Dr Elizabeth Craig-Atkins

BA (Hons), MSc, PhD

Department of Archaeology

Senior Lecturer in Human Osteology

Co-Course Director – MSc Human Osteology and Funerary Archaeology

Departmental Director of Impact and External Engagement

Dr Lizzy Craig-Atkins
Profile picture of Dr Lizzy Craig-Atkins
e.craig-atkins@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 2906

Full contact details

Dr Elizabeth Craig-Atkins
Department of Archaeology
Room D06
Minalloy House
10-16 Regent Street
Sheffield
S1 3NJ
Profile

I trained as an archaeologist at Durham University from 2002-5, moving on to specialise in human skeletal analysis at Masters level at the University of Bradford.

Following the completion of my doctorate “Burial Practices in Northern England c. A.D. 650-850: A Bio-Cultural Approach” at Sheffield in 2010, I taught Human Osteology in the Department of Archaeology during 2010-11.

I was Demonstrator in Anthropology at Bournemouth University from 2011-13, where I taught skeletal analysis and managed their human remains collections. I returned to Sheffield in March 2013 as Lecturer in Human Osteology.

Qualifications
  • PhD
  • MSc Human Osteology and Palaeopathology
  • BA (Hons) Archaeology
Research interests

I am a specialist in human osteology and palaeopathology with particular interests in multidisciplinary approaches to questions surrounding past population structures, health, disease and lifestyle.

I have worked with human remains from many periods and locations, but have primarily focussed on material from post-Roman to modern periods in the UK.

My current main areas of research include:

  • Multidisciplinary analysis of osteological and funerary data from early medieval to post-medieval contexts
  • The character and provision of funerary practices in early Christian and medieval England
  • Health status and social status in past populations
  • Disease, disability and disfigurement in the past (including social attitudes to sickness and medical/surgical interventions)
  • The archaeology of childhood
  • Archaeology of the body, especially practices for managing, manipulating and curating human remains

Current research projects / collaborations

The archaeology of childhood
  • Infant-specific funerary rites and childhood identity in early medieval England. This project has incorporated isotopic evidence for physiological and dietary status alongside analysis of skeletal, funerary and spatial data to explore the so-called ‘eaves-drip’ burial rite. Original data collection was funded by The University of Sheffield’s Early Career Researcher Scheme in collaboration with Dr Julia Beaumont, University of Bradford
  • Marking Maternity: Integrating historical and archaeological evidence for reproduction in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Part of the British Academy funded project ‘The Material Body’ with Prof Mary Fissell, Johns Hopkins University
  • Supervisor of AHRC collaborative doctoral award ‘An interdisciplinary exploration of the social impact of foetal and perinatal mortality during the industrialisation of England’ with Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) 2020-24.

Human remains and funerary practices of the medieval and early modern periods
  • The Material Body: An Interdisciplinary Study Using History and Archaeology, in collaboration with Prof Karen Harvey, University of Birmingham. Funded by the British Academy. Edited book with Manchester University Press forthcoming (2021).
  • Tents to Towns: The Viking Great Army and its Legacy. Analysis and interpretation of Viking and medieval period burials in the vicinity of the Viking Winter Camp at Torksey, Lincolnshire, in collaboration with Prof Dawn Hadley, Prof Julian Richards and Dr Gareth Perry, University of York
  • The Rothwell Charnel Chapel Project. A multidisciplinary exploration of a unique medieval charnel house in Rothwell, Northants. In collaboration with Dr Jenny Crangle, Wessex Archaeology, Prof. Dawn Hadley, University of York and Dr Paul Barnwell, Cambridge University

Archaeologies of the Norman Conquest
  • Examination of Anglo-Norman funerary rites and the integration of studies of human skeletal remains into a multidisciplinary archaeological narrative of the Conquest through the subjects of diet and foodways. I am part of a research network “Archaeologies of the Norman Conquest” funded by the AHRC and my research of material from Anglo-Norman Oxford has been funded by British Academy, Society for Medieval Archaeology and RAI.

