Childhood Bioarchaeology

The Archaeology of Disease, 4th ed. Published in Childhood in the Past: An International Journal (Ahead of Print, 2026)

Medical museums and fetuses and infants

Our new piece in The Conversation sheds light on how infant remains in medical museums were often acquired under troubling circumstances. Many came from marginalised families — frequently without consent — shaped by inequality, stigma, and eugenic thinking that devalued certain lives while privileging their “scientific value.” These histories force us to reflect on present-day responsibilities around care, display, and transparency in collections....

Medical museums and fetuses and infants Our new piece in The Conversation sheds light on how infant remains in medical museums were often acquired under troubling circumstances. Many came from marginalised families — frequently without c…

Medical museums often display infant remains – how they were acquired was frequently harrowing and involved eugenic thinking The inequality, stigma and eugenic thinking that led to their acquisition is often obscured or erased.

Tiny Bones, Microscopic Insights: A New Look at Neanderthal Babies

How similar were Neanderthals to us, especially at the very beginning of life? Surprisingly, we’ve known very little about how Neanderthal babies grew before birth. That’s mainly because their remains are so rare in the archaeological record. Now, new research is beginning to fill in that gap. This has taken a closer look literally at the microscopic level of the bones and teeth of three Neanderthal babies....

Tiny Bones, Microscopic Insights: A New Look at Neanderthal Babies How similar were Neanderthals to us, especially at the very beginning of life? Surprisingly, we’ve known very little about how Neanderthal babies grew before birth. That’s mainly because their rema…