About this title: Twenty years ago Mark Nathan Cohen coedited a collection of essays that set a new standard in using paleopathology to identify trends in health associated with changes in prehistoric technology, economy, demography, and political centralization. "Ancient Health "expands and celebrates that work. Confirming earlier conclusions that human health declined after the adoption of farming and the rise of civilization, this book greatly enlarges the geographical range of paleopathological studies by including new work from both established and up-and-coming scholars. Moving beyond the western hemisphere and western Eurasia, this collection involves studies from Chile, Peru, Mexico, the United States, Denmark, Britain, Portugal, South Africa, Israel, India, Vietnam, Thailand, China, and Mongolia. Adding great significance to this volume, the author discusses and successfully rebuts the arguments of the "osteological paradox" that long have challenged work in the area of quantitative paleopathology, demonstrating that the "paradox" has far less meaning than its proponents argue.

About this title: All humans share certain components of tooth structure, but show variation in size and morphology around this shared pattern which is studied by dental anthropologists. This book presents the first worldwide synthesis of the global variation in tooth structure in recent populations. It: • describes the methods and assumptions used by dental anthropologists • discusses the genetic basis of nonmetric dental traits • portrays the geographic variation of tooth crown and root traits • analyzes dental variation on a global scale paralleling major genetic and craniometric analyses The book illustrates more than 30 tooth crown and root traits and reviews their biological and genetic underpinnings. This analysis links extinct and extant populations and so serves as a useful tool for elucidating population relationships and histories.

About this title: For the same reasons that explorers of the early twentieth century strove to reach the poles, and their modern counterparts journey to outer space, most people want to visualize the contours of the human experience - the peaks of adaptive success that led to the expansion of civilization, and the troughs in which human presence ebbed. The Backbone of History defines the emerging field of macrobioarchaeology by gathering skeletal evidence on seven basic indicators of health to assess chronic conditions that affected individuals who lived in the Western Hemisphere from 5000 BC to the late nineteenth century. Signs of biological stress in childhood and of degeneration in joints and in teeth increased in the several millennia before the arrival of Columbus as populations moved into less healthy ecological environments. Thus, pre-Colombian Native Americans were among the healthiest and the least healthy groups to live in the Western Hemisphere before the twentieth century.

About this title: The core subject matter of bioarchaeology is the lives of past peoples, interpreted anthropologically. Human remains, contextualized archaeologically and historically, form the unit of study. Integrative and frequently inter-disciplinary, bioarchaeology draws methods and theoretical perspectives from across the sciences and the humanities.
Bioarchaeology: The Contextual Study of Human Remains focuses upon North American bioarchaeology, as defined above, which contrasts with European approaches more firmly linked to the study of all organic archaeological residues. Although Buikstra coined this use of Bioarchaeology in the 1970s, the unique approaches of this field of inquiry have much deeper roots, primarly reflected in the history of American Anthropology. This book uses an historical approach to explore this history, to define the current status of the field, and to project the future of bioarchaeology. It is divided into three sections: 1) People and Places - Early Landmarks in Bioarchaeology; 2) Emerging Specialities; and 3) On to the 21st Century.

About this title: Human remains recovered from archaeological sites can help us interpret lifetime events such as disease, physiological stress, injury and violent death, physical activity, tooth use, diet, and demographic history of once-living populations. This is the first comprehensive synthesis of the emerging field of bioarchaeology. A central theme is the interaction between biology and behavior, underscoring the dynamic nature of skeletal and dental tissues, and the influences of environment and culture on human biological variation. It emphasizes research results and their interpretation, covering palaeopathology, physiological stress, skeletal and dental growth and structure, and the processes of aging and biodistance. It will be a unique resource for students and researchers interested in biological and physical anthropology or archaeology.

About this title: Biological anthropologists face an array of ethical issues as they engage in fieldwork around the world. In this volume human biologists, geneticists, paleontologists, and primatologists confront their involvement with, and obligations to their research subjects, their discipline, society, and the environment. Those working with human populations explore such issues as who speaks for a group, community consultation and group consent, the relationship between expatriate communities and the community of origin, and disclosing the identity of both individuals and communities. Those working with skeletal remains discuss issues that include access to and ownership of fossil material. Primatologists are concerned about the well-being of their subjects in laboratory and captive situations, and must address yet another set of issues regarding endangered animal populations and conservation in field situations. The first comprehensive account of the ethical issues facial biological anthropologists today, "Biological Anthropology and Ethics opens the door for discussions of ethical issues in professional life.

