PGR - Shannon Lewis
Areas of interest
- Palaeopathology
- Osteoarchaeology
- Non-Adult Osteoarchaeology
- Taphonomic Processes
- Differential Decomposition
Research projects
Evaluating the Impact of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Factors on the Differential Preservation of Adult and Non-Adult Inhumations in Medieval Britain
Commonly, archaeological studies assume that the young, the old, and the ill preserve more poorly than a typical, healthy adult. However, this doesn’t align with the reality of what we actually find in modern excavations of archaeological sites. Furthermore, the impact of old age and pathological lesions on preservation has yet to be explored in a forensic or archaeological context. This has led to a wealth of unanswered questions about the role of intrinsic and extrinsic factors in the preservation of human remains. By producing biological profiles of individuals excavated from a cemetery site and considering the degree of preservation alongside the biological, cultural, and environmental context of their burials, my research aims to evaluate how much of an impact biological differences really have on the preservation of skeletal remains.
Supervisors:
Professor Mary Lewis (University of Reading)
Professor Gabor Thomas (University of Reading)
Background
I received a First Class BSc (hons) in Archaeology alongside an award for receiving the highest grade in my cohort from the University of Lancashire in 2025. My dissertation focused on the biological, cultural, and environmental factors impacting the preservation of non-adults, a topic which I have expanded and developed for my PhD. Over the course of my undergraduate studies I worked on multiple research excavations, including a Neolithic Chambered Tomb on Orkney with Professor Vicki Cummings and an Early Medieval Cemetery in Kent with Professor Duncan Sayer.
I developed my interest in non-adult osteoarchaeology and palaeopathology further over the course of an MSc in Osteoarchaeology at the University of Aberdeen. My dissertation there used a recently developed quantitative microscope analysis of linear enamel hypoplasia to examine prevalence and patterns in physiological stress episodes experienced by non-adults from the Medieval cemetery of Saint Nicholas Kirk, Aberdeen.