ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ

Anthropology Colloquium Series 2026-2027

Mummies, Parasites, and Historical Records: Reconstructing Health and Life in Premodern Korea: Paleopathology provides a unique window into past human life through the direct examination of biological remains. Over the past two decades, my research has focused particularly on two closely related areas: the multidisciplinary investigation of naturally preserved mummies from the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910) and the development of archaeoparasitology in Korea and East Asia. Dong Hoon Shin is a paleopathologist and anatomist from Seoul National University College of Medicine in South Korea, where he is a professor in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology and a senior researcher at the Institute of Forensic and Anthropological Science. His interdisciplinary research brings together medicine, anatomy, paleopathology, archaeology, and history to explore health, disease, and everyday life in past populations. His major research projects have focused on Joseon-period Korean mummies, paleoparasitology in East Asia, and bioarchaeological investigations at Rakhigarhi, an Indus Valley Civilization site in India. More recently, he has expanded his research to historical sources, including records of diet, genealogies and household registers, historical demography, and murder investigation records from the Joseon Dynasty. During his time at the University of Hawaiʻi, he hopes to further develop these interdisciplinary approaches, particularly by integrating biological and archaeological evidence with historical texts to better understand health, disease, and human life in past East Asian populations.

Event Sponsor
Anthropology, Mānoa Campus

More Information
Marti Kerton, 808-956-7153, anthprog@hawaii.edu, , Dong Hoon Shin talk (PDF)