Mary Lewis

Mary Lewis is Professor of Bioarchaeology at the University of Reading. After completing a PhD in bioarchaeology at the University of Bradford in 1999, Lewis went on to lecture at Bournemouth University (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.

Career Mary Lewis completed a BA in archaeology at the University of Leicester in 1992 and attended the University of Bradford where she studied for an MSc in Osteology, Palaeopathology and Funerary Archaeology 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. 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 develop 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 and shortlisted for the Ben Cullen prize.

Along with Reading University colleagues Gundula Müldner and Hella Eckardt, Lewis took part a research project to examine the archaeological evidence for immigration in Roman Britain and how these people interacted. The project, which began in 2007, was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (£337,000) 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. In 2016, Lewis won the Society for Medieval Archaeology's Martyn Jope Award for "the best novel interpretation, application of analytical method or presentation of new findings" published in that year's volume of Medieval Archaeology. Mary has produced two single-authored books dedicated to child bioarchaeology.

Selected publications