About this title: Biological Anthropology of the Human Skeleton covers a scope of major topics in human skeletal biology and will be an indispensable research guide to biological anthropologists, osteologists, paleoanthropologists, and archaeologists. But the new, second edition also addresses the need to teach this complex material to a steadily growing population of senior graduates and graduate students. Thus while bolstering the original goal of conveying the excitement of the research to students, the new edition also provides enhanced case examples and discussions for future directions that will make it even more useful in teaching and classroom situations.

About this title: This new and refreshing introduction to the human species places modern humans squarely in evolutionary perspective. Over 70 scholars cover a wide range of subjects from genetics to brain function and behavior, placing an emphasis throughout on the biological diversity of modern people and the increasing convergence of the fossil and genetic evidence to human evolution that has emerged in recent years. Photos and illustrations throughout.

About this title: Comprehensive, practical reference for all interested in identification of disease in ancient human remains.

About this title: Practical text to the study of humans and close relatives from the evidence of their teeth.

About this title: Forensic anthropology is a vastly popular and rapidly changing profession, yet to date there has been no volume that reflects the current state of the discipline and forecasts its future. The first comprehensive text in the field, Forensic Anthropology: Contemporary Theory and Practice examines the medical, legal, ethical, and humanitarian issues associated with forensic anthropology, current forensic methods, and bio-historical investigations.
 

About this title: "Environment, Origins, and Population" covers the natural environment of the continent to which Indian cultures adapted in prehistoric and historic times, natural resources utilized by these cultures, current knowledge of the earliest Indian occupation (before 9,000 B.C.), and the human biology of Indian and Eskimo populations, prehistoric, historic, and modern. There are 73 chapters written by 96 scholars from leading academic institutions and research firms. The volume is heavily referenced with a bibliography of 9,600 entries and a detailed index.

About this title: Building on the success of their previous book, White and Folkens' The Human Bone Manual is intended for use outisde the laboratory and classroom, by professional forensic scientists, anthropologists and researchers. The compact volume includes all the key information needed for identification purposes, including hundreds of photographs designed to show a maximum amount of anatomical information.

About this title: Human Osteology, Second Edition is designed for students and professionals who wish to advance their osteological skills in terms of accurately identifying human skeletal remains, however isolated and fragmentary. The book is lavishly illustrated with hundreds of exceptional photographs and drawings, specifically designed to show a maximum amount of anatomical information. With the addition of four new case studies, a valuable guide to electronic resources, and a chapter on molecular osteology, Human Osteology, Second Edition will continue to be an essential text for courses on the human skeleton, as well as a basic reference and field manual for professional osteologists and anatomists, forensic scientists, paleontologists, and archaeologists.

About this title: Identification of Pathological Conditions in Human Skeletal Remains provides an integrated and comprehensive treatment of pathological conditions that affect the human skeleton. There is much that ancient skeletal remains can reveal to the modern orthopaedist, pathologist, forensic anthropologist, and radiologist about the skeletal manifestations of diseases that are rarely encountered in modern medical practice. Beautifully illustrated with over 1,100 photographs and drawings, this book provides essential text and materials on bone pathology, which will improve the diagnostic ability of those interested in human dry bone pathology. It also provides time depth to our understanding of the effect of disease on past human populations.

About this title: This collection explores the behavioral and social facets of funerary, mortuary, and burial rites in both past and present societies. By utilizing data from around the world and combining recent and ongoing concerns in anthropology, it takes the study of mortuary archaeology to a new and significant level of interdisciplinary research. Drawing inspiration from ethnohistory, ethnography, bioarchaeology, and sociocultural anthropology, the authors focus on themes of gender, ancestorhood, ritual violence, individual agency, space and placement, and extended and secondary mortuary ceremonialism. They also expand the interdisciplinary focus of mortuary practices and reassess previous anthropological theories. No previously published work on the archaeology of mortuary remains presents such a range of examples of ritual practices through time and around the globe. Because of its wide scope and interdisciplinary approach, "Interacting with the Dead" will be indispensable not only to archaeologists and anthropologists but also across the social sciences and humanities and to all who study cross-cultural rituals.

About this title: Here is a fascinating profile of recent research activities in skeletal anthropology and paleodemography that also documents the progress achieved within the century. This complete sourcebook not only shows what has already been accomplished, but also points the way for future research. A detailed text, Reconstruction of Life from the Skeleton describes the techniques scientists currently use to reconstruct life patterns and individual identification from human skeletal remains and explains how to determine the ``way'' people lived, rather than merely list the history and evolution of population groups.