Malin Holst
Lecturer in Osteoarchaeology

Profile

Biography

Malin Holst has worked in field archaeology since 1987 and in bioarchaeology since 1996.  She first studied Practical Archaeology at the Dorset Institue of Higher Education (HND, 1991). This was followed by a BA in Archaeology at the University of Leicester (1993). After two years of working in commercial archaeology, Malin completed an MSc in Osteology, Palaeopathology and Funerary Archaeology (1997) jointly at the Universities of Sheffield and Bradford.  

Malin is the director of York Osteoarchaeology Ltd (www.yorkosteoarch.co.uk), a company that carries out the excavation, analysis and reporting of human skeletons from archaeological projects. 

Malin has been teaching bioarchaeology at the Unversity of York since 2003.

Publications

Selected publications

Speed, G. and Holst, M. (eds) 2018. A1 Leeming to Barton. Death, Burial and Identity, 3000 Years of Death in the Vale of Mowbray, NAA Monograph Series Volume 4 (Barnard Castle)

Gowland, R.L., Caffell, A., Newman, S., Levene, A. and Holst, M. 2018. 'Broken childhoods: rural and urban non-adult health during the Industrial Revolution in Northen England (eighteenth-nineteenth centuries), Bioarchaeology International 2 (1): 44-62

Holst, M. & Alexander, M. (eds). 2018 Trends in Biological Anthropology, Volume 2 (Oxford)

Hendy, J., Warinner, C., Bouwman, A., Collins, M. J., Fiddyment, S., Fischer, R., Hagan, R., Hofman, C., Holst, M. R., Chaves, E., Klaus, L., Larson, G., Mackie, M., McGrath, K., Mundorff, A., Radini, A., Rao, H., Trachsel, C., Velsko, I. & Speller, C. F. 2018. ‘Proteomic evidence of dietary sources in ancient dental calculus’, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Holst, M. 2018. ‘Response to the paper by Redfern and Clegg by Malin Holst’, World Archaeology 49:5, 588-593, DOI: 10.1080/00438243.2017.1411825

Mackie, M., Hendy, J. R., Lowe, A. D., Sperduti, A., Holst, M., Collins, M. J. & Speller, C. F. 2017.
‘Preservation of the metaproteome: Variability of protein preservation in ancient dental calculus, STAR: Science Technology of Archaeological Research

Martiniano, R., Caffell, A., Holst, M., Hunter-Mann, K., Montgomery, J., Müldner, G., McLaughlin, R.L., Teasdale, M.D., van Rheenen, W., Veldink, J.H., van den Berg, L.H.,Hardiman, O., Carroll, M., Roskams, S., Oxley, J., Morgan, C., Thomas, M.G., Barnes, I., McDonnell, C., Collins, M.J. & Bradley, D.G. 2016. ‘Genomic signals of migration and continuity in Britain before the Anglo-Saxons’, Nature Communications

Buckberry, J., Montgomery, J., Towers, J., Müldner, G., Holst, M., Evans, J., Gledhill, A., Neale, N. and Lee-Thorp, J. 2014. ‘Finding Vikings in the Danelaw’, Oxford Journal of Archaeology 33(4): 413–434

Richardson, J. and Weston, P., with contributions by Alldritt, D., Carrott, J., Disbury, P., Foster, A.,  Holst, M., Makey, P., Manby, T. & Walker, A., 2014. ‘Earlier Prehistoric Activity and a later Iron Age and Roman Field System at Beacons Lagoons, Kilnsea, East Riding of Yorkshire’, Yorkshire Archaeological Journal 86: 3-32

Caffell, A. & Holst, M. 2013. ‘Human remains’, in L. Martin, J. Richardson & I. Roberts (eds), Iron Age and Roman Settlements at Wattle Syke (Leeds)

Bouwman, A.S., Kennedy, S.L., Müller, R., Stephens, R.H., Holst, M., Caffell, A.C., Roberts, C.A. & Brown, T.A. 2012. ‘The genotype of a historic strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 109: 18511-18516

Caffell, A. & Holst, M. 2011.  2011. ‘Osteological analysis’, in Fenton-Thomas, C., Where Sky and Yorkshire and Water Meet, On-Site Archaeology Monograph 2 (York): 323-332

Richardson, J. with contributions byAlldritt, D., Barclay, C., Brooks, I., Carrott, I., Chernery, C., Cool, H., Cowgill, J., Didsbury, P., Evans, J., Fern, C., Gaunt, G., Hartley, K. Heslop, D., Holst, M. Manby, T., Morris, E., Wild, F. & Williams, D. 2011. ‘Bronze Age Cremations, Iron Age and Roman Settlement and Early Medieval Inhumations at the Langeled Receiving Facilities, Easington, East Riding of Yorkshire’, The Yorkshire Archaeological Journal 83 (1): 59-100

