This is a weekly speaker series hosted by the Department of Anthropology. 

Speaker: Dr. Derek Boyd

Abstract:This talk explores the biological, environmental, and social factors that shaped respiratory health in English cities during the Industrial Revolution. Analysis of disparate data sets, including historic mortality records, archaeological site information, and skeletal indicators of respiratory disease, revealed evidence of environmental privileges among affluent Londoners relative to their working-class counterparts and their neighbors to the north. These findings challenge the assumption that respiratory disease is an inevitability of life in the city, even in rapidly urbanizing contexts where threats to respiratory health are myriad. At the same time, however, these findings expose methodological limitations that are deeply ingrained in studies of health in the past.