The Foragers of Point Hope

The Foragers of Point Hope
Author: Charles E. Hilton
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 333
Release: 2014-07-24
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1139992104

On the edge of the Arctic Ocean, above the Arctic Circle, the prehistoric settlements at Point Hope, Alaska, represent a truly remarkable accomplishment in human biological and cultural adaptations. Presenting a set of anthropological analyses on the human skeletal remains and cultural material from the Ipiutak and Tigara archaeological sites, The Foragers of Point Hope sheds new light on the excavations from 1939–41, which provided one of the largest sets of combined biological and cultural materials of northern latitude peoples in the world. A range of material items indicated successful human foraging strategies in this harsh Arctic environment. They also yielded enigmatic artifacts indicative of complex human cultural life filled with dense ritual and artistic expression. These remnants of past human activity contribute to a crucial understanding of past foraging lifeways and offer important insights into the human condition at the extreme edges of the globe.

Paleodemography

Paleodemography
Author: Robert D. Hoppa
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 277
Release: 2008-10-30
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1139441558

Paleodemography is the field of enquiry that attempts to identify demographic parameters from past populations (usually skeletal samples) derived from archaeological contexts, and then to make interpretations regarding the health and well-being of those populations. However, paleodemographic theory relies on several assumptions that cannot easily be validated by the researcher, and if incorrect, can lead to large errors or biases. In this book, physical anthropologists, mathematical demographers and statisticians tackle these methodological issues for reconstructing demographic structure for skeletal samples. Topics discussed include how skeletal morphology is linked to chronological age, assessment of age from the skeleton, demographic models of mortality and their interpretation, and biostatistical approaches to age structure estimation from archaeological samples. This work will be of immense importance to anyone interested in paleodemography, including biological and physical anthropologists, demographers, geographers, evolutionary biologists and statisticians.

Recovery, Analysis, and Identification of Commingled Human Remains

Recovery, Analysis, and Identification of Commingled Human Remains
Author: Bradley J. Adams
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 377
Release: 2008-02-23
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1597453161

Commingling of human remains presents an added challenge to all phases of the forensic process. This book brings together tools from diverse sources within forensic science to offer a set of comprehensive approaches to handling commingled remains. It details the recovery of commingled remains in the field, the use of triage in the assessment of commingling, various analytical techniques for sorting and determining the number of individuals, the role of DNA in the overall process, ethical considerations, and data management. In addition, the book includes case examples that illustrate techniques found to be successful and those that proved problematic.

African Genesis

African Genesis
Author: Sally C. Reynolds
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 599
Release: 2012-03-29
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1107019958

This book reviews key themes and developments in palaeoanthropology, exploring their impact on our understanding of human origins in Africa.

The First Humans

The First Humans
Author: Frederick E. Grine
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2009-05-24
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1402099800

There are some issues in human paleontology that seem to be timeless. Most deal with the origin and early evolution of our own genus – something about which we should care. Some of these issues pertain to taxonomy and systematics. How many species of Homo were there in the Pliocene and Pleistocene? How do we identify the earliest members the genus Homo? If there is more than one Plio-Pleistocene species, how do they relate to one another, and where and when did they evolve? Other issues relate to questions about body size, proportions and the functional adaptations of the locomotor skeleton. When did the human postcranial “Bauplan” evolve, and for what reasons? What behaviors (and what behavioral limitations) can be inferred from the postcranial bones that have been attributed to Homo habilis and Homo erectus? Still other issues relate to growth, development and life history strategies, and the biological and archeological evidence for diet and behavior in early Homo. It is often argued that dietary change played an important role in the origin and early evolution of our genus, with stone tools opening up scavenging and hunting opportunities that would have added meat protein to the diet of Homo. Still other issues relate to the environmental and climatic context in which this genus evolved.

Urban Ecology

Urban Ecology
Author: Richard T. T. Forman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 477
Release: 2014-02-13
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1107007003

The first richly illustrated worldwide portrayal of urban ecology, tying together organisms, built structures, and the physical environment around cities.