Holst, M. 2009. ‘The human remains’ in Ian Roberts, ‘Late Iron Age and Romano-British Settlement at High Wold, Bempton Lane, Bridlington, East Yorkshire’, The Yorkshire Archaeological Journal 81:47-137

Holst, M. 2009. ‘The human remains’, in J. Hart and E.R. McSloy, ‘Prehistoric and early historic activity, settlement and burial at Walton Cardiff, near Tewkesbury: Excavations at Rudgeway Lane in 2004-2005, in N. Holbrook (eds), Iron Age and Romano-British Agriculture in North Gloucestershire Severn Vale, Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Report 6: 48-54

Luke, M. with major contributions by Allen, C., Bates, S., Duncan, H., Holst, M., Macphail, R., Maltby, M., Pelling, R., Robinson, M., Slowikowski, A. & Wells, J.  2008. Life in the Loop: Investigation of a Prehistoric and Romano-British Landscape at Biddenham Loop, Bedfordshire, East Anglian Archaeology 125

Mays, S. & Holst, M.  2006. ‘Palaeo-otology of cholesteatoma’, International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 16: 1-15

Holst, M. 2005. ‘Human Remains’, in I. Roberts (eds) Ferrybridge Henge.  The Ritual Landscape, Archaeological Services WYAS, Yorkshire Archaeology 10 (Leeds): 167-175

Holst, M. & Coughlan, J., 2000. ‘Dental Health and Disease’, in V. Fiorato, A Boylston and C. Knüsel (eds), Blood Red Roses: The Archaeology of a Medieval Mass Grave from the Battle of Towton 1461, Oxbow Books, Oxford, 77-89

Coughlan, J. & Holst, M. 2000.  ‘Health Status’, in V. Fiorato, A Boylston & C. Knüsel (eds), Blood Red Roses: The Archaeology of a Medieval Mass Grave from the Battle of Towton 1461, Oxbow Books, Oxford, 60-76

Boylston, A., Holst, M. & Coughlan, J.2000.  ‘Physical Anthropology’, in V. Fiorato, A Boylston & C. Knüsel (eds), Blood Red Roses: The Archaeology of a Medieval Mass Grave from the Battle of Towton 1461, Oxbow Books, Oxford, 45-59

Holst, M. 1999. ‘Schlacht um Englands Thron’, in Archäologie in Deutschland, 1/99, 58

Boylston, A., Holst, M., Coughlan, J., Novak, S., Sutherland, T. & Knüsel, C. 1997. ‘Recent Excavations of a Mass Grave from Towton’, in Yorkshire Medicine, 9 (3), 25-6

