Shirley Curtis-Summers

Shirley Curtis-Summers is an Assistant Professor in the School of Archaeological and Forensic Sciences at the University of Bradford. She specializes in human osteology, palaeopathology, and stable isotope analysis with research spanning Late Iron Age to Late Medieval periods. Her work focuses on reconstructing diet, health, disease, and trauma in historical populations across Britain and Europe.

Key research areas include:

• Pictish and medieval lifeways in Scotland
• Childhood health and frailty in historical populations
• Social responses to infectious disease in medieval Britain
• Mortuary archaeology and burial interpretations
• Stable isotope analysis for dietary reconstruction

She leads research on medieval monastic communities at Portmahomack and Norton Priory, examining dietary transitions during Christianization and patterns of interpersonal violence. Current projects include supervising doctoral research on assessing frailty in medieval children and adolescents from England and the Isle of Man.