Dr. Carlina de la Cova has co-authored an article published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology (AJPA). The article has been chosen as the Editor's Choice for April 2021 and is titled "Intersectionality and trauma analysis in bioarchaeology".

The article looks at how a person's bone health and health outcome when they died relates to how the person was treated unequally in society. Social status was measured by historical records and newspaper articles about a person's life, the reason they were hospitalized, their health care choices, and their burial choices. For example, a poor woman in 19th-century London may have had poor bone health due to her diet, had been hospitalized for bone fractures, died in a charity hospital giving free care to the poor, and been buried on hospital grounds because no one claimed her body. Her low social status may have increased the chances of her having such experiences. 

By finding social inequities when learning about people's lives through their skeletons, bioarchaeology supports social justice. Many people have had a social status that prevented them from having a respected political voice during their life. Learning about their struggles through their bones and records helps us to hear their voices in the present day.

Read the full article for more details.