Full publications list

• Holst, M. 2018. ‘Response to the paper by Redfern and Clegg by Malin Holst’, World Archaeology 49:5, 588-593, DOI: 10.1080/00438243.2017.1411825
• Mackie, M., Hendy, J. R., Lowe, A. D., Sperduti, A., Holst, M., Collins, M. J. & Speller, C. F. 2017.
  ‘Preservation of the metaproteome: Variability of protein preservation in ancient dental calculus, STAR: Science Technology of Archaeological Research
• Alexander, M., Austick, J., Buglass, J., Caffell, A., Fackrell, M., Fackrell, K., French, M., Goodall, C., Gowland, R., Hart, M., Holst, M., Heyworth, B., Lister, A., Lister, M., Monaghan, C., Monaghan, M., Neal, S., Power, D., Robinson, C., Robinson, S., Speller, C., Waters, G.. 2017. The Fewston Assemblage: Churchyard Secrets Revealed. Washburn Heritage Centre
• Jones, A.M., Brunning, R., Keefe, K. and Holst, M., 2017. ‘Recent radiocarbon dating and skeletal analysis of two log coffin burials from Yorkshire: Willie Howe and Towthorpe 139’, Yorkshire Archaeological Journal 89 (1): 61-7
• Fotakis, A. & Holst, M. 2016. ‘Human bone’, in D. Williams, Excavations of the Onshore Cable Route for Westernmost Rough Offshore Windfarm East Riding Archaeologist 16: 91-94
• Keefe, K. & Holst, M. 2016. ‘Human remains’, in G. Glover, P. Flintoft, and R. Moore, A Mersshy Contree Called Holdernesse’: Excavations on the Route of a National Grid Pipeline in Holderness, East Yorkshire, Archaeopress (Oxford): 224-229
• Martiniano, R., Caffell, A., Holst, M., Hunter-Mann, K., Montgomery, J., Müldner, G., McLaughlin, R.L., Teasdale, M.D., van Rheenen, W., Veldink, J.H., van den Berg, L.H.,Hardiman, O., Carroll, M., Roskams, S., Oxley, J., Morgan, C., Thomas, M.G., Barnes, I., McDonnell, C., Collins, M.J. & Bradley, D.G. 2016. ‘Genomic signals of migration and continuity in Britain before the Anglo-Saxons’, Nature Communications
• Buckberry, J., Montgomery, J., Towers, J., Müldner, G., Holst, M., Evans, J., Gledhill, A., Neale, N. and Lee-Thorp, J. 2014. ‘Finding Vikings in the Danelaw’, Oxford Journal of Archaeology 33(4): 413–434
• Richardson, J. and Weston, P., with contributions by Alldritt, D., Carrott, J., Disbury, P., Foster, A.,  Holst, M., Makey, P., Manby, T. & Walker, A., 2014. ‘Earlier Prehistoric Activity and a later Iron Age and Roman Field System at Beacons Lagoons, Kilnsea, East Riding of Yorkshire’, Yorkshire Archaeological Journal 86: 3-32
• Caffell, A. & Holst, M. 2013. ‘Human remains’, in L. Martin, J. Richardson & I. Roberts (eds), Iron Age and Roman Settlements at Wattle Syke (Leeds)
• Bouwman, A.S., Kennedy, S.L., Müller, R., Stephens, R.H., Holst, M., Caffell, A.C., Roberts, C.A. & Brown, T.A. 2012. ‘The genotype of a historic strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 109: 18511-18516
• Caffell, A. & Holst, M. 2011.  2011. ‘Osteological analysis’, in Fenton-Thomas, C., Where Sky and Yorkshire and Water Meet, On-Site Archaeology Monograph 2 (York): 323-332
• Richardson, J. with contributions byAlldritt, D., Barclay, C., Brooks, I., Carrott, I., Chernery, C., Cool, H., Cowgill, J., Didsbury, P., Evans, J., Fern, C., Gaunt, G., Hartley, K. Heslop, D., Holst, M. Manby, T., Morris, E., Wild, F. & Williams, D. 2011. ‘Bronze Age Cremations, Iron Age and Roman Settlement and Early Medieval Inhumations at the Langeled Receiving Facilities, Easington, East Riding of Yorkshire’, The Yorkshire Archaeological Journal 83 (1): 59-100
• Holst, M. 2010. ‘A comparative study of ‘continuity’ cemeteries in Yorkshire’, CBA Yorkshire Forum: 15-16
• Holst, M. and Caffell, C. 2010. ‘York Osteoarchaeology Ltd’, in J. Appleby (eds), British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology Annual Review 2009 11: 22-24
• Holst, M. 2009. ‘The human remains’, in J. Hart and E.R. McSloy. ‘Prehistoric and early historic activity, settlement and burial at Walton Cardiff, near Tewkesbury: Excavations at Rudgeway Lane in 2004-2005, in N. Holbrook (eds), Iron Age and Romano-British Agriculture in North Gloucestershire Severn Vale, Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Report 6: 48-54
• Holst, M. And Caffell, C. 2009. ‘York Osteoarchaeology Ltd’, in J. Buckberry (eds), British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology Annual Review 2008 10: 34-35
• Holst, M. 2008. ‘Human bone: Osteological Assessment’ in M. Carver (ed) Wasperton Anglo-Saxon Cemetery, http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/archive/wasperton_eh_2008/overview.cfm?CFID=573996andCFTOKEN=39545028
• Luke, M. with major contributions by Allen, C., Bates, S., Duncan, H., Holst, M., Macphail, R., Maltby, M., Pelling, R., Robinson, M., Slowikowski, A. and Wells, J. 2008. Life in the Loop: Investigation of a Prehistoric and Romano-British Landscape at Biddenham Loop, Bedfordshire, East Anglian Archaeology 125
