Demographic Archaeology PDF Download

Author: Fekri A. Hassan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
Only scattered references to Australia, mostly derived from Birdsells work.

Author: Andrew T. Chamberlain
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139455346
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 189

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Book Description
Demography in Archaeology, first published in 2006, is a review of current theory and method in the reconstruction of populations from archaeological data. Starting with a summary of demographic concepts and methods, the book examines historical and ethnographic sources of demographic evidence before addressing the methods by which reliable demographic estimates can be made from skeletal remains, settlement evidence and modern and ancient biomolecules. Recent debates in palaeodemography are evaluated, new statistical methods for palaeodemographic reconstruction are explained, and the notion that past demographic structures and processes were substantially different from those pertaining today is critiqued. The book covers a wide span of evidence, from the evolutionary background of human demography to the influence of natural and human-induced catastrophes on population growth and survival. This is essential reading for any archaeologist or anthropologist with an interest in relating the results of field and laboratory studies to broader questions of population structure and dynamics.

Author: C. Adam Berrey
Publisher: Eliot Werner Publications
ISBN: 1733376976
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 191

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Book Description
Archaeological analysis at the regional scale investigates the past by studying how people distributed themselves and their activities across a landscape of hundreds or thousands of square kilometers. Archaeological field survey methods developed over half a century combine with powerful new quantitative tools for spatial analysis (including GIS) to unleash new potential for identifying and studying ancient local communities and regional polities. Varied approaches to estimating regional population sizes in both relative and absolute terms are synthesized and their advantages and disadvantages assessed. Tools for quantitative analysis of regional demographic data are presented. Field survey methods developed around the world are compiled from widely scattered sources and best practices for collecting archaeological data to sustain demographic analysis are delineated. Concepts for improved sampling design in regional survey work are derived from fundamental statistical principles. In conclusion, promising directions for future methodological development are identified.

Author: Patrick Vinton Kirch
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824831489
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 410

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Book Description
Were there major population collapses on Pacific Islands following first contact with the West? If so, what were the actual population numbers for islands such as Hawai‘i, Tahiti, or New Caledonia? Is it possible to develop new methods for tracking the long-term histories of island populations? These and related questions are at the heart of this new book, which draws together cutting-edge research by archaeologists, ethnographers, and demographers. In their accounts of exploration, early European voyagers in the Pacific frequently described the teeming populations they encountered on island after island. Yet missionary censuses and later nineteenth-century records often indicate much smaller populations on Pacific Islands, leading many scholars to debunk the explorers’ figures as romantic exaggerations. Recently, the debate over the indigenous populations of the Pacific has intensified, and this book addresses the problem from new perspectives. Rather than rehash old data and arguments about the validity of explorers’ or missionaries’ accounts, the contributors to this volume offer a series of case studies grounded in new empirical data derived from original archaeological fieldwork and from archival historical research. Case studies are presented for the Hawaiian Islands, Mo‘orea, the Marquesas, Tonga, Samoa, the Tokelau Islands, New Caledonia, Aneityum (Vanuatu), and Kosrae.

Author: Jennifer C. French
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 110858411X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 723

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Book Description
In this book, Jennifer French presents a new synthesis of the archaeological, palaeoanthropological, and palaeogenetic records of the European Palaeolithic, adopting a unique demographic perspective on these first two-million years of European prehistory. Unlike prevailing narratives of demographic stasis, she emphasises the dynamism of Palaeolithic populations of both our evolutionary ancestors and members of our own species across four demographic stages, within a context of substantial Pleistocene climatic changes. Integrating evolutionary theory with a socially oriented approach to the Palaeolithic, French bridges biological and cultural factors, with a focus on women and children as the drivers of population change. She shows how, within the physiological constraints on fertility and mortality, social relationships provide the key to enduring demographic success. Through its demographic focus, French combines a 'big picture' perspective on human evolution with careful analysis of the day-to-day realities of European Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer communities—their families, their children, and their lives.

Author: Graeme Barker
Publisher: Taylor & Francis US
ISBN: 9780415213301
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 600

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Book Description
This comprehensive, fully illustrated Companion answers the need for an in-depth archaeology reference that provides authoritative coverage of this complex and interdisciplinary field. The work brings together the myriad strands and the great temporal and spatial breadth of the field into two thematically organized volumes. In twenty-six authoritative and clearly-written essays, this Companion explores the origins, aims, methods and problems of archaeology. Each essay is written by a scholar of international standing and illustrations complement the text.

