Human Ecology

Human Ecology PDF Author: Holger Schutkowski
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3540313915
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
This book explores the relationship between cultural strategies and their biological outcomes, combining for the first time an ecosystems approach with cultural anthropological, archaeological and evolutionary behavioural concepts. Beginning with resource use and food procurement behaviour, the text examines major subsistence modes, the circumstances and dynamics of large-scale subsistence change, the effect of social differentiation on resource use and the effects of subsistence behaviour on population development and regulation.

Human Ecology

Human Ecology PDF Author: Holger Schutkowski
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3540313915
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
This book explores the relationship between cultural strategies and their biological outcomes, combining for the first time an ecosystems approach with cultural anthropological, archaeological and evolutionary behavioural concepts. Beginning with resource use and food procurement behaviour, the text examines major subsistence modes, the circumstances and dynamics of large-scale subsistence change, the effect of social differentiation on resource use and the effects of subsistence behaviour on population development and regulation.

Foraging, Farming, and Coastal Biocultural Adaptation in Late Prehistoric North Carolina

Foraging, Farming, and Coastal Biocultural Adaptation in Late Prehistoric North Carolina PDF Author: Dale L. Hutchinson
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780813024745
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 275

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Book Description
"A fascinating picture of human adaptation in an area of North America that has been studied primarily by archaeologists . . . [that] provides a new understanding of the responses in health and lifeways in a coastal setting, showing especially the very localized nature of food choices and resource acquisition."--Clark S. Larsen, Ohio State University "This thoughtful integration of archaeological, historical, ecological, and human bioarchaeological data provides a significant new perspective on the biological costs and benefits of Middle and Late Woodland coastal adaptations in North Carolina. By contrasting inner and outer coastal plain communities in terms of specific features of their dietary regimes, subsistence activities, and patterns of skeletal development and pathology, Hutchinson reveals a breadth of successful adaptive variations hitherto obscured by generalized summaries of Late Prehistoric Native American lifeways in the mid-Atlantic region."--Mary Lucas Powell, University of Kentucky Dale Hutchinson provides a detailed bioarchaeological analysis exploring human adaptation in the estuary zone of North Carolina and the influence of coastal foraging during the late prehistoric transition to agriculture. He draws on observations of human skeletal remains to look at nutrition, disease, physical activity, morbidity, and mortality of coastal populations, focusing particularly on changes in nutrition and health associated with the move from foraging to farming. Hutchinson confronts the prevailing notion of a universal agricultural transition by documenting a more variable and complex process of change. Among his notable findings is that skeletal and dental markers long accepted as indicators of corn consumption in fact occur more frequently among coastal foragers than among interior agriculturalists. His research shows that men and women differed not only in their economic roles but in their diets as well, and that outer coastal populations continued to rely on maritime resources without the adoption of corn after A.D. 800, a reliance that almost surely influenced their evolving lifestyle. None of the data in the book has been published previously, and Hutchinson is generous with tables, figures, and appendixes that contribute significantly to the clarity of his interpretations. The combination of original data, well-supported interpretation, and the breadth of evidence from many categories significantly advances our anthropological understanding of the lives of these first North Carolinians. Dale L. Hutchinson is associate professor of anthropology at East Carolina University.

Biocultural Diversity Conservation

Biocultural Diversity Conservation PDF Author: Luisa Maffi
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136544259
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 314

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Book Description
The field of biocultural diversity is emerging as a dynamic, integrative approach to understanding the links between nature and culture and the interrelationships between humans and the environment at scales from the global to the local. Its multifaceted contributions have ranged from theoretical elaborations, to mappings of the overlapping distributions of biological and cultural diversity, to the development of indicators as tools to measure, assess, and monitor the state and trends of biocultural diversity, to on-the-ground implementation in field projects. This book is a unique compendium and analysis of projects from all around the world that take an integrated biocultural approach to sustaining cultures and biodiversity. The 45 projects reviewed exemplify a new focus in conservation: this is based on the emerging realization that protecting and restoring biodiversity and maintaining and revitalizing cultural diversity and cultural vitality are intimately, indeed inextricably, interrelated. Published with Terralingua and IUCN

New Directions in Biocultural Anthropology

New Directions in Biocultural Anthropology PDF Author: Molly K. Zuckerman
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118962966
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 544

