Regional Settlement Demography in Archaeology

Regional Settlement Demography in Archaeology
Author: C. Adam Berrey
Publisher: Eliot Werner Publications
Total Pages: 191
Release: 2015-12-31
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1733376976

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.

Demographic Archaeology

Demographic Archaeology
Author: Fekri A. Hassan
Publisher:
Total Pages: 328
Release: 1981
Genre: Social Science
ISBN:

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

The Growth and Collapse of Pacific Island Societies

The Growth and Collapse of Pacific Island Societies
Author: Patrick Vinton Kirch
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Total Pages: 410
Release: 2007-04-30
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0824831489

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.

Demography in Archaeology

Demography in Archaeology
Author: Andrew T. Chamberlain
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 189
Release: 2006-07-06
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1139455346

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.

Palaeolithic Europe

Palaeolithic Europe
Author: Jennifer C. French
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 723
Release: 2021-12-09
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 110858411X

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.

Integrating Archaeological Demography

Integrating Archaeological Demography
Author: Richard R. Paine
Publisher: Center for Archaeological Investigations
Total Pages: 395
Release: 1997-01-01
Genre: Archaeological demography
ISBN: 9780881040814

Selected papers explore the role of population studies in anthropological explanation by examining relationships between population, resources, and culture change and by investigating the data, methods, and theoretical models of prehistoric demography. Settlement archaeologists and biological and demographic anthropologists examine the explanatory potential of integrated approaches to prehistoric demography.

Settlement, Urbanization, and Population

Settlement, Urbanization, and Population
Author: Alan Bowman
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 383
Release: 2011-12-22
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0199602352

A collection of essays presenting new analyses of data and evidence for population and settlement patterns, particularly urbanization, in the Mediterranean world from 100 BC to AD 350.

The Neolithic Demographic Transition and its Consequences

The Neolithic Demographic Transition and its Consequences
Author: Jean-Pierre Bocquet-Appel
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 540
Release: 2008-09-30
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1402085397

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?

Handbook of Palaeodemography

Handbook of Palaeodemography
Author: Isabelle Séguy
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 341
Release: 2014-01-20
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3319015532

This book examines methods for linking osteo-archaeological data with historical and environmental sources to shed light on the living conditions of past populations. Covering all time periods from prehistory to the 20th century, it aims to construct models that capture plausible demographic dynamics from highly fragmentary evidence. Starting from the known in order to explore the unknown, this book presents a historical view of methods used in the past and present as well as proposes original ones. The paleodemographic methods presented in this handbook have been tested on anthropological and archaeological data and can easily be applied. This manual represents a fruitful collaboration between historical demographers and anthropological archaeologists who, with the help of mathematicians and statisticians, detail research that opens an important historical dimension to the discipline. Written in a readily understandable manner, it serves as an ideal resource for those wishing to interpret ancient bones in demographic terms.

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.