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Current ICAZ Working Groups Animal Palaeopathology Working Group— The relegation of pathological observations in the literature to little more than a brief description, which is typically lacking in integration with the rest of the evidence, is unfortunately a frequent occurrence in zooarchaeology. To compound this problem there has been a general lack of consistency, and an absence of guidelines, in the recording of pathological information in animal bone assemblages. Consequently, despite the recognition of pathology in animals a shortage of comparable data has restricted many analyses to little more than case studies. Additionally there are still many aspects of palaeopathology that are poorly understood. The Animal Palaeopathology Working Group (APWG) was set up in order to try and address these problems as well as providing a forum for multi-disciplinary discussions of the methodological and practical issues related to the study of animal palaeopathology.
Since the inception of the group in 1999, the APWG has organized three informal meetings, participated in the 13th European Meeting of the Palaeopathology Association (2000) and organized three conference sessions. As part of our ongoing commitment to disseminate knowledge concerning animal palaeopathology, the proceedings of each of the conferences have been published: Davies, J.J. et al. 2005. Diet and Health in Past Animal Populations: Current Research and Future Directions (Oxbow Books, Oxford); Miklikova, Z. and Thomas, R. 2008: Current Research in Animal Palaeopathology: Proceedings of the Second Animal Palaeopathology Working Group Conference (Archaeopress, Oxford); The proceedings of the 2007 conference at the Lithuanian Veterinary Academy, Kaunas, have been published in the journal Veterinarija ir Zootechnika, volumes 40-44. The next conference will be held between the 9th and 11th April 2010 at the Hecabe Centre in Pieria, Greece, on the foothills of Mt. Olympus. Further details of the conference can be found on the APWG website. We would especially like to encourage participants to discuss the nature and impact of infectious diseases in the past, as well as the application and development of new methodologies, although contributions tackling other topics will also be welcomed. For additional information, contact Richard Thomas (E-mail: rmt12@le.ac.uk) or Theo Antikas (E-mail: antikwyn@otenet.gr). In addition to regular meetings, the group has an e-mail list which allows members (which now number over 100) to receive a regular update of the latest news and developments in the field. We also encourage members to post questions on our discussion forum together with images on our image bank, both of which are accessible via our website. Other facilities available on the web site include a palaeopathology bibliography, details of past and future meetings, and links to a wide variety of resources. Following the 2002 ICAZ International Conference, it was agreed that the APWG should have a formal committee to help organize future meetings and continue to promote the group’s activities. The current members are as follows:
The APWG coordinator and official Liaison to ICAZ is Richard Thomas (School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, UK, E-mail: rmt12@le.ac.uk). If anyone would like to contact the group, please e-mail us at apwg@supanet.com. This information has been contributed by Richard M. Thomas, APWG Liaison to ICAZ.
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