Bioarchaeological Studies of Life in the Age of Agriculture: A View from the Southeast

Investigations of skeletal remains from key archaeological sites reveal new data and offer insights on prehistoric life and health in the Southeast.

The shift from foraging to farming had important health consequences for prehistoric peoples, but variations in health existed within communities that had made this transition. This new collection draws on the rich bioarchaeological record of the Southeastern United States to explore variability in health and behavior within the age of agriculture. It offers new perspectives on human adaptation to various geographic and cultural landscapes across the entire Southeast, from Texas to Virginia, and presents new data from both classic and little-known sites.

The contributors question the reliance on simple cause-and-effect relationships in human health and behavior by addressing such key bioarchaeological issues as disease history and epidemiology, dietary composition and sufficiency, workload stress, patterns of violence, mortuary practices, and biological consequences of European contact. They also advance our understanding of agriculture by showing that uses of maize were more varied than has been previously supposed.

Representing some of the best work being done today by physical anthropologists, this volume provides new insights into human adaptation for both archaeologists and osteologists. It attests to the heterogeneous character of Southeastern societies during the late prehistoric and early historic periods while effectively detailing the many factors that have shaped biocultural evolution.

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Bioarchaeological Studies of Life in the Age of Agriculture: A View from the Southeast

Investigations of skeletal remains from key archaeological sites reveal new data and offer insights on prehistoric life and health in the Southeast.

The shift from foraging to farming had important health consequences for prehistoric peoples, but variations in health existed within communities that had made this transition. This new collection draws on the rich bioarchaeological record of the Southeastern United States to explore variability in health and behavior within the age of agriculture. It offers new perspectives on human adaptation to various geographic and cultural landscapes across the entire Southeast, from Texas to Virginia, and presents new data from both classic and little-known sites.

The contributors question the reliance on simple cause-and-effect relationships in human health and behavior by addressing such key bioarchaeological issues as disease history and epidemiology, dietary composition and sufficiency, workload stress, patterns of violence, mortuary practices, and biological consequences of European contact. They also advance our understanding of agriculture by showing that uses of maize were more varied than has been previously supposed.

Representing some of the best work being done today by physical anthropologists, this volume provides new insights into human adaptation for both archaeologists and osteologists. It attests to the heterogeneous character of Southeastern societies during the late prehistoric and early historic periods while effectively detailing the many factors that have shaped biocultural evolution.

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Bioarchaeological Studies of Life in the Age of Agriculture: A View from the Southeast

Bioarchaeological Studies of Life in the Age of Agriculture: A View from the Southeast

Bioarchaeological Studies of Life in the Age of Agriculture: A View from the Southeast

Bioarchaeological Studies of Life in the Age of Agriculture: A View from the Southeast

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Overview

Investigations of skeletal remains from key archaeological sites reveal new data and offer insights on prehistoric life and health in the Southeast.

The shift from foraging to farming had important health consequences for prehistoric peoples, but variations in health existed within communities that had made this transition. This new collection draws on the rich bioarchaeological record of the Southeastern United States to explore variability in health and behavior within the age of agriculture. It offers new perspectives on human adaptation to various geographic and cultural landscapes across the entire Southeast, from Texas to Virginia, and presents new data from both classic and little-known sites.

The contributors question the reliance on simple cause-and-effect relationships in human health and behavior by addressing such key bioarchaeological issues as disease history and epidemiology, dietary composition and sufficiency, workload stress, patterns of violence, mortuary practices, and biological consequences of European contact. They also advance our understanding of agriculture by showing that uses of maize were more varied than has been previously supposed.

Representing some of the best work being done today by physical anthropologists, this volume provides new insights into human adaptation for both archaeologists and osteologists. It attests to the heterogeneous character of Southeastern societies during the late prehistoric and early historic periods while effectively detailing the many factors that have shaped biocultural evolution.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780817383145
Publisher: University of Alabama Press
Publication date: 07/25/2015
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 296
File size: 8 MB

About the Author

Patricia M. Lambert is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Utah State University.

Table of Contents

Contents Acknowledgments 1. Introduction 2. Ancient Diseases, Modern Perspectives: Treponematosis and Tuberculosis in the Age of Agriculture 3. Warfare-Related Trauma in the Late Prehistory of Alabama 4. Transitions at Moundville: A Question of Collapse 5. Dental Health at Early Historic Fusihatchee Town: Biocultural Implications of Contact in Alabama 6. Agricultural Melodies and Alternative Harmonies in Florida and Georgia 7. Inferring Iron-De¤ciency Anemia from Human Skeletal Remains: The Case of the Georgia Bight 8. A Comparison of Degenerative Joint Disease between Upland and Coastal Prehistoric Agriculturalists from Georgia 9. Dental Health and Late Woodland Subsistence in Coastal North Carolina 10. Life on the Periphery: Health in Farming Communities of Interior North Carolina and Virginia 11. “Utmost Confusion” Reconsidered: Bioarchaeology and Secondary Burial in Late Prehistoric Interior Virginia References Contributors Index
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