Mary Lewis is Professor of Bioarchaeology at the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

. After completing a PhD in

bioarchaeology The term bioarchaeology has been attributed to British archaeologist Grahame Clark who, in 1972, defined it as the study of animal and human bones from archaeological sites. Redefined in 1977 by Jane Buikstra, bioarchaeology in the United States no ...

at the

University of Bradford The University of Bradford is a Public university, public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. A plate glass university, it received its royal charter in 1966, making it the 40th university to be creat ...

in 1999, Lewis went on to lecture at

Bournemouth University Bournemouth University is a public university in Bournemouth, England, with its main campus situated in neighbouring Poole. The university was founded in 1992; however, the origins of its predecessor date back to the early 1900s. The univer ...

(2000–2004) before moving to the University of Reading in 2004. She conducted the first osteological study of a body which has been hanged, drawn, and quartered. Lewis has held editorial roles with the '' International Journal of Osteoarchaeology'', '' International Journal of Paleopathology'', and the ''

American Journal of Biological Anthropology The ''American Journal of Biological Anthropology''Info pages about the renaming are: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal/26927691/homepage/productinformation.html and https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/26927691 (previously known as ...

''.

Career

Mary Lewis completed a BA in Archaeology at the

University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_labe ...

in 1992 and attended the

where she studied for an MSc in

Osteology Osteology () is the scientific study of bones, practised by osteologists. A subdiscipline of anatomy, anthropology, and paleontology, osteology is the detailed study of the structure of bones, skeletal elements, teeth, microbone morphology, funct ...

Palaeopathology Paleopathology, also spelled palaeopathology, is the study of ancient diseases and injuries in organisms through the examination of fossils, mummified tissue, skeletal remains, and analysis of coprolites. Specific sources in the study of ancien ...

and

Funerary Archaeology Funerary archaeology (or burial archaeology) is a branch of archaeology that studies the treatment and commemoration of the dead. It includes the study of human remains, their burial contexts, and from single grave goods through to monumental lands ...

and a PhD in Bioarchaeology. Her thesis was titled ''The impact of urbanisation and industrialisation in medieval and post-medieval Britain: an assessment of the morbidity and mortality of non-adult skeletons from the cemeteries of two urban and two rural sites in England (AD 850–1859)'' supervised by

Charlotte Roberts Charlotte Ann Roberts, FBA (born 25 May 1957) is a British archaeologist, academic and former nurse. She is a bioarchaeologist and palaeopathologist, whose research focuses on health and the evolution of infectious disease in humans. From 20 ...

. While at Bradford, Lewis and Roberts examined human remains excavated from the church of St Helen-on-the-Walls in York. Looking at 2,000 skeletons, it was one of the first studies to use archaeological evidence to examine how the environment effects health. They found that people living in the industrial area of medieval York were more likely to suffer from sinus infections than people from rural areas exposed to less air pollution. Lewis joined the University of Reading in 2004. Lewis conducted the first osteological study of the skeleton of a man who had been hanging, drawing, and quartering. The man is believed to be Hugh Despenser the Younger. The results were published in the 2008 edition of ''

Antiquity Antiquity or Antiquities may refer to: Historical objects or periods Artifacts *Antiquities, objects or artifacts surviving from ancient cultures Eras Any period before the European Middle Ages (5th to 15th centuries) but still within the histo ...

'' and shortlisted for the Ben Cullen Prize. Along with Reading University colleagues

Gundula Müldner Gundula may refer to: * Gudula, seventh-century saint in Brabant * Gundula Janowitz (b.1937) Austrian lyric soprano singer * Gundula Krause (b.1966) German folk violinist * Gundula or Gundi Busch Gundula "Gundi" Busch (April 29, 1935 – Janu ...

and

Hella Eckardt Hella Eckardt is an archaeologist who specialises in Roman archaeology and material culture and a professor at the University of Reading. Since 2018 she has been the Editor of the journal ''Britannia (journal), Britannia''. Career Eckardt studi ...

, Lewis took part a research project to examine the archaeological evidence for immigration in

Roman Britain Roman Britain was the period in classical antiquity when large parts of the island of Great Britain were under occupation by the Roman Empire. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. During that time, the territory conquered was ...

and how these people interacted. The project, which began in 2007, was funded by the

Arts and Humanities Research Council The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), formerly Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB), is a British research council, established in 1998, supporting research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities. History The Arts an ...

(£337,000) and the results were used to inform displays at the

Yorkshire Museum The Yorkshire Museum is a museum in York, England. It was opened in 1830, and has five permanent collections, covering biology, geology, archaeology, numismatics and astronomy. History The museum was founded by the Yorkshire Philosophical Soci ...

and create educational resources for

Key Stage 2 Key Stage 2 is the legal term for the four years of schooling in maintained schools in England and Wales normally known as Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6, when the pupils are aged between 7 and 11 years. England and Wales Legal definition The t ...

pupils. The team produced the 'Romans Revealed' website aimed at school children to give more information on Roman Britain, broadening the history taught in schools which usually focuses on men from Italy. The AHRC provided additional funding (62,000) while the Runnymede Trust also supported the project to help the website addressed what children wanted to learn about. Between 2011 and 2014, Lewis was Principal Investigator working with

Janet Montgomery Janet Ruth Montgomery (born 29 October 1985) is an English film and TV actress. She first gained attention for her role as Ames in the second season of the television series ''Human Target'' (2010–11), and also for her appearance in the 2009 ...

and Fiona Shapland on the Leverhulme-funded project 'Adolescence, Migration and Health in Medieval England: the osteological evidence'. The project examined remains of over 2000 adolescent skeletons aged 10–25 from cemeteries in England, including St Mary Spital and Barton-on-Humber. In 2016, Lewis won the

Society for Medieval Archaeology The Society for Medieval Archaeology was founded in 1957. Its purpose was to publish a journal on medieval archaeology and organise conferences and events around the subject. It was the third archaeological society founded with a focus on a particul ...

Martyn Jope Award ''Medieval Archaeology'' is an annual peer-reviewed academic journal covering the archaeology of the medieval period, especially in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was established in 1957 by the Society for Medieval Archaeology and is publishe ...

for "the best novel interpretation, application of analytical method or presentation of new findings" published in that year's volume of ''

Medieval Archaeology ''Medieval Archaeology'' is an annual peer-reviewed academic journal covering the archaeology of the medieval period, especially in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was established in 1957 by the Society for Medieval Archaeology and is publishe ...

''. Mary has produced two single-authored books dedicated to child bioarchaeology.

Selected publications

* * * * * *

Sources

* '' International Journal of Osteoarchaeology'' editorial board https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal/10991212/homepage/editorialboard.html * ''

American Journal of Physical Anthropology The ''American Journal of Biological Anthropology''Info pages about the renaming are: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal/26927691/homepage/productinformation.html and https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/26927691 (previously known as ...

associate editor https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ajpa.23096 (but not by 2019?) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal/10968644/homepage/editorialboard.html * '' International Journal of Palaeopathology'' associate editor

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Mary Living people British archaeologists British women archaeologists Women classical scholars 20th-century archaeologists 21st-century archaeologists Alumni of the University of Bradford Alumni of the University of Leicester Academics of the University of Reading Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century British women writers