Author: Iza Romanowska
Publisher: SFI Press
ISBN: 1947864386
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 442

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Book Description
To fully understand not only the past, but also the trajectories, of human societies, we need a more dynamic view of human social systems. Agent-based modeling (ABM), which can create fine-scale models of behavior over time and space, may reveal important, general patterns of human activity. Agent-Based Modeling for Archaeology is the first ABM textbook designed for researchers studying the human past. Appropriate for scholars from archaeology, the digital humanities, and other social sciences, this book offers novices and more experienced ABM researchers a modular approach to learning ABM and using it effectively. Readers will find the necessary background, discussion of modeling techniques and traps, references, and algorithms to use ABM in their own work. They will also find engaging examples of how other scholars have applied ABM, ranging from the study of the intercontinental migration pathways of early hominins, to the weather–crop–population cycles of the American Southwest, to the trade networks of Ancient Rome. This textbook provides the foundations needed to simulate the complexity of past human societies, offering researchers a richer understanding of the past—and likely future—of our species.

Author: Wesley Bernardini
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 9780816524266
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
"Using Anderson Mesa and Homol'ovi as case studies, Bernardini presents architectural and demographic data suggesting that the fourteenth century occupation of these regions was characterized by population flux and diversity consistent with the serial migration model." "Bernardini's work clearly demonstrates that studies of cultural affiliation must take into account the fluid nature of population movements and identity in the prehistoric landscape. It takes a decisive step toward better understanding the major demographic change that occurred on the Colorado Plateau from 1275 to 1400 and presents a strategy for improving the reconstruction of cultural identity in the past."--BOOK JACKET.

Author: Jean-Pierre Bocquet-Appel
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1402085397
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 540

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Book Description
The transition from hunting and gathering to farming – the Neolithic Revolution – was one of the most signi cant cultural processes in human history that forever changed the face of humanity. Natu an communities (15,100–12,000Cal BP) (all dates in this chapter are calibrated before present) planted the seeds of change, and the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) (ca. 12,000–ca. 8,350Cal BP) people, were the rst to establish farming communities. The revolution was not fully realized until quite late in the PPN and later in the Pottery Neolithic (PN) period. We would like to ask some questions and comment on a few aspects emphas- ing the linkage between biological and cultural developments during the Neolithic Revolution. The biological issues addressed in this chapter are as follows: × Is there a demographic change from the Natu an to the Neolithic? × Is there a change in the overall health of the Neolithic populations compared to the Natu an? × Is there a change in the diet and how is it expressed? × Is there a change in the physical burden/stress people had to bear with? × Is there a change in intra- and inter-community rates of violent encounters? From the cultural perspective the leading questions will be: × What was the change in the economy and when was it fully realized? × Is there a change in settlement patterns and site nature and organization from Natu an to Neolithic? × Is there a change in human activities and division of labor?

Author: Andrea Cucina
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319108581
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 168

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Book Description
Archaeological evidence - i.e. presence of exogenous, foreign material objects (pottery, obsidian and so on) - is used to make inferences on ancient trade, while population movement can only be assessed when the biological component of an ancient community is analyzed (i.e. the human skeletal remains). But the exchange of goods or the presence of foreign architectural patterns does not necessarily imply genetic admixture between groups, while at the same time humans can migrate for reasons that may not be related only to trading. The Prehispanic Maya were a complex, highly stratified society. During the Classic period, city-states governed over large regions, establishing complex ties of alliance and commerce with the region’s minor centers and their allies, against other city-states within and outside the Maya realm. The fall of the political system during the Classic period (the Maya collapse) led to hypothetical invasions of leading groups from the Gulf of Mexico into the northern Maya lowland at the onset of the Postclassic. However, it is still unclear whether this collapse was already underway when this movement of people started. The whole picture of population dynamics in Maya Prehispanic times, during the Classic and the Postclassic, can slowly emerge only when all the pieces of the puzzle are put together in a holistic and multidisciplinary fashion. The contributions of this volume bring together contributions from archaeology, archaeometry, paleodemography and bioarchaeology. They provide an initial account of the dynamic qualities behind large–scale ancient population dynamics, and at the same time represent novel multidisciplinary points of departure towards an integrated reconstruction and understanding of Prehispanic population dynamics in the Maya region.