Editors:
- This volume will explore urbanization and its outcomes across a broad geographic range, including North and South America, Europe, and Asia
- Examining urbanization utilizing a range of bioarchaeological methods: macroscopic and microscopic studies of skeletal indicators of stress and disease, archaeoparasitology, ancient DNA analysis, isotopic analysis, assessment of frailty, mortuary analysis, and analysis of growth patterns
- addresses questions of how urbanization impacted infectious and parasitic disease, biological stress, breastfeeding patterns, migration and mobility, and survivorship and morbidity
Part of the book series: Bioarchaeology and Social Theory (BST)
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Table of contents (19 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Medieval and Post-medieval Cities
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Front Matter
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Premodern and Industrial Cities
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Front Matter
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About this book
Urbanization has long been a focus of bioarchaeological research, but what is missing from the literature is an exploration of the geographic and temporal range of human biological, demographic, and sociocultural responses to this major shift in settlement pattern. Urbanization is characterized by increased population size and density, and is frequently assumed to produce negative biological effects. However, the relationship between urbanization and human “health” requires careful examination given the heterogeneity that exists within and between urban contexts. Studies of contemporary urbanization have found both positive and negative outcomes, which likely have parallels in past human societies.
This volume is unique as there is no current bioarchaeological book addressing urbanization, despite various studies of urbanization having been conducted. Collectively, this volume provides a more holistic understanding of the relationships between urbanization and various aspectsof human population health. The insight gained from this volume will provide not only a better understanding of urbanization in our past, but it will also have potential implications for those studying urbanization in contemporary communities.
Reviews
Editors and Affiliations
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Department of Anthropology, SUNY Oneonta, Oneonta, USA
Tracy K. Betsinger
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Department of Anthropology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA
Sharon N. DeWitte
About the editors
Tracy K. Betsinger is Associate Professor of Anthropology at SUNY-Oneonta. She specializes in bioarchaeology, paleopathology, and mortuary archaeology. Her research focuses on examining the impacts of age, gender, social status, settlement patterns, and social identity and personhood on various aspects of health including disease, diet, stress, and trauma. She has worked extensively with medieval and post-medieval Polish skeletal remains as well as remains from the American Southeast. She recently co-edited two volumes: The Anthropology of the Fetus: Biology, Culture, and Society and The Odd, the Unusual, and the Strange: Bioarchaeological Explorations of Atypical Burials.
Sharon N. DeWitte is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of South Carolina, Columbia. She specializes in bioarchaeology, paleodemography, and paleoepidemiology. She is particularly interested in the evolution, ecology, epidemiology, and the consequences of disease in past populations and the ways in which such research informs our understanding of disease in living populations. For over 15 years, her research has primarily focused on trends in health and demography before, during, and after the 14th-century Black Death in England. She is currently on the editorial board of Evolutionary Anthropology.Bibliographic Information
Book Title: The Bioarchaeology of Urbanization
Book Subtitle: The Biological, Demographic, and Social Consequences of Living in Cities
Editors: Tracy K. Betsinger, Sharon N. DeWitte
Series Title: Bioarchaeology and Social Theory
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53417-2
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: History, History (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-53416-5Published: 06 November 2020
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-53419-6Published: 07 November 2021
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-53417-2Published: 05 November 2020
Series ISSN: 2567-6776
Series E-ISSN: 2567-6814
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIX, 538
Number of Illustrations: 52 b/w illustrations, 48 illustrations in colour
Topics: Archaeology