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Department of Archaeology

 

Biography

I work part of the week as Co-editor of the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, and part of the week as a hospital consultant (specialist) in the NHS. I have trained in paleopathology, osteoarchaeology, parasitology, medical history, orthopaedic surgery, and higher education. I have  been president of the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology 2012-2015, and president of the Paleopathology Association, the worldwide organization for the study of disease in the past, from 2015-2017. I am editor in chief of the book series Cambridge Texts in Human Bioarchaeology and Osteoarchaeology. I have published between 180 and 200 articles, and 6 books. Along with being filmed for over 20 documentaries discussing my research on disease in past populations, more than a thousand news articles have been published about my work by journalists.

Research

My research interests focus on understanding health and disease in past populations. I have a strong interest in ancient parasites, bacterial infectious diseases such as plague, and ancient cancers. I hold a long association with the Middle East, having spent many years studying weapon injuries, disease and medical treatment during the crusades in the medieval period. I was also a member of the team who studied the remains of King Richard III at Leicester, focusing on his intestinal parasites and his scoliosis.

Key Publications

Key publications: 

Books

Mitchell, P.D. Parasites in Past Civilisations and their Impact Upon Health. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 2023.  ISBN 978-0-5117-3238-6

Mitchell, P.D., Brickley, M. (eds) Updated Guidelines to the Standards for Recording Human Remains. Chartered Institute for Archaeologists/British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology: Reading 2017. ISBN 978-0-948393-27-3

Mitchell, P.D. (ed.) Sanitation, Latrines and Intestinal Parasites in Past Populations. Ashgate: Farnham, 2015. ISBN 978-1-4724-4907-8
Reprinted by Routledge: Abingdon 2015.

Mitchell, P.D., Buckberry J. (eds) Proceedings of the 12th Annual Conference of the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology. Archaeopress: Oxford  2012. ISBN 978-1-4073-0970-5

Mitchell, P.D. (ed.) Anatomical Dissection in Enlightenment England and Beyond: Autopsy, Pathology and Display. Ashgate: Farnham 2012. ISBN 978-1-4094-1886-3
Reprinted by Routledge: Abingdon 2016.

Mitchell, P.D. Medicine in the Crusades: Warfare, Wounds and the Medieval Surgeon. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge 2004. ISBN 0-521-84455 x

 

Articles

2023

Bendrey, R., Mitchell, P.D. (2023) Editorial - Fish out of water. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 33(6): 979. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.3277 

Dittmar, J.M., Mitchell, P.D., Cessford, C., Inskip, S., Robb, J. (2023) Tuberculosis before and after the Black Death (1346-1353 CE) in the Hospital of St John the Evangelist in Cambridge, England. Tuberculosis 143: 102401 doi: 10.1016/j.tube.2023.102401  

Dittmar, J.D., Mulder, B., Tran, A., Mitchell, P.D., Jones, P.M., Inskip, S., Cessford, C., Robb, J. (2023) Caring for the injured: Exploring the immediate and long term consequences of injury in medieval Cambridge. International Journal of Paleopathology40: 7-19. doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpp.2022.07.004 

Franklin, E., Mitchell, P.D., Robb, J. (2023) The Black Death in Hereford: A demographic analysis of the cathedral 14th century plague mass graves and associated parish cemetery. American Journal of Biological Anthropology 182: 452-466. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.24838 

Fujita, H., Mitchell, P.D., Shin, D.H. (2023) 医学的見地からみた都市化とヒトの疾病 (Urbanization and human diseases from medical perspectives). 都市化の古病理学 Archaeology Quarterly 44 (special issue entitled Paleopathology of Urbanization): 41-50. [in Japanese] 

Inskip, S., Cessford, C., Dittmar, J., Rose, A., Mulder, B., O’Connell, T., Mitchell, P.D., Scheib, C., Kivisild, T., Hui, R., Price, M., Stock, J., Robb, J. (2023) Pathways to the medieval hospital: collective osteobiographies of poverty and charity. Antiquity 97: 1581-1597. doi: 10.15184/aqy.2023.167 

Mitchell, P.D. (2023) Historical sources, historiography and paleopathology. In: A. Grauer (ed.) Routledge Handbook of Paleopathology. London: Routledge, p.180-191. 

Mitchell, P.D. (2023) Editorial - A study of reviewing at the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology: Accepting, declining, fairness and responsibilities. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 33(1): 3-5. doi: 10.1002/OA.3184 

Mitchell, P.D., Bendrey, R. (2023) Editorial – How cranial surgery was performed in Italy during the centuries after the Roman Empire but before the rise of the medieval universities: Integrating paleopathology and medical history. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 33(2): 185-186. doi: 10.1002/OA.3208 

Mitchell, P.D., Bendrey, R. (2023) Editorial – Viking sagas, early Christian cults, and the movement of people in the 10th-13thcentury Viking world. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 33(5): 801. doi: 10.1002/oa.3252 

Mitchell, P.D., Wang, T., Billig, Y., Gadot, Y., Warnock, P., Langgut, D. (2023) Giardia duodenalis and dysentery in Iron Age Jerusalem (7th-6th centuries BCE). Parasitology 150: 693-699. doi: 10.1017/S0031182023000410 

Mitchell, P.D., Yeh, H.-Y. (2023) Intestinal parasites at the Xuanquanzhi Relay Station on the Silk Road 2,000 years ago. In: Melhorn, H., Wu, X., Wu, Z. (eds.) Infectious Diseases Along the Silk Roads. Springer: Cham. p.131-139. Doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-35275-1_9 

Rabinow, S., Deforce, K., Mitchell, P.D. (2023) Continuity in intestinal parasite infection in Aalst (Belgium) from the medieval to early modern period (12th-17th centuries). International Journal of Paleopathology 41:43-49. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpp.2023.03.001. 

