All accepted conference abstracts will be published within the IJPP Supplement at the end of each year, unless the first author chooses to opt out of publication. Regardless of whether or not you choose to publish your abstract, it must be of publishable quality, in that it:
contains a
clear statement of purpose;
provides essential unpublished new information;
includes the results of the research presented;
addresses the relevance of the study to paleopathology.
A concise and factual abstract of no more than 250 words is required. Each abstract should address each of the following (as appropriate), with no more than two sentences for each (please do not include subheadings in your abstract):
Research objective(s)
Materials
Methods
Results
Conclusions
Significance
Limitations
Future research
Sample abstract:
The presence of skeletal tuberculosis within a region can highlight not only the disease burden in the area, but also risk factors such as population density and the presence of host animals. We examined 1435 extremely well preserved human remains of children and adults to estimate the prevalence of skeletal tuberculosis in Maya remains from the site of Xcepe, Guatemala. The skeletons were analyzed macroscopically and with the aid of low power magnification to identify pathognomonic and diagnostic features of skeletal tuberculosis. Thirteen out of the 1435 individuals (<1%) displayed evidence of skeletal tuberculosis, primarily in the form of lesions of the thoracic vertebral bodies. These results suggest that while skeletal evidence of TB is not common, the disease did exist in the ancient Maya world contrary to the results of other studies of Maya remains. This is the first project to explicitly address mycobacterial disease in ancient Maya human skeletal remains. It holds implications for histories of disease spread, the relationship between nutrition and disease, and cross-immunity between mycobacterial diseases. However, the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence and many of the skeletal elements most diagnostic of tuberculosis are poorly preserved in the sample. Further intensive review of Maya skeletal collections is advised, followed by the application of biomolecular approaches.