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Book Description
Biocultural or biosocial anthropology is a research approach that views biology and culture as dialectically and inextricably intertwined, explicitly emphasizing the dynamic interaction between humans and their larger social, cultural, and physical environments. The biocultural approach emerged in anthropology in the 1960s, matured in the 1980s, and is now one of the dominant paradigms in anthropology, particularly within biological anthropology. This volume gathers contributions from the top scholars in biocultural anthropology focusing on six of the most influential, productive, and important areas of research within biocultural anthropology. These are: critical and synthetic approaches within biocultural anthropology; biocultural approaches to identity, including race and racism; health, diet, and nutrition; infectious disease from antiquity to the modern era; epidemiologic transitions and population dynamics; and inequality and violence studies. Focusing on these six major areas of burgeoning research within biocultural anthropology makes the proposed volume timely, widely applicable and useful to scholars engaging in biocultural research and students interested in the biocultural approach, and synthetic in its coverage of contemporary scholarship in biocultural anthropology. Students will be able to grasp the history of the biocultural approach, and how that history continues to impact scholarship, as well as the scope of current research within the approach, and the foci of biocultural research into the future. Importantly, contributions in the text follow a consistent format of a discussion of method and theory relative to a particular aspect of the above six topics, followed by a case study applying the surveyed method and theory. This structure will engage students by providing real world examples of anthropological issues, and demonstrating how biocultural method and theory can be used to elucidate and resolve them. Key features include: Contributions which span the breadth of approaches and topics within biological anthropology from the insights granted through work with ancient human remains to those granted through collaborative research with contemporary peoples. Comprehensive treatment of diverse topics within biocultural anthropology, from human variation and adaptability to recent disease pandemics, the embodied effects of race and racism, industrialization and the rise of allergy and autoimmune diseases, and the sociopolitics of slavery and torture. Contributions and sections united by thematically cohesive threads. Clear, jargon-free language in a text that is designed to be pedagogically flexible: contributions are written to be both understandable and engaging to both undergraduate and graduate students. Provision of synthetic theory, method and data in each contribution. The use of richly contextualized case studies driven by empirical data. Through case-study driven contributions, each chapter demonstrates how biocultural approaches can be used to better understand and resolve real-world problems and anthropological issues.

Current Developments in Anthropological Genetics

Current Developments in Anthropological Genetics PDF Author: Michael Crawford
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461326494
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 398

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Book Description
While the previous two volumes in this series were based upon methodol ogy, theory, and the relationship between ecology and population structure, this book can be viewed as an in-depth case study. The population genetics of a multitude of diverse groups geographically distributed throughout the world was examined in the first two volumes. In contrast, this volume focuses upon a single ethnic group, the Black Caribs (Garifuna) of Central America and St. Vincent Island, and explores the interrelationships among the ethnohistory, sociocultural characteristics, demography, morphology, and genetic structure of the group. This volume offers a broad and intensive treatment of the Black Caribs and their interactions with surrounding populations. My interest in the genetics of the Black Caribs was sparked by an accidental meeting in Amsterdam, Holland, in March 1975. A conversation with Nancie Gonzalez at the Applied Anthropology Meetings revealed the "truth-is-stranger than·fiction" history of the Black Carib peoples of the Caribbean. This was a popUlation with a small-sized founding group and a unique biological success story. Nancie Gonzalez was particularly interested in estimating the Carib Indian admixture in the contemporary Garifuna popUlation. Given my previous experi ence in estimating Spanish and African admixture in the Tlaxcaltecan population (whose gene pool consisted predominantly of Indian alleles), a group that appeared to be primarily African with some Indian admixture was of great interest. Aside from the ethnohistorical interest, I believe that such a population may add conSiderably to our understanding of the inheritance of complex morphological traits.