 

2022

Bendrey, R., Mitchell, P.D. (2022) Editorial - Extending our understanding of past animal diet using stable isotope analysis. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 32(5): 961. doi: 10.1002/oa.3166

Bendrey, R. Mitchell, P.D. (2022) Editorial - They fought on horseback, didn’t they? International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 32(6): 1173-1174. doi: 10.1002/oa.3176

Dittmar, J.D., Nagar, Y., Arbiv, K., Lieberman, T., Mitchell, P.D. (2022) Violence in Hasmonean Judea: Skeletal evidence of a massacre from 2nd-1st century BCE Jerusalem. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 32: 731-745. doi: 10.1002/oa.3084

Ledger, M.L., Mitchell, P.D. (2022) Tracing zoonotic parasite infections throughout human evolution. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology  32(3): 553-564. doi:10.1002/oa.2786.

Ledger, M.L., Mitchell, P.D. Evolutionary perspectives on human parasitic infection, from ancient parasites to modern medicine. In: Plomp, K., Roberts, C., Elton, S., Bentley, G. (eds) Paleopathology and Evolutionary Medicine: An Integrated Approach. Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2022, pp.204-221.

Ledger, M.L., Mitchell, P.D. Parasites and human health at Vagnari. In: M. Carroll (ed.) The Making of a Roman Imperial Estate: Archaeology in the Vicus at Vagnari, Puglia. Archaeopress: Oxford, 2022, p.209-214.

Mitchell, P.D., Anastasiou, E., Whelton, H., Bull, I., Parker-Pearson, M., Shillitto, L.-M. (2022) Intestinal parasites in the neolithic population who built Stonehenge (Durrington Walls, 2500 BCE). Parasitology  149: 1027-1033. doi: 10.1017/S0031182022000476

Mitchell, P.D., Bendrey, R. (2022) Editorial – A tribute to Debra Martin. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 32(3): 547. doi: 10.1002/oa.3126

Mitchell, P.D., Bendrey, R. (2022) Editorial – How we can learn from analysing trauma in past societies. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 32(4): 721. doi: 10.1002/oa.3141

Mitchell, P.D., Dittmar, J.D. (2022) Employing radiography (x-rays) to localise lesions in human skeletal remains from past populations to allow accurate biopsy, using examples of cancer metastases. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 32: 916-922. doi: 10.1002.oa.3087

Mitchell, P.D., Dittmar, J.M., Mulder, B., Inskip, S., Littlewood, A., Cessford, C., Robb, J.E. (2022) Assessing the relative benefits of imaging with plain radiographs and microCT scanning to diagnose cancer in past populations. International Journal of Paleopathology 36: 24-29. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpp.221.12.001

Rabinow, S., Wang, T., Wilson, R.J.A., Mitchell, P.D. (2022) Using parasite analysis to identify ancient chamber pots: an example of the fifth century CE from Gerace, Sicily, Italy. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 42: 103349. doi: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2022.103349.

Wang, T., Cessford, C., Dittmar, J.M., Inskip, S., Jones, P.M., Mitchell, P.D. (2022) Intestinal parasite infection in the Augustinian friars and general population of medieval Cambridge, UK. International Journal of Paleopathology 39: 115-121. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpp.2022.06.001

Wang, T., Mitchell, P.D. (2022) Liver fluke infection throughout human evolution. GastroHep Advances 1(4): 500-507. doi: 10.1016/j.gastha.2022.02.027
 

2021

De Cupere, B., Speleers, L., Mitchell, P.D.,  Degraeve, A., Meganck, M., Bennion-Pedley, E., Jones, A.K., Ledger, M.L., Deforce, K. (2021) A multidisciplinary analysis of cesspits from late medieval and post-medieval Brussels, Belgium: diet and health in the fourteenth to seventeenth centuries. International Journal of Historical Archaeology https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-021-00613-8

Deforce, K., Ledger, M.L., Derreumaux, M., Goffette, Q., Henrotay, D., Pigière, F., Wouters, W., Mitchell, P.D. (2021) Diet, hygiene and health in Roman period northern Gaul: A multidisciplinary study of a latrine from an artisan household in the vicus Orolaunum (Arlon, southern Belgium, c.250-280 CE). Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 35: 102761. doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102761

Dittmar, J.D., Mitchell, P.D., Cessford, C., Inskip, S.A., Robb, J.E. (2021) Medieval injuries: Skeletal trauma as an indicator of past living conditions and hazard risk in Cambridge, England. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 175: 626-645.

Dittmar, J.M., Mitchell, P.D., Jones, P.M., Mulder, B., Inskip, S.A., Cessford, C., Robb, J.E. (2021) Gout and ‘Podagra’ in medieval Cambridge, England. International Journal of Paleopathology 33: 170-181.

