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Dr Jenna Dittmar is a Biological Anthropologist who specializes in paleopathology (the study of ancient diseases). She earned a BSc from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2008), a MSc in Human Osteology and Palaeopathology from the University of Bradford (2011) and a PhD in Biological Anthropology from the University of Cambridge (2016).

Her MSc and PhD research examined the history of anatomical training in Britain by analyzing the human skeletal remains of individuals that were dissected during the 17th-19th centuries in the United Kingdom.

From 2016-2020 she worked a Research Associate on the Wellcome Trust funded project entitled, ‘After the Plague: Heath and History in Medieval Cambridge’ at the University of Cambridge. This multidisciplinary project examined the historical and biological effects of the catastrophic plague epidemic, known as the Black Death. Archaeological, historical, isotopic and genetic (aDNA) data were combined to examine the previously unstudied consequences of this major pandemic by revealing how the plague affected human health and the genetic constitution of Europe.

From 2021-2023, Jenna was a Research Fellow in Osteoarchaeology at the University of Aberdeen. Working with Professor Marc Oxenham, she used demographic modeling to explore how northern communities in Scotland and Ireland biologically adapted to significant changes in climate, environment, technology, and economy from the Neolithic to the medieval period.
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PhD, University of Cambridge
MSc, University of Bradford
BSc, University of Wisconsin-Madison

As a specialist in human osteology and paleopathology, Jenna utilises a multidisciplinary approach to explore questions about the evolutionary history and movement of diseases, and how health was impacted by environmental and social conditions.

Her current work is focused on exploring how the health and well-being of medieval and early modern populations from Scotland and Ireland were impacted by changes in climate, environment, and the political landscape.

She is also a Co-PI of a project entitled, ‘Health, Disease and Diet in the Chinese Bronze Age (2,300-1,700 BCE),’ which examines health and disease in Bronze Age China. In collaboration with the Gansu Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, this project seeks to understand the impact of social, technological, and environmental factors on human demography, health, and lifeways during the Bronze Age.

Her other research interests include:

• The history of medicine
• Hallux valgus
• Microvasculature of the spinal and paraspinal regions
• Latex injection techniques
• Identifying and differentiating skeletal injuries caused by medieval weapons