Changes in health with the rise of industry

Abstract

Since the publication of the Christ Church Spitalfields crypt, London, in 1993, archaeologists and paleopathologists have increasingly recognized the importance of post-medieval burial assemblages. Increasingly paleopathologists have explored the impact industrialization and urbanization had on disease. This virtual special issue focuses upon a global examination of the transition to industry commencing in the mid-18th century. The objectives are to identify commonalities and disparities in general health during the development of industry within a global context, and to examine, and in some cases challenge, long-held assumptions about health during this period of dramatic social change. It gathers together papers from international scholars in order to examine patterns in health experience throughout the transition to industry. The individual papers address this transition in terms of the unique chronological, political, economic, and social parameters of their specific region. This introduction identifies long held assumptions about the impact the industrial revolution had on health and outlines the specific environmental and social conditions of industry that influenced human disease.

Keywords: Demography; Industrial revolution; Infectious disease; Metabolic disease; Paleopathology.