Dittmar, J.M., Mitchell, P.D., Cessford, C., Inskip, S.A., Robb, J.E. (2021) Fancy shoes and painful feet: Hallux valgus and fracture risk in medieval Cambridge, England. International Journal of Paleopathology doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpp.2021.04.012

Knüsel, C.J.,  Milella, M., Betz, B., Dori, I., Garofalo, E., Glencross, B., Haddow, S.D., Ledger, M.L., Anastasiou, E., Mitchell, P.D., Pearson, J., Pilloud, M.A., Ruff, C.B., Sadvari, J.W., Tibbetts, B., Larsen, C.S., Bioarchaeology at neolithic Çatalhöyük: Indicators of health, well-being and lifeway in their social context. In: Hodder, I. (ed.) Peopling the Landscape of Çatalhöyük: Reports from the 2009-2017 Seasons. Çatalhöyük Research project Series no.13. British Institute at Ankara 2021, pp.315-56.

Ledger, M.L., Micarelli, I., Ward, D., Prowse, T.L., Carroll, M., Killgrove, K., Rice, C., Franconi, T., Tafuri, M.A., Manzi, G., Mitchell, P.D. (2021) Gastrointestinal infection in Italy during the Roman Imperial and Longobard periods: A paleoparasitological analysis of sediment from skeletal remains and sewer drains. International Journal of Paleopathology 33: 61-71. 

Mikulski, R.N.R., Schutkowski, H., Smith, M.J., Doumet-Serhal, C., Mitchell, P.D. (2021) Weapon injuries in the crusader mass graves from a 13th century attack on the port city of Sidon (Lebanon). PLoS ONE. 16(8): e0256517. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256517

Mitchell, P.D., Dittmar, J.M., Mulder, B., Inskip, S., Littlewood, A., Cessford, C., Robb, J.E. (2021) The prevalence of cancer in Britain before industrialisation. Cancer 127(17): 3054-3059.

Mitchell, P.D., Dittmar, J.M., Mulder, B., Inskip, S., Littlewood, A., Cessford, C., Robb, J.E. (2021) Reply to: Air pollution was high a century before industrial revolutions and may have been responsible for cancer rates in medieval Britain. Cancer doi: 10.1002/CNCR.33680.

Mitchell, P.D., Rabinow, S.A. Maladies infectieuses intestinales et parasites au temps des croisades. In : Histoire du Ventre; Entrailles, Tripes et Boyaux. Ed. F. Collard and E. Samama. L’Harmattan : Paris. 2021, pp.195-208.

Pritchard, D.I., Falcone, F.H., Mitchell, P.D. (2021) The evolution of IgE-mediated type I hypersensitivity and its immunological value. Allergy 76: 1024-1040.

Robb, J., Cessford, C., Dittmar, J.M., Inskip, S., Mitchell, P.D. (2021) The greatest health problem of the Middle Ages? Estimating the burden of disease in Medieval England. International Journal of Paleopathology 34: 101-112.

2020

Graff, A., Jones, A., Bennion-Peddley, E., Ledger, M.L., Deforce, K., Degraeve, A., Byl, S., Mitchell, P.D. (2020) A comparative study of parasites in three latrines from Medieval and Renaissance Brussels, Belgium (14th-17th centuries). Parasitology 147(13): 1443-1451.

Ledger, M.L., Rowan, E., Gallart-Marques, F., Sigmier, J.H., Sarkic, N., Redžić, S., Cahill, N.D.,  Mitchell P.D. (2020) Intestinal parasitic infection in the eastern Roman Empire during the Imperial Period and Late Antiquity. American Journal of Archaeology 124(4): 631-57.

Sabin, S., Yeh, H.Y., Pluskowski, A.G., Clamer, C., Mitchell, P.D., Bos, K. (2020) Estimating molecular preservation of the intestinal microbiome via metagenomic analyses of latrine sediments from two medieval cities. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 375: 20190576. doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0576

2019
Eskew, W.H., Ledger, M.L., Lloyd A., Pyles, G., Gosker, J., Mitchell, P.D. (2019) Intestinal parasites from an Ottoman period latrine from Acre (Israel) dating to the early 1800s CE. Korean Journal of Parasitology 57(6): 575-580.
Knorr, D., Smith, W., Ledger, M., Clapés, R., Peña-Chocarro, L., Mitchell, P.D. (2019) Intestinal parasites in six Islamic period latrines from 10th-11th century Córdoba (Spain) and 12th-13th century Mértola (Portugal). International Journal of Paleopathology  26: 75-83.

Ledger, M.L., Anastasiou, E., Shillito, L.-M., Mackay, H., Bull, I.D., Haddow, S.D., Knusel, C.J., Mitchell, P.D. (2019) Parasite infection at the early farming community of Çatalhöyük, Turkey (7100-6150 BC). Antiquity 93(369): 573-87.
Ledger, M.L., Grimshaw, E., Fairey, M., Whelton, H.L., Bull, I.D., Ballantyne, R., Knight, M., Mitchell, P.D. (2019) Intestinal parasites at the Late Bronze Age settlement of Must Farm, in the fens of East Anglia, UK (9th century B.C.E.). Parasitology 146(12): 1583-94.