Race and Human Diversity

Race and Human Diversity PDF Author: Robert L. Anemone
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351717855
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
Race and Human Diversity is an introduction to the study of human diversity in both its biological and cultural dimensions. Robert L. Anemone examines the biological basis of human difference and how humans have biologically and culturally adapted to life in different environments. The book discusses the history of the race concept, evolutionary theory, human genetics, and the connections between racial classifications and racism. It invites students to question the existence of race as biology, but to recognize race as a social construction with significant implications for the lived experience of individuals and populations. This second edition has been thoroughly revised, with new material on human genetic diversity, developmental plasticity and epigenetics. There is additional coverage of the history of eugenics; race in US history, citizenship and migration; affirmative action; and white privilege and the burden of race. Fully accessible for undergraduate students with no prior knowledge of genetics or statistics, this is a key text for any student taking an introductory class on race or human diversity. Chapter 9 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

The Evolution of Moral Progress

The Evolution of Moral Progress PDF Author: Allen Buchanan
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190868430
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 441

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Book Description
In The Evolution of Moral Progress, Allen Buchanan and Russell Powell resurrect the project of explaining moral progress. They avoid the errors of earlier attempts by drawing on a wide range of disciplines including moral and political philosophy, evolutionary biology, evolutionary psychology, anthropology, history, and sociology. Their focus is on one especially important type of moral progress: gains in inclusivity. They develop a framework to explain progress in inclusivity to also illuminate moral regression--the return to exclusivist and "tribalistic" moral beliefs and attitudes. Buchanan and Powell argue those tribalistic moral responses are not hard-wired by evolution in human nature. Rather, human beings have an evolved "adaptively plastic" capacity for both inclusion and exclusion, depending on environmental conditions. Moral progress in the dimension of inclusivity is possible, but only to the extent that human beings can create environments conducive to extending moral standing to all human beings and even to some animals. Buchanan and Powell take biological evolution seriously, but with a critical eye, while simultaneously recognizing the crucial role of culture in creating environments in which moral progress can occur. The book avoids both biological and cultural determinism. Unlike earlier theories of moral progress, their theory provides a naturalistic account that is grounded in the best empirical work, and unlike earlier theories it does not present moral progress as inevitable or as occurring in definite stages; but rather it recognizes the highly contingent and fragile character of moral improvement.

Hunter-Gatherer Adaptation and Resilience

Hunter-Gatherer Adaptation and Resilience PDF Author: Daniel H. Temple
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107187354
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 407

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Book Description
Explores the variety of ways in which hunter-gatherer societies have responded to external stressors while maintaining their core identity.

Food Sovereignty, Agroecology and Biocultural Diversity

Food Sovereignty, Agroecology and Biocultural Diversity PDF Author: Michel. P. Pimbert
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317354974
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 431

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Book Description
Contestations over knowledge – and who controls its production – are a key focus of social movements and other actors that promote food sovereignty, agroecology and biocultural diversity. This book critically examines the kinds of knowledge and ways of knowing needed for food sovereignty, agroecology and biocultural diversity. ‘Food sovereignty’ is understood here as a transformative process that seeks to recreate the democratic realm and regenerate a diversity of autonomous food systems based on agroecology, biocultural diversity, equity, social justice and ecological sustainability. It is shown that alternatives to the current model of development require radically different knowledges and epistemologies from those on offer today in mainstream institutions (including universities, policy think tanks and donor organizations). To achieve food sovereignty, agroecology and biocultural diversity, there is a need to re-imagine and construct knowledge for diversity, decentralisation, dynamic adaptation and democracy. The authors critically explore the changes in organizations, research paradigms and professional practice that could help transform and co-create knowledge for a new modernity based on plural definitions of wellbeing. Particular attention is given to institutional, pedagogical and methodological innovations that can enhance cognitive justice by giving hitherto excluded citizens more power and agency in the construction of knowledge. The book thus contributes to the democratization of knowledge and power in the domain of food, environment and society. Chapters 1 and 8 of this book are freely available as downloadable Open Access PDFs at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

The God Gene

The God Gene PDF Author: Dean H. Hamer
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 0385720319
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The overwhelming majority of Americans believe in God; this conviction has existed since the beginning of recorded time and is shared by billions around the world. In The God Gene, Dr. Dean Hamer reveals that this inclination towards religious faith is in good measure due to our genes and may even offer an evolutionary advantage by helping us get through difficulties, reducing stress, preventing disease, and extending life. Popular science at its best, The God Gene is an in-depth, fully accessible inquiry into cutting-edge research that can change the way we see ourselves and the world around us. Written with balance, integrity, and admirable scientific objectivity, this is a book for readers of science and religion alike.