A monumental synthesis of a half century of research, this book investigates three communities from the ancient Nubian civilization of the Nile River Valley. Excavations in this region first inspired the "biocultural approach" to human biology now used by anthropologists worldwide, and Life and Death on the Nile exemplifies the very best of this perspective. It is the life's work of two highly accomplished anthropologists. George Armelagos and Dennis Van Gerven present studies of cranial morphology and evolution in Nubian populations. They look at patterns of physiological stress and disease, as well as growth and development, in infants and children. They study bone fractures and age-related bone loss in adults, and they discuss case studies of diseases such as cancers and congenital defects. Focusing on the link between human biology and the cultural and natural environment, they provide a holistic view of the lives of ancient Nubian peoples.

"Makes an important contribution to our understanding of the challenges our ancestors faced during the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture.... A well-organized and highly readable volume that synthesizes an enormous amount of data on what is perhaps the most significant economic transformation in the history of our species." --American Anthropologist In 1982, the Conference on Paleopathology and Socioeconomic Change at the Origins of Agriculture was held in Plattsburgh, New York, to examine previously untested theories about how the adoption of agriculture impacted human health. The collection of those conference proceedings transformed into this landmark book that set the standard for how to collect, analyze, and interpret osteological data in the study of health transitions. Using skeletal pathologies, the contributors examine how the transition from foraging to farming affected human health and nutrition. Now back in print and for the first time in paperback, "Paleopathology at the Origins of Agriculture" is a foundational piece in bioarchaeological literature and a central source of information regarding the impact of early farming on socioeconomic evolution. It remains a highly cited reference for archaeologists and physical anthropologists. Contributors present data from nineteen different regions before, during, and after agricultural transitions, analyzing populations in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and South America while primarily focusing on North America. A wide range of health indicators are discussed, including mortality, episodic stress, physical trauma, degenerative bone conditions, isotopes, and dental pathology. Mark Nathan Cohen is Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at SUNY at Plattsburgh. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship on the basis of this book's impact. George J. Armelagos is the Goodrich C. White Professor of Anthropology at Emory University and a recipient of the Viking Fund Medal.

Leading health scholars reveal the impact of globalization on human health, as it is mediated through environmental change. They explore the destabilizing impact of globalization on the planet's ecology, and on the health of the human populations that are dependent on the delicate global bionetwork. Their timely case studies describe the cultural adaptations of indigenous populations to their changing environments, evaluating their technological and global political-economic processes. The authors analyze local and global public health strategies, examine the association between globalization and demographies, and offer creative solutions for future health policies. This book will be a valuable resource for professionals in international health, medical anthropology, sociology and geography, environmental studies, and globalization studies.

Societies in transition are often faced with new settings and/or new diseases that require a response in order for the affected group to thrive or survive. A lack of effective response by a transitional population to a new pathogen can lead to the group's disintegration. A stark example of this, historically, is the decline of Native American civilizations with the arrival of European colonists in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The transitional response mechanism has been a neglected topic in anthropology until the publication of this book. In a broad selection of nineteen essays by distinguished researchers, the epidemiology and health status of prehistoric, historical, and present day populations in transition are thoroughly explored.

Different models--biomedical, ethnomedical, ecological, and politicoeconomic--are used to illustrate the effects of transition on the health of human populations throughout the world. Swedlund and Armelagos have compiled and arranged these essays into three parts: genetic and evolutionary perspectives; infectious disease and nutrition in temporal perspective; and social epidemiology. Some of the topics studied in the essays include: disease and evolution in Amerindian populations; health and disease in prehistoric transitional peoples; mortality and morbidity consequences of nutritional variation in early child growth; and social support and mortality in post-transition populations. This insightful book will provide a vital perspective for medical anthropologists, development specialists, epidemiologists, and health professionals, as well as for graduate students in related course areas.