Robb, J., Inskip, S., Cessford, C., Dittmar, J., Kivisild, T., Mitchell, P.D., Mulder, B., O’Connell, T., Price, M.E., Rose, A., Scheib, C. (2019) Osteobiography: the history of the body as a real bottom-line history. Bioarchaeology International 3(1): 16-31.

Yeh, H.-Y., Mitchell, P.D. (2019) Parasites and Baltic crusading in medieval Riga: insights into disease, diet and hygiene. In: Ecologies of Crusading, Colonization and Religious Conversion in the Medieval Baltic: Terra Sacra II. Ed. A. Pluskowski.  Turnhout: Brepols, p.121-126.

Yeh, H.-Y., Cheng, C.J., Huang, C., Zhan, X., Wong, W.K., Mitchell, P.D. (2019) Discovery of Eurytrema eggs in sediment from a colonial period latrine in in Taiwan. Korean Journal of Parasitology 57(6): 595-599.

Zhan, X., Yeh, H.-Y., Shin, D.-H., Chai, J.-Y., Seo, M., Mitchell, P.D. (2019) Differential change in the prevalence of the Ascaris, Trichuris, and Clonorchis infection among past east Asian populations. Korean Journal of Parasitology 57(6): 601-605.

2018

Anastasiou, E., Papathanasiou, A., Schepartz, L.A., Mitchell, P.D. (2018) Infectious disease in the ancient Aegean: intestinal parasitic worms in the neolithic to Roman period inhabitants of Kea, Greece. Journal of Archaeological Science Reports  17: 860-64.

Dittmar, J.M., Mitchell, P.D. (2018) Equality after death: the dissection of the female body for anatomical education in nineteenth-century England. Bioarchaeology International 2(4): 283-294.

Ledger, M.L., Stock, F., Schwaiger, H., Knipping, M., Brückner, H., Ladstätter, S., Mitchell, P.D. (2018) Intestinal parasites from public and private latrines and the harbor canal in Roman period Ephesus, Turkey (1st c. BCE to 6th c. CE). Journal of Archaeological Science Reports 21: 289-97.

2017

Mitchell, P.D. (2017) Human parasites in the Roman world: health consequences of conquering an empire. Parasitology 144: 48-58.

Mitchell, P.D. (2017) Improving the use of historical written sources in paleopathology. International Journal of Paleopathology 19: 88-95.

Mitchell, P.D. Sampling human remains for evidence of intestinal parasites. In: Mitchell, P.D., Brickley, M. (eds) Updated Guidelines to the Standards for Recording Human Remains. Chartered Institute for Archaeologists/British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology: Reading, 2017, p.54-56.

Williams, F., Arnold-Foster, T., Yeh, H.-Y., Ledger, M.L., Baeten, J., Poblome, J., Mitchell, P.D. (2017) Intestinal parasites from the 2nd-5th century AD latrine in the Roman baths at Sagalassos (Turkey). International Journal of Paleopathology 19: 37-42.

Yeh, H.-Y., Mitchell, P.D. (2017) Intestinal parasites in the cesspool. In: Clamer, C., Prag, K., Humbert, J.-B. (eds), Colegio de Pilar: Excavations in Jerusalem, Christian Quarter. Cahiers de la Revue Biblique, 88. Peeters: Leuven. p.154-61.

2016

Dittmar, J., Mitchell, P.D. (2016) From cradle to grave via the dissection room: the role of foetal and infant bodies in anatomical education during the late 1700s to early 1900s. Journal of Anatomy 229: 713-22.

Dittmar, J.M., Mitchell, P.D. (2016) The afterlife of Laurence Stern (1713-68): body snatching, dissection and the role of Cambridge anatomist Charles Collignon. Journal of Medical Biography 24(4): 559-65.

Mitchell, P.D. (2016) Palaeopathology of the Crusades. In: Sinibaldi, M., Lewis, K.J., Major, B., Thompson, J.A. (eds) Crusader Landscapes in the Medieval Levant: the Archaeology and History of the Latin East. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, p.349-59.

Mitchell P.D. (2016) Anatomy and surgery in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages. In: Perdicoyianni-Paleologou, H. (ed) Anatomy and Surgery from Antiquity to the Renaissance. Adolf Hakkert: Amsterdam, p.309-24.

Stock, F., Knipping, M., Pint, A., Ladstatter, S., Delile, H., Heiss, A.G., Laermanns, H., Mitchell, P.D., Ployer, R., Steskal, M., Thanheiser, U., Urz, R., Wennrich, V., Bruckner, H. (2016) Human impact on Holocene sediment dynamics in the Eastern Mediterranean – the example of the Roman Harbour of Ephesus. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 41: 980-96.

Yeh, H.-Y., Chen, Y.-P., Mitchell, P.D. (2016) Human intestinal parasites from the Wushantou site in Neolithic Taiwan (800-0 BC). Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology 11: 425-34.

Yeh, H.-Y., Mao, R., Wang, H., Qi, W., Mitchell, P.D. (2016) Early evidence for travel with infectious diseases along the Silk Road: intestinal parasites from 2,000 year old personal hygiene sticks in a latrine at Xuanquanzhi relay station in China. Journal Archaeological Science: Reports 9: 758-64.

Yeh, H.-Y., Mitchell, P.D. (2016) Ancient human parasites in ethnic Chinese populations. Korean Journal of Parasitology 54(5): 565-72.

