معرفی
Rachel Schats is an Assistant Professor in Human Osteoarchaeology at the Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University. Her research focuses on osteoarchaeology, palaeopathology, and medieval urban health, with a particular emphasis on malaria's historical presence in the Netherlands and comparative studies of rural and urban skeletal populations.
- Current affiliation: Leiden University
- Academic rank: Assistant Professor
- Research themes: Bioarchaeology, spatial epidemiology, medieval disease patterns
Her work challenges traditional assumptions about urbanization's negative health impacts in medieval Europe, using isotope analysis and skeletal studies to compare disease prevalence, diet, and physical stress markers between towns and villages.
Scientific awards include:
- Veni grant from NWO (2025): Mapping Medieval Malaria
- Bakels Fund grant (2017)
Rachel advises PhD candidates and leads interdisciplinary collaborations like the Yale University malaria identification project. She also chairs the Leiden University Fund's International Study Fund and serves on the Stichting ter Financiering van Barge’s Anthropologica board.
