This multidisciplinary book addresses three lines of evidence (medieval, contemporary, and epigenetic) regarding the effect of human socio-economic status on bone health. It provides an overview of the extent to which human social background affects adult bone quality and quantity, and makes recommendations for future skeletal biology research into lifestyle-related musculoskeletal disorders. Get it here

RELEVANT OUTPUTS from our group members

PUBLICATIONS

Miszkiewicz JJ, Cooke KM, Reid HE, Louys J. 2026. Interdisciplinarity of secondary osteons: relevance of bioarchaeological and palaeontological research in biomedical cortical bone histology studies. Bone Reports 28: 101893 LINK (OA)
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​Koh NYY, Miszkiewicz JJ, Fac ML, Wee NKY, NA Sims. 2024 Preclinical rodent models for human bone disease including a focus on cortical bone. Endocrine Reviews 45(4):493–520 LINK (OA)

Pedersen LT, Miszkiewicz J, Cheah LC, Willis A, Domett KM. 2024. Age‐dependent change and intraskeletal variability in secondary osteons of elderly Australians. Journal of Anatomy 244(6): 1078-1092 LINK (OA)

Miszkiewicz JJ, Buckley HR, Feldman M, Kiko L, Carlhoff S, Naegele K, Bertolini E, Dias Guimaraes NR, Walker MM, Powell A, Posth C, Kinaston RL. 2022. Female bone resilience in a past Polynesian outlier community. Scientific Reports 12: 18857 (OA) LINK

Cooke KM, Mahoney P, Miszkiewicz JJ. 2022. Secondary osteon variants and remodelling in human bone. The Anatomical Record 305(6): 1299–1315  LINK 

Drew ER, Mahoney P, Miszkiewicz JJ. 2021. Osteocyte lacuno-canalicular microstructure across the midshaft femur in adult males from Medieval England. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 31(2): 176–187​ LINK

Miszkiewicz JJ, Valentin F, Vrahnas C, Sims NA, Vongsvivut P, Tobin MJ, Clark G. 2021. Bone loss markers in the earliest Pacific islanders. Scientific Reports 11: 3981 LINK (OA)

Miszkiewicz JJ, Cooke KM. 2019. Socio-economic determinants of bone health from past to present. Clinical Reviews in Bone and Mineral Metabolism  17: 109–22 LINK 

Miszkiewicz JJ, Mahoney P. 2019. Histomorphometry and cortical robusticity of the adult human femur. Journal of Bone and Mineral Metabolism 37(1): 90–104  LINK

Walker M, Street E, Pitfield R, Miszkiewicz JJ, Brennan-Olsen S, Mahoney P. 2019. Ancient human bone microstructure case studies from medieval England. In: Miszkiewicz JJ, Brennan-Olsen S, Riancho JA. Bone Health: A reflection of the Social Mosaic. Springer Medicine: Singapore. pp. 35–52  LINK 

Miszkiewicz JJ, Stewart TJ, Deter CA, Fahy G, Mahoney P. 2019. Skeletal health in medieval societies: Insights from bone collagen stable isotopes and dental histology. In: Miszkiewicz JJ, Brennan-Olsen S, Riancho JA. Bone Health: A reflection of the Social Mosaic. Springer Medicine: Singapore. pp. 15–32 LINK 
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Brennan-Olsen SL, Riancho JA, Miszkiewicz JJ. 2019. The social context of bone health: conclusions and future directions. Miszkiewicz JJ, Brennan-Olsen S, Riancho JA. Bone Health: A reflection of the Social Mosaic. Springer Medicine: Singapore. pp. 177–181 LINK

Miszkiewicz JJ. 2019. The effect of English Medieval socio-economic status inequality on bone health – what can we learn for the living? In: Miszkiewicz JJ, Brennan-Olsen S, Riancho JA. Bone Health: A reflection of the Social Mosaic. Springer Medicine: Singapore. pp. 3–15 LINK 

Miszkiewicz JJ, Mahoney P. 2016. Ancient human bone microstructure in medieval England: Comparisons between two socio-economic groups. The Anatomical Record 299: 42–59. LINK

Miszkiewicz JJ. 2016. Investigating histomorphometric relationships at human femoral midshaft in a biomechanical context. Journal of Bone and Mineral Metabolism 34: 179–92 LINK

Miszkiewicz JJ. 2015. Linear enamel hypoplasia and age-at-death at Medieval (11th-16th centuries) St. Gregory's Priory and Cemetery, Canterbury, UK. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 25: 79–87. LINK​

RECENT CONFERENCES

Pearce I, Miszkiewicz J, Aland RC. submitted. Age and Socioeconomic Status Effects on Medieval Female Cortical Bone Remodelling. 64th Australian Society for Medical Research Conference, Brisbane, Australia

Miszkiewicz JJ, Hardiman R. Sept 2025. Anatomical and histological allometry of the human femur. National Conference of the Polish Anthropological Society, Poznan, Poland

Reid H, Miszkiewicz JJ. June 2025. A preliminary histological guide for distinguishing human and non-human bone in Australian contexts. 10th World Archaeological Congress, Darwin, Australia. 

Miszkiewicz JJ, Hardiman R. Dec 2024. Scaling of bone histology in anatomical and lifestyle contexts. Australasian Society for Human Biology Conference (online)

Stewart TJ, Schotsmans EMJ, McFarlane G, Mahoney P, Miszkiewicz JJ. Jun 2024. Secondary osteons and Haversian canal size differences between the femur and rib: Implications for bone-specific metabolic constraints. The Canberra Health Annual Research Meeting, Canberra, Australia.

Cooke KM, Buckley H, Kinaston R, Kiko L, Oxenham M, Miszkiewicz JJ. May 2024. Palaeohistopathology of Treponematosis: the value of histomorphometric analyses in infectious disease investigations. 44th International Symposium on Archaeometry, Melbourne, Australia

Cooke KM, Buckley HR, Kinaston RL, Kiko L, Oxenham M, Miszkiewicz JJ. Dec 2023. Are osseous changes of treponematsosis systemic or localised? A case study of treponematosis palaeohistopathology. 37th Annual Conference of the Australasian Society for Human Biology, Brisbane, Australia.

Pedersen L, Domett K, Willis A, Miszkiewicz J, Anscomb H, Cheah LC, Cook R. Dec 2022. Introducing James Cook University’s modern Australian thin
section bone sample for histological research. 36th Annual Conference of the Australasian Society for Human Biology​, Sydney, Australia

Miszkiewicz JJ, Stewart TJ, Naseri R, Soltysiak A. Dec 2022. Bone histology and behaviour in human remains from multiple burials, Late Bronze Age Deh Dumen, Iran 6th International Symposium on Paleohistology ​(online)