2015

Anastasiou, E., Mitchell, P.D. (2015) Human intestinal parasites and dysentery in Africa and the Middle East prior to 1500. In: Mitchell, P.D. (ed) Sanitation, Latrines and Intestinal Parasites in Past Populations. Farnham: Ashgate pp.121-47.

Dittmar, J.M., Mitchell, P.D. (2015) A new method for identifying and differentiating human dissection and autopsy in archaeological human skeletal remains. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 3: 73-9.

Mitchell, P.D. (2015) Human parasites in medieval Europe: lifestyle, sanitation and medical treatment. Advances in Parasitology 90: 389-420.

Mitchell, P.D. (2015) Why we need to know about sanitation in the past. In: Mitchell, P.D. (ed) Sanitation, Latrines and Intestinal Parasites in Past Populations. Farnham: Ashgate pp.1-4.

Mitchell, P.D. (2015) Assessing the impact of sanitation upon health in early human populations from hunter-gatherers to ancient civilizations, using theoretical modelling. In: Mitchell, P.D. (ed) Sanitation, Latrines and Intestinal Parasites in Past Populations. Farnham: Ashgate pp.5-17.

Mitchell, P.D. (2015) A better understanding of sanitation and health in the past. In: Mitchell, P.D. (ed) Sanitation, Latrines and Intestinal Parasites in Past Populations. Farnham: Ashgate pp.229-33.

Mitchell, P.D. (2015) Intestinal parasites in the crusades: evidence for disease, diet, and migration. In: Boas, A. (ed) The Crusader World. Routledge: New York p. 593-606.

Mitchell, P.D. (2015) The Trends in Biological Anthropology series. In: K. Gerdau-Radonic and K. McSweeney (eds) Trends in Biological Anthropology. Series no.1. Oxford: Oxbow. p.vii.

Yeh, H.-Y., Prag, K., Clamer, C., Humbert, J.B., Mitchell, P.D. (2015) Human intestinal parasites from a Mamluk Period cesspool in the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem: potential indicators for long distance travel in the 15th century AD. International Journal of Paleopathology 9: 69-75.

2014

Anastasiou, E., Lorentz, K.O., Stein, G.J., Mitchell, P.D. (2014) Prehistoric schistosomiasis parasite found in the Middle East. Lancet Infectious Diseases 14: 553-4.

Appleby, J., Mitchell, P.D., Robinson, C., Brough, A., Rutty, G., Morgan, B. (2014) The scoliosis of Richard III, last Plantagenet king of England: diagnosis and clinical significance. The Lancet 383: 1944.

Mitchell, P.D. Bloodletting: when, where and how. In: E. Dourish (ed.) Emprynted in Thys Manere: Early Printed Treasures from Cambridge University Library. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2014 p.142.

Yeh, H.-Y., Pluskowski, A., Kalējs, U., Mitchell, P.D. (2014) Intestinal parasites in a mid-14th century latrine from Riga, Latvia: fish tapeworm and the consumption of uncooked fish in the medieval eastern Baltic region. Journal of Archaeological Science 49: 83-89.

2013

Anastasiou, E., Mitchell, P.D. (2013) Human intestinal parasites from a latrine in the 12th century Frankish castle of Saranda Kolones in Cyprus. International Journal of Paleopathology 3: 218-23.

Anastasiou, E., Mitchell, P.D. (2013) Simplifying the process for extracting parasitic worm eggs from cesspool and latrine sediments: a trial comparing the efficacy of widely used techniques for disaggregation. International Journal of Paleopathology 3: 204-7.
 
Anastasiou, E., Mitchell, P.D. (2013) Evolutionary anthropology and genes: investigating the genetics of human evolution from excavated skeletal remains. Gene 528(1): 27-32.

Anastasiou, E., Mitchell, P.D. (2013) Paleopathology and genes: investigating the genetics of infectious diseases in excavated human skeletal remains and mummies from past populations. Gene 528(1): 33-40.

Mitchell, P.D. (2013) The origins of human parasites: exploring the evidence for endoparasitism throughout human evolution. International Journal of Paleopathology 3: 191-98.

Mitchell, P.D. (2013) Editorial: the importance of research into ancient parasites. International Journal of Paleopathology 3: 189-190.

Mitchell, P.D. (2013) Crusades: Middle East migration, medieval era. In: The Encyclopedia of Global Migration. Ed. I. Ness, Blackwell Publishing. doi:10.1002/9781444351071.wbeghm153.
Mitchell, P.D. (2013) Violence and the crusades: warfare, injuries and torture in the medieval Middle East. In: Knüsel, C., Smith, M. (eds) The Routledge Handbook of the Bioarchaeology of Human Conflict. New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis pp.251-62.

Mitchell, P.D., Millard, A.R. (2013) Approaches to the study of migration during the crusades. Crusades 12: 1-12.

Mitchell, P.D., Yeh, H.-Y., Appleby, J., Buckley, R. (2013) The intestinal parasites of King Richard III. The Lancet 382: 888.

2012

Mitchell, P.D. (2012) There’s more to dissection than Burke and Hare: unknowns in the teaching of anatomy and pathology from the enlightenment to the early twentieth century in England. In: Mitchell, P.D. (ed) Anatomical Dissection in Enlightenment Britain and Beyond: Autopsy, Pathology and Display. Ashgate: Aldershot p.1-10.
Mitchell, P.D., Buckberry, J. (2012) Introduction: biological anthropology. In: Proceedings of the 12th Conference of the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology, Ed. P.D. Mitchell, J. Buckberry. Oxford: Archaeopress p.1-2.