• Holst, M. and Caffell, C. 2008. ‘York Osteoarchaeology Ltd’, in J. Buckberry (eds), British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology Annual Review 2007 9: 34-43
• Holst, M. 2006. ‘Human Bone Report’, Roman Occupation at the Former Starting Gate Public House, Dringhouses, York, http://www.iadb.co.uk/i2/i2_pub.php?PP=39
• Caffell, A. and Holst, M. 2006. ‘The human bone’, in M. Watts (ed), Two Cemeteries from Bristol’s Northern Suburbs, Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Report 4: 68-80
• Mays, S. and Holst, M. 2006. ‘Palaeo-otology of cholesteatoma’, International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 16: 1-15
• Holst, M and Caffell, A. 2006. ‘York Osteoarchaeology Ltd’, in J. Buckberry (eds), British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology Annual Review 2005 7: 40-41
• Sutherland, T.L. and Holst, M. 2005. Battlefield Archaeology – Guide to the Archaeology of Conflict, http://www.bajr.org/DocumentsBAJRBattleGuide.pdf
• Holst, M. 2005. Fishergate House Artefacts and Environmental Evidence: The Human Bone, http://www.archaeologicalplanningconsultancy .co.uk/mono/001/rep_bone_hum1a.html
• Holst, M. 2005. ‘Human Remains’, in I. Roberts (eds) Ferrybridge Henge. The Ritual Landscape, Archaeological Services WYAS, Yorkshire Archaeology 10 (Leeds): 167-175
• Boylston, A., Novak, S., Sutherland, T., Holst, M., Coughlan, J. and Knüsel, C. 2004. ‘Archaeology and anthropology of medieval warfare: an investigation of burials from the Battle of Towton AD 1461’, Medieval History 10: 50-57
• Holst, M. 2004. ‘Human skeletal remains excavated or analysed by Field Archaeology Specialists Ltd in 2003’, in R. Gowland (eds), British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology Annual Review 2003 5: 27-28
• Dickinson, T. 2004. ‘An early Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Quarrington, near Sleaford, Lincolnshire: Report on excavations, 2000-2001’, Lincolnshire History and Archaeology 39: 24-45, with contributions by M. Holst
• Holst, M. 2003. Health in Medieval York: New Perspectives into Medieval Health through the Analysis of further Cemetery Populations, Poster Presentation at the Fifth Annual Conference of the British Association of Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology
• Holst, M. and Coughlan, J. 2000. ‘Dental Health and Disease’, in V. Fiorato, A Boylston and C. Knüsel (eds), Blood Red Roses: The Archaeology of a Medieval Mass Grave from the Battle of Towton 1461, Oxbow Books, Oxford, 77-89
• Coughlan, J. and Holst, M. 2000. ‘Health Status’, in V. Fiorato, A Boylston and C. Knüsel (eds), Blood Red Roses: The Archaeology of a Medieval Mass Grave from the Battle of Towton 1461, Oxbow Books, Oxford, 60-76
• Boylston, A., Holst, M. and Coughlan, J. 2000., ‘Physical Anthropology’, in V. Fiorato, A Boylston and C. Knüsel (eds), Blood Red Roses: The Archaeology of a Medieval Mass Grave from the Battle of Towton 1461, Oxbow Books, Oxford, 45-59
• Holst, M. 1999. ‘Schlacht um Englands Thron’, in Archäologie in Deutschland , 1/99, 58
• Boylston, A., Holst, M., Coughlan, J., Novak, S., Sutherland, T. and Knüsel, C. 1997. ‘Recent Excavations of a Mass Grave from Towton’, in Yorkshire Medicine, 9 (3), 25-6
• Boylston, A., Novak, S., Sutherland, T., Holst, M. and Coughlan, J. 1997. ‘Burials from the Battle of Towton’, Royal Armouries Yearbook 2: 26-36

Research

Overview

Overview

Malin's research focuses on bioarchaeology, especially palaeopathology, with particular emphasis on weapon-related trauma. Malin has examined numerous battle-victims, including those from the battles of Heronbridge 613 and Towton 1461. Her research interests also include burial ritual, particularly multi-period cemeteries, which often span millennia.  

Current Projects

• Multi-disciplinary analysis of a large disarticulated middle Neolithic human bone assemblage from the Midlands
• Late Anglo-Saxon demography and health
• Analysis of two medieval nunneries, one urban nunnery from Chester and a rural nunnery from North Yorkshire
• Comparative analysis of childhood stress indicators in rural and urban post-medieval skeletal populations from different social classes

Teaching

Undergraduate

Malin teaches the human bones skills modules for postgraduates, and the postgraduate core module The Archaeology of Human Bones.

She also provides careers' advice. Please contact Malin if you consider pursuing a career in commercial archaeology and would like advice on how to get a job in archaeology or help with your CV.

Postgraduate

Human Bioarchaeology

External activities

Memberships

Member of the British Association of Biological Anthropologists and Osteoarchaeologists

Member of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (MIfA)

Member of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists

Member of the Palaeopathology Association

Member of the Federation of Archaeological Managers

Member of the York Bones Forum