A_plaque_on_both_your_houses__Exploring_the_history_of_urbanisation_and_infectious_diseases_through_the_study_of_archaeological_dental_tartar

Increasing urbanisation has created epidemic incubators, fuelling infectious diseases and often increasing susceptibility to them. Longitudinal perspectives on the socio-environmental conditions which shape the emergence and 're-emergence' of infectious diseases can help to mitigate and prevent epidemics in rapidly urbanising nations. Regrettably, human health experiences throughout much of (pre-)history of urbanisation remain clouded by a lack of reliable data on disease exposure and transmission. This project will develop an innovative new approach, which recovers evidence for infectious disease exposure directly from the mouths of skeletons. We have recently discovered that archaeological dental tartar (mineralized plaque) entraps and preserves DNA and proteins from multiple oral and systemic infectious disease pathogens. Uniquely, this can provide insight into past microbial landscapes and disease exposure rates information not previously available through historical or archaeological analyses. The objectives of this project are: 1) to develop new molecular pilot data on disease exposure in the historically well-documented context of Industrial England; 2) interrogate and corroborate these pilot data drawing upon multi-disciplinary expertise in York; and 3) to forge a multi-institutional network investigating historic disease environments and the dynamics of human-pathogen co-habitation throughout the history of urbanisation.