigating diseases and related conditions from skeletal and soft tissue remains. The International Journal of Paleopathology (IJPP) will publish original and significant articles on human and animal (including hominids) disease, based upon the study of physical remains, including osseous, dental, and preserved soft tissues at a range of methodological levels, from direct observation to molecular, chemical, histological and radiographic analysis. Discussion of ways in which these methods can be applied to the reconstruction of health, disease and life histories in the past is central to the discipline, so the journal would also encourage papers covering interpretive and theoretical issues, and those that place the study of disease at the centre of a bioarchaeological or biocultural approach. Papers dealing with historical evidence relating to disease in the past (rather than history of medicine) will also be published. The journal will also accept significant studies that applied previously developed techniques to new materials, setting the research in the context of current debates on past human and animal health.
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
分享
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
扫码关注我们
