The backbone of Europe : health, diet, work and violence over two millennia

Publication/Creation:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2019

Resource Type:

Book

More Details

Additional/Related Title Information

Full Title:

The backbone of Europe : health, diet, work and violence over two millennia / edited by Richard H. Steckel, Clark Spencer Larsen, Charlotte A. Roberts, Joerg Baten

Series Titles:

Cambridge studies in biological and evolutionary anthropology ; 80
Cambridge studies in biological and evolutionary anthropology ; 80.

Related Names

Additional Author/Creators:

Steckel, Richard H. (Richard Hall), 1944-, editor
Larsen, Clark Spencer, editor
Roberts, Charlotte A., editor
Baten, Joerg, editor

Subjects/Genre

Genre:

Electronic books

Subjects:

Human remains (Archaeology)--Europe--Analysis
Human skeleton--Analysis
Paleopathology
Social ecology--Europe--History

Description/Summary

Table of Contents:

The European History of Health Project : introduction to goals, materials, and methods / Richard H. Steckel, Clark Spencer Larsen, Charlotte Roberts, and Joerg Baten -- Contextual dimensions of health and lifestyle : isotopes, diet, migration, and the archaeological and historical records / Rimantas Jankauskas and Gisela Grupe -- Measuring community health using skeletal remains : a health index for Europe / Richard H. Steckel and Anna Kjellström -- The history of European oral health : evidence from dental caries and antemortem tooth loss / Ursula Witwer-Backofen and Felix Engel -- Proliferative periosteal reactions : assessment of trends in Europe over the past two millennia / Carina Marques, Vitor Matos, and Nicholas J. Meinzer -- Growth disruption in children : linear enamel hypoplasias / Zsolt Bereczki, Maria Teschler-Nicola, Antonia Marcsik, Nicholas Meinzer, and Joerg Baten -- History of anemia and related nutritional deficiencies : evidence from cranial porosities / Anastasia Papathanasiou, Nicholas J. Meinzer, Kimberly D. Williams, and Clark Spencer Larsen -- Agricultural specialization, urbanization, workload and stature / Nicholas Meinzer, Richard H. Steckel, Joerg Baten -- History of degenerative joint disease in people across Europe : bioarchaeological inferences about lifestyle and activity from osteoarthritis and vertebral osteophytosis / Kimberly D. Williams, Nicholas J. Meinzer, and Clark Spencer Larsen -- The history of violence in Europe : evidence from cranial and postcranial bone trauma / Jörg Baten and Richard H. Steckel -- The developmental origins of health and disease : early life experiences and adult age at death in Europe : evidence from skeletal remains / Charlotte A. Roberts and Richard H. Steckel -- Climate and health : Europe from the pre-Middle Ages to the nineteenth century / Richard H. Steckel and Felix Engel -- Multidimensional patterns of European health, work, and violence over the past two millennia / Joerg Baten, Richard H. Steckel, Clark Spencer Larsen, Charlotte Roberts -- Data collection codebook / Richard H. Steckel, Clark Spencer Larsen, Paul W. Sciulli, and Phillip L. Walker -- Database creation, management, and analysis / Charlotte Roberts, Richard H. Steckel, Clark Spencer Larsen.

Summary:

Using human skeletal remains, this volume traces health, workload and violence in the European population over the past 2,000 years. Health was surprisingly good for people who lived during the early Medieval Period. The Plague of Justinian of the sixth century was ultimately beneficial for health because the smaller population had relatively more resources that contributed to better living conditions. Increasing population density and inequality in the following centuries imposed an unhealthy diet - poor in protein - on the European population. With the onset of the Little Ice Age in the late Middle Ages, a further health decline ensued, which was not reversed until the nineteenth century. While some aspects of health declined, other attributes improved. During the early modern period, interpersonal violence (outside of warfare) declined possibly because stronger states and institutions were able to enforce compromise and cooperation. European health over the past two millennia was hence multifaceted in nature.

Language:

English

Physical Type/Description:

1 online resource (xvi, 462 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

General Note:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 12 Nov 2018).

Local Note:

Available to current Emory faculty, students and staff.

Additional Identifiers

Catalog ID (MMSID):

9936928532302486

ISBN:

9781108379830