Showing papers on "Biological anthropology published in 2010"

The evolution and history of human populations in South Asia : inter-disciplinary studies in archaeology, biological anthropology, linguistics, and genetics

Abstract: 1. Human Evolution and Culture Change in the Indian Subcontinent Michael D. Petraglia and Bridget Allchin Part I. Setting Foundations 2. Afro-Eurasian Mammalian Fauna and Early Hominin Dispersals Alan Turner and Hannah J. O'Regan 3. 'Resource-Rich, Stone Poor': Early Hominin Land Use in Large River Systems of Northern India and Pakistan Robin Dennell 4. Toward Developing a Basin Model for Paleolithic Settlement of the Indian Subcontinent: Geodynamics, Monsoon Dynamics, Habitat Diversity and Dispersal Routes. Ravi Korisettar 5. The Acheulean of Peninsular India with Special Reference to the Hunsgi and Baichbal Valleys of the Lower Deccan K. Paddayya 6. Changing Trends in the Study of a Paleolithic Site in India: A Century of Research at Attirampakkam Shanti Pappu 7. Was Homo heidelbergensis in South Asia? A test using the Narmada fossil from Central India Sheela Athreya Part II. The Modern Scene 8. The Toba Supervolcanic Eruption: Tephra-Fall Deposits in India and Paleoanthropological Implications Sacha C. Jones 9. The Emergence of Modern Human Behavior in South Asia: A Review of the Current Evidence and Discussion of its Possible Implications Hannah V.A. James 10. Genetic evidence on modern human dispersals in South Asia: Y Chromosome and Mitochondrial DNA perspectives: The World through the eyes of two haploid genome. Phillip Endicott, Mait Metspalu and Toomas Kivisild 11. Crania diversity in South Asia relative to modern human dispersals and global patterns of human variation Jay T. Stock, Marta Mirazon Lahr and Samanti Kulatilake Part III. New Worlds in the Holocene 12. Interpreting Biological Diversity in South Asian Prehistory: Early Holocene Population Affinities and Subsistence Adaptations John R. Lukacs 13. Population Movements in the Indian Subcontinent during the Protohistoric Period: Physical Anthropological Assessment S.R. Walimbe 14. Foragers and Forager-Traders in South Asian Worlds: Some Thoughts from the Last 10,000 Years Kathleen D. Morrison 15. Anthropological, Historical, Archaeological and Genetic Perspectives on the Origins of Caste in South Asia Nicole L. Boivin 16. Language Families and Quantitative Methods in South Asia and Elsewhere April McMahon and Robert McMahon 17. Duality in Bos indicus mtDNA Diversity: Support for Geographical Complexity in Zebu Domestication David A. Magee, Hideyuki Mannen, Daniel G. Bradley 18. Non-Human Genetics, Agricultural Origins and Historical Linguistics in South Asia Dorian Q. Fuller Part IV. Concluding Remarks 19. Thoughts on The Evolution and History of Human Populations in South Asia Gregory L. Possehl

A companion to biological anthropology

Abstract: This book is a very useful, complete compendium of contemporary anthropology recognised as “holistic approach to understanding the human condition, both from cultural and from biological perspectives”. A Companion to Biological Anthropology edited by Clark Spencer Larsen and published in 2010 by Wiley-Blackwell is organized along the line that studying the present populations can inform our understanding of the past ones. The book consists of thirty one chapters which have been grouped in five parts presenting key aspects of biological anthropology from evolution, genetics, phylogeny and behaviour in humans and primates in general to the variation in health and lifestyle, forensic applications, population history and ancient DNA study, dietary reconstruction as well as biology and function of the skeleton and dentition both in past and living humans. The first chapter is devoted to the history of biological (physical) anthropology in the United States – anthropology as an exploration of human origins and human variation. The second and the third chapter concerns human evolution, systematics, taxonomy and phylogenetics. The fourth chapter contains basic information essen-

The new biological anthropology: bringing Washburn's new physical anthropology into 2010 and beyond--the 2008 AAPA luncheon lecture.

Abstract: Nearly 60 years ago, Sherwood Washburn issued a call for a "New Physical Anthropology," a transition from measurement and classification toward a focus on the processes and mechanisms of evolutionary change. He advocated multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches to the understanding of human behavior, biology, and history. Many interpret this as a call for a practice that is both biological and anthropological. Is this what we do? Are we biological anthropologists