Knowledge exchange and co-production in archaeology
  • I am PI of the Roots and Futures project which is a collaborative project to explore co-constructed community heritages in North Sheffield. External collaborators include Kelham Island Museum, ECUS and community organisations KINCA and Zest. Activities in Spring/Summer 2020 supported by the University of Sheffield Knowledge Exchange fund included the creation of an interactive web app.
Publications

Edited books

  • Craig-Atkins E & Harvey K (Ed.) (2024) The Material Body: Embodiment, History and Archaeology in Industrializing England, 1700-1850. Manchester: Manchester University Press. RIS download Bibtex download

Journal articles

Chapters

  • Craig-Atkins E, Crangle J, Barnwell PS, Hadley DM, Adams AT, Atkins I, McGinn J-R & James A (2021) Charnel practices in medieval England: new perspectives, The Materiality and Spatiality of Death, Burial and Commemoration (pp. 29-50). Routledge RIS download Bibtex download
  • Craig-Atkins E (2021) The human bones In Rahtz P & Watts L (Ed.), St Gregory's Minster, Kirkdale, North Yorkshire: Archaeological Investigations and Historical Context Archaeopress Publishing Ltd RIS download Bibtex download
  • Craig-Atkins E (2017) Seeking ‘Norman burials’, evidence for continuity and change in funerary practice following the Norman Conquest In Hadley DM & Dyer C (Ed.), The Archaeology of the 11th Century: Continuities and Transformations View this article in WRRO RIS download Bibtex download
  • Craig-Atkins E (2014) Eavesdropping on short lives: Eaves-drip burial and the differential treatment of children one year of age and under in early Christian cemeteries In Hadley DM & Hemer KA (Ed.), Medieval Childhood: Archaeological Approaches Oxbow Books View this article in WRRO RIS download Bibtex download
  • Copack G, Trimble D, Boyle A & Craig-Atkins E (2011) Spittlegate: the medieval hospital In Start D & Stocker D (Ed.), The making of medieval Grantham Heckington: Heritage Lincolnshire. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Craig-Atkins E & Buckberry J (2010) Investigating social status using evidence of biological status: a case study from Raunds Furnells In Buckberry J & Cherryson A (Ed.), Burial in Later Anglo-Saxon England, c.650-1100AD Oxford: Oxbow. View this article in WRRO RIS download Bibtex download

Book reviews

Conference proceedings papers

  • Mitchell D & Craig-Atkins E (2020) Flowers born to blush unseen: The biological and cultural context of fetal and perinatal mortality in 18th-19th century South Shields, England. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Vol. 171 (pp 190-190) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Craig-Atkins E (2018) Grave Concerns – A new project exploring the management and maintenance of cemetery space c. 1700-2000. Resurgam, 11 June 2018 - 13 June 2018. View this article in WRRO RIS download Bibtex download
  • Craig-Atkins E (2017) SEEKING 'NORMAN BURIALS' : EVIDENCE FOR CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN FUNERARY PRACTICE FOLLOWING THE NORMAN CONQUEST. ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE 11TH CENTURY: CONTINUITIES AND TRANSFORMATIONS, Vol. 38 (pp 139-158) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Shui W, Maddock SC, Heywood P, Craig-Atkins E, Crangle J, Hadley D & Scott R (2016) Using Semi-automatic 3D Scene Reconstruction to Create a Digital Medieval Charnel Chapel. Proceedings of EG UK Theory and Practice of Computer Graphics View this article in WRRO RIS download Bibtex download

Reports

Posters

  • Purchase SL, Craig-Atkins E, Nystrom P & Ray J (2020) Visualising mastoiditis with a potable X-ray system. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Purchase S, Craig-Atkins E, Nystrom P & Ray J (2019) Visualising Mastoiditis with a Portable X-Ray System: A Preliminary Analysis. 21st Annual Conference of the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology. RIS download Bibtex download

Theses / Dissertations

  • Purchase S (2023) Point and Shoot: A Radiographic Analysis of Mastoiditis in Archaeological Populations from England's North-East. RIS download Bibtex download

Datasets

Presentations

  • Purchase S, Craig-Atkins E & Ray J X-rays & Lifeways: A non-destructive method to study mastoiditis. RIS download Bibtex download

Other

  • Buckberry JL, Storm RA & Craig EF (2008) Social status and health status in late Anglo-Saxon England.. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, 74-74. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Craig EF & Buckberry JL (2007) Social stratification in a Christian cemetery? An assessment of stress indicators and social status at AngloSaxon Raunds.. AM J PHYS ANTHROPOL, 92-92. RIS download Bibtex download
Research group