Mitchell, P.D., Chauhan, V. (2012) Understanding the content of the Westminster Hospital pathology museum during the 1800s. In: Mitchell, P.D. (ed) Anatomical Dissection in Enlightenment Britain and Beyond: Autopsy, Pathology and Display. Ashgate: Aldershot p.139-54.

Anastasiou, E., Mitchell, P.D., Jeffries, N. (2012) The paleoparasitology of 17th-18th century London. In: Proceedings of the 12th Conference of the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology, Ed. P.D. Mitchell, J. Buckberry. Oxford: Archaeopress p.53-61.

Blondiaux, J., Fontaine, C., Demondion, X., Flipo, R.-M., Colard, T., Mitchell, P.D., Buzon, M., Walker, P. (2012) Bilateral fractures of the scapula: possible archaeological examples of beatings from Europe, Africa and America. International Journal of Paleopathology 2(4): 223-30.

Lo, K., Mitchell, P.D. (2012) A doorway to an invaded mind: using pathology museum specimens to understand the effects of neurosyphilis in 1930s London. In: Mitchell, P.D. (ed) Anatomical Dissection in Enlightenment Britain and Beyond: Autopsy, Pathology and Display. Ashgate: Aldershot p.155-64.

Smith, M., Knüsel, C., Chamberlain, A., Mitchell, P.D. (2012) Skeleton of ‘the Irish giant’: we cannot change the past, but we can learn from it. BMJ 344: e556.

2011

Mitchell, P.D. (2011) Retrospective diagnosis, and the use of historical texts for investigating disease in the past. International Journal of Paleopathology 1: 81-88.

Mitchell, P.D. The spread of disease with the crusades. In: Between Text and Patient: The Medical Enterprise in Medieval and Early Modern Europe. Ed. B. Nance and E.F. Glaze. Florence: Sismel 2011, p.309-330.

Mitchell, P.D. Integrating historical sources with paleopathology. In: A. Grauer (ed) Companion to Paleopathology. New York: Wiley-Blackwell 2011, p.310-323.

Mitchell, P.D., Anastasiou, E., Syon, D. (2011) Human intestinal parasites in crusader Acre: evidence for migration with disease in the Medieval Period. International Journal of Paleopathology 1: 132-37.

Mitchell, P.D., Boston, C., Chamberlain, A., Chaplin, S., Chauhan, V., Evans, J., Fowler, L., Powers, N., Walker, D., Webb, H., Witkin, A. (2011) The study of anatomy in England from 1700 to the early 20th century. Journal of Anatomy 219(2): 91-99.

Mitchell, P.D., Redfern, R.C. (2011) Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip in Medieval London. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 144: 479-84.

Villotte, S., Knüsel, C., Mitchell, PD., Henry-Gambier, D. (2011) Probable carpometacarpal and tarsal coalition from Baousso da Torre Cave (Italy): implications for burial selection during the Gravettian. Journal of Human Evolution 61: 117-120.

Wagner, T.G., Mitchell, P.D. (2011) The illnesses of King Richard and King Philippe on the Third Crusade: an understanding of arnaldia and leonardie. Crusades 10: 23-44.

2010

Mitchell, P.D. Military Medicine. Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages. Ed. R.E. Bjork. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2010, vol.3, p.1142-3.

Mitchell, P.D. Disease. Medieval Warfare and Military Technology: an Encyclopedia. Ed. C. Rogers. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2010 vol.1, p.540-1.

Mitchell, P.D. Military Medicine: Medical treatment. Medieval Warfare and Military Technology: an Encyclopedia. Ed. C. Rogers. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2010 vol.2, p.585-89.

2009

Mitchell, P.D. (2009) A revised radiocarbon date for a case of treponemal disease from Safed, Israel, from the Fifteenth Century AD. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 139(2): 274.

Mitchell, P.D., Millard, A.R. (2009) Migration to the medieval Middle East with the Crusades. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 140: 518-25.

Malhan, N.K., Greenslade, T., Mitchell, P.D. (2009) George Guthrie’s clinical trial at the Napoleonic War Battle of Toulouse in 1814. Journal of Medical Biography 17: 139-43.

Clarke, B., Mitchell, P.D. Tuberculosis of the hip in Victorian Britain. In: Lewis, M. Clegg, M. (ed) Proceedings of the 9th Conference of the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology. Oxford: Archaeopress 2009 p.53-9.

2008

Mitchell, P.D. A comparison of health at a village and castle in the Kingdom of Jerusalem during the twelfth century. In: Upton-Ward, J. (ed) The Military Orders: volume 4. On Land and by Sea. Aldershot: Ashgate 2008 p.23-8.

Mitchell, P.D. Combining palaeopathological and historical evidence for health in the crusades. In: Smith M, and Brickley, M. (eds) Proceedings of the 8th Annual Conference of the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology. Oxford: Archaeopress 2008 p.9-16.

Mitchell, P.D. (2008) Comment on ‘Diet, tuberculosis and the paleopathological record’, by AK Wilbur, AW Farnbach, KJ Knudson, JE Buikstra. Current Anthropology 49(6): 979-80.

Mitchell, P.D., Huntley, J., Sterns, E. Bioarchaeological analysis of the 13th century latrines of the crusader hospital of St. John at Acre, Israel. In: Mallia-Milanes, V. (ed) The Military Orders: volume 3. Their History and Heritage. Aldershot: Ashgate 2008 p.213-23.

Mitchell, P.D., Redfern, R. (2008) Diagnostic criteria for developmental dislocation of the hip in excavated human skeletal remains. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 18(1): 61-71.

Mitchell, P.D., Stern, E., Tepper, Y. (2008) Dysentery in the crusader kingdom of Jerusalem: an ELISA analysis of two medieval latrines in the city of Acre (Israel). Journal of Archaeological Science 35(7): 1849-53.

Brent, L. Mitchell, P.D. Rickets in Victorian London: why treatment was ineffective for so long. In: Smith M, and Brickley, M. (eds) Proceedings of the 8th Annual Conference of the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology. Oxford: Archaeopress 2008 p.67-78.

Suliman, A., Mitchell, P.D. Tuberculosis of the shoulder in a Victorian girl: how the invention of radiographs overturned a diagnosis of hysteria. In: Smith M, and Brickley, M. (eds) Proceedings of the 8th Annual Conference of the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology. Oxford: Archaeopress 2008 p.93-99.

2007

Mitchell, P.D. Challenges in the study of health and disease in the crusaders. In: Faces from the Past: Diachronic Patterns in the Biology and Health Status of Human Populations of the Eastern Mediterranean. Ed. M. Faerman, L.K. Horwitz, T. Kahana, U. Zilberman. BAR international series 1603. Oxford: Archaeopress, 2007 p.205-12.

Mitchell, P.D., Millard, A.R. (2007) Migration in the crusades to the medieval Middle East. British Academy Review 10: 24-5.

Mitchell, P.D., Redfern, R. (2007) The prevalence of dislocation in developmental dysplasia of the hip in Britain over the past thousand years. Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics  28(7): 280-2.

Mitchell, P.D., Tepper, Y. (2007) Intestinal parasitic worm eggs from a crusader period cesspool in the city of Acre (Israel). Levant 39: 91-5.

Bailey, J., Mitchell, P.D. (2007) A case for Sherlock Holmes: forensic investigation of a gunshot wound to the head dating from Victorian London. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 17: 100-4.

Patel, R., Mitchell, P.D. The search for Rosa Pike: congenital syphilis in 1880s London. Proceedings of the Seventh Annual Conference of the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology. Ed. S.R. Zakrzewski and W. White. Oxford: Archaeopress 2007 p.49-53.

2006

Mitchell, P.D. (2006) Child health in the crusader period inhabitants of Tel Jezreel, Israel. Levant 38: 37-44.

Mitchell, P.D. (2006) Trauma in the crusader period city of Caesarea: a major port in the medieval eastern Mediterranean. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 16: 493-505.

Mitchell, P.D. The infirmaries of the Order of the Temple in the medieval kingdom of Jerusalem. In: The Medieval Hospital and Medical Practice: Bridging the Evidence. Ed. B. Bowers. Aldershot: Ashgate 2006 p.225-34.

Mitchell, P.D. The torture of military captives during the crusades to the medieval Middle East. In: Noble Ideals and Bloody Realities: Warfare in the Middle Ages, 378-1492. Ed. N. Christie and M. Yazigi. Leiden: E.J. Brill 2006 p.97-118.

Mitchell, P.D. Disease. The Crusades: an Encyclopedia. Ed. A.V. Murray. 4 vols. Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio, 2006, vol.2, p.358-60.

Mitchell, P.D. Warfare Injuries. The Crusades: an Encyclopedia. Ed. A.V. Murray. 4 vols. Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio, 2006, vol.4, p.1254-5.

Mitchell, P.D., Nagar, Y., Ellenblum, R. (2006) Weapon injuries in the 12th century crusader garrison of Vadum Iacob castle, Galilee. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 16 (2): 145-55.

Maslen, M., Mitchell, P.D. (2006) Medical theories on the cause of death in crucifixion. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 99: 185-8.

Prior to 2005

Mitchell, P.D. (2004) The palaeopathology of skulls recovered from a medieval cave cemetery at Safed, Israel (thirteenth to seventeenth century). Levant 36: 243-50.

Mitchell, P.D. Evidence for elective surgery in the Frankish states of the near east in the crusader period (12th-13th centuries). In: Gesundheit–Krankheit: Kulturtransfer Medizinischen Wissens von der Spätantike bis in die Frühe Neuzeit. Ed. K.P. Jankrift & F. Steger. Cologne: Böhlau-Verlag 2004, pp.121-38.

Mitchell, P.D. (2003) Pre-Columbian treponemal disease from 14th century AD Safed, Israel and the implications for the medieval eastern Mediterranean. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 121(2): 117-24.

Mitchell, P.D. The myth of the spread of leprosy with the crusades. In: The Past and Present of Leprosy: Archaeological, Historical, Paleopatghological and Clinical Approaches. C. Roberts, K. Manchester, M. Lewis (eds). Oxford: Archaeopress. 2002 pp.175-81.