Current Research Students

  • Aimee Barlow- "Coming of age: a biocultural investigation of reproductive practices in Industrial Britain"
  • Richard Clark- "A survey of Homo neanderthalensis immature morphology and ontogeny"
  • Emma Hook- "The hospital of St James: Imvestigating social function through cemetery demographics"
  • Elizabeth Knox- "A multidisciplinary investigation into the social impact of foetal and mother mortality during the industrialisation of England"
  • Ian McAfee- "Joint disease in post-Medieval England: Comparative analysis of modern risk factors and historic lifestyles"
  • Ofelia Meza Escobar- " Paleopathological changes of the Ceramic Period populations in the semi-arid North of Chile between 300 BCE and 1500 CE"
  • Martina Monaco- "A critical examination of social stratification in prehistoric Cyprus using skeletal and funerary data"
  • Sarah Poniros- "Roman migration patterns based on skeletal, archaeological, and written evidence"
  • Samantha Purchase-Manchester- "A Radiographic Analysis of Middle Ear Infection in Human Skeletal Remains"
  • Charlotte Waller-Cotterhill- "One Foot in the Grave: An Experimental Examination of the Effectiveness and Development of the Anglesey Leg and an Analysis of Prosthesis during the Long Nineteenth Century"
  • Tegid Watkin- "3D geometric morphometric analysis of metacarpal and phalangeal torsion in humans, primates and fossil hominins, and its application in stone tool use"
  • Ben Wigley- "A bioarchaeological examination of the impact of early life stress on later health outcomes using procrustean assessment of dental fluctuating asymmetry"

Former PhD Students

  • Jenny Crangle (2015)- "A study of post-depositional funerary practices in medieval England"
  • Emma Green (2018)- "What are we missing? An Archaeothanatological Approach to Late Anglo-Saxon Burials"
Teaching activities

Undergraduate

  • Science in Archaeology

Postgraduate

Professional activities and memberships
  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
  • Elected Treasurer, British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology (BABAO)
Conferences
  • Craig-Atkins, E., Madgwick, R., and Jervis, B. 2018. Rethinking the Impact of the Norman Conquest using Archaeological evidence of Diet and Food Culture. Haskins Conference 2018, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. October.
  • Craig-Atkins, E., Crangle, J., Barnwell, P., and Hadley, D. 2018. 'The sculls that lie heap'd up ': Post-mortem interactions with human remains in the charnel house at Rothwell, Northamptonshire . European Archaeological Association, Barcelona, September.
  • Fissell, M. and Craig-Atkins, E. 2018. Marking Maternity. Keynote delivered at the Material Bodies in Archaeology and History conference, organised by E Craig-Atkins and K Harvey, Birmingham, June.
  • Craig-Atkins, E. 2018. Grave Concerns: A new project exploring the management and maintenance of cemetery space c. 1700-2000. Cremation and Burial Communication and Education conference, Newcastle, June.
  • Craig-Atkins, E., Crangle, J. and Hadley, D. 2017. The chronological and liturgical context of charnel practice in medieval England: manipulations of the skeletonized body at Rothwell Charnel Chapel, Northamptonshire. Society for American Archaeology, Vancouver, April.
  • Hadley, D., Crangle, J. and Craig-Atkins, E. 2017. The Afterlife of the Charnel Chapel at Rothwell (Northants.). Society for American Archaeology, Vancouver, April.
  • Craig-Atkins, E., Beaumont, J. and Towers, J. The influence of weaning status on childhood identities: preliminary findings from an incremental isotope study of early medieval infants. Little Lives conference, Durham, Jan 2016.
  • Beaumont, J., Buckberry, J., Montgomery, J., Haydock, H. and Craig-Atkins-E. 2015. Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings… A comparison of aging age using bone collagen and incremental dentine collagen from Raunds Furnells. British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteology conference, Sheffield, Sep 2015; and the American Association for Physical Anthropology Conference, Atlanta, USA, April 2016.
  • Craig-Atkins, E. New insights into the control and management of Christian burial in England: A Case Study of ‘Eaves-Drip’ Burial. EAA conference, Glasgow, September 2015.