Mitchell, P.D., Stern, E. Parasitic intestinal helminth ova from the latrines of the 13th century crusader hospital of St. John in Acre, Israel. In: Proceedings of the XIIIth European Meeting of the Paleopathology Association, Chieti Italy. Ed. M. La Verghetta, L. Capasso. Teramo: Edigrafital S.p.A. 2001 pp.207-13.

Mitchell, P.D. An evaluation of the leprosy of King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem in the context of the mediaeval world. Appendix in: B. Hamilton, The Leper King and his Heirs: Baldwin IV and the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2000 pp.245-58.

Mitchell, P.D. (2000) The evolution of social attitudes to the medical care of those with leprosy within the Crusader States. In: Lépreux et Sociabilité du Moyen Âge et Temps Modernes. Ed. B. Tabuteax. Cahiers du GRHIS series no.11, Rouen: University of Rouen, p.21-8.

Mitchell, P.D. (1999) The integration of the palaeopathology and medical history of the crusades. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology  9(5): 333-343.

Mitchell, P.D. Tuberculosis in the crusades. In: Tuberculosis: Past and Present  ed. G. Palfi, O. Dutour, J. Deak, I. Hutas. Golden Book-TB Foundation: Budapest-Szeged, Hungary  1999 p.43-9.

Mitchell, P.D. The archaeological approach to the study of disease in the Crusader States, as employed at Le Petit Gérin. In: The Military Orders. Volume 2. Welfare and Warfare   ed. H. Nicholson. Ashgate: Aldershot 1998 pp.43-50.

Mitchell, P.D. (1997) Further evidence of disease in the Crusader Period population of Le Petit Gérin  (Tel Jezreel, Israel)  Tel Aviv   24(1): 169-79.

Zias, J. and Mitchell, P.D.  (1996) Psoriatic arthritis in a fifth century Judean Desert monastery  American Journal of Physical Anthropology  101: 491-502.

Mitchell, P.D. (1994) Pathology in the Crusader Period: human skeletal remains from Tel Jezreel  Levant   26: 67-71.

Mitchell, P.D. (1993) Leprosy and the case of King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem: mycobacterial disease in the Crusader States of the 12th and 13th centuries. International Journal of Leprosy and Other Mycobacterial Diseases  61(2): 283-91.
 

 

Other publications: 

Book Reviews

Mitchell, P.D. (2021) ‘Review of: Foscati, A. Saint Anthony’s Fire from Antiquity to the Eighteenth Century. Amsterdam University Press, 2020.’ Speculum: a Journal of Medieval Studies (in press).

Ledger, M.L., Mitchell, P.D. (2020) ‘Review of: Koloski-Ostrow, A.O. The Archaeology of Sanitation in Roman Italy: Toilets, Sewers, and Water Systems. University of North Carolina Press 2015.’ Isis 111(1): 156-158.

Ledger, M.L., Mitchell, P.D. (2019) ‘Review of: Drancourt, M., Raoult, D. (eds) Paleomicrobiology of Humans. American Society for Microbiology Press, 2016.’ American Journal of Human Biology 31: e23202.

Mitchell, P.D. (2015) ‘Review of: Kirkham, A., Warr, C (eds) Wounds in the Middle Ages. Farnham: Ashgate 2014.’ Medical History 59(2): 332-333.

Mitchell, P.D. (2011) ‘Review of: Cowal, L., Grainger, I., Hawkins, D., Mikulski, R. The Black Death Cemetery, East Smithfield, London. London: Museum of London 2008.’ International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 21(1): e6.

Mitchell, P.D. (2010) ‘Review of: Magilton, J., Lee, F., Boyleston, A (eds) Lepers Outside the Gate: Excavations at the Cemetery of the Hospital of St. James. York: Council for British Archaeology 2008.’ International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 20: 369-70.

Mitchell, P.D. (2008) ‘Review of: Park, K. Secrets of Women: Gender, Generation, and the Origins of Human Dissection. New York: Zone Books, 2006.’ Speculum: a Journal of Medieval Studies 84: 735-6.

Mitchell, P.D. (2008) ‘Review of: Woolgar C.M., Serjeantson D., Waldron, T. (eds) Food in Medieval England: Diet and Nutrition. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2006.’ International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 18(2): 215-6.

Mitchell, P.D.  (2007) ‘Review of: McVaugh, M. The Rational Surgery of the Middle Ages. Florence: Sismel, 2006.’ Speculum: a Journal of Medieval Studies 82: 1018-9.

Mitchell, P.D. (2006) ‘Review of: Powell, M.L., Cook, D.C.(ed) The Myth of Syphilis: the Natural History of Treponematosis in North America. Gainesville: University Press of Florida 2005.’ International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 16 (1): 92-3.

Mitchell, P.D. (2005) ‘Review of: Roberts, C.A., Buikstra, J.E. The Bioarchaeology of Tuberculosis: a Global View on a Reemerging Disease. Gainesville: University of Florida 2003.’ Journal of the History of Medicine 60: 104-5.

Job Titles

Honorary Research Associate, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research

General Info

Available for consultancy
Research Expertise / Fields of study: 
Osteoarchaeology
Biomolecular Archaeology

Affiliations

Subjects: 
Biological Anthropology
Themes: 
Science, Technology and Innovation
Human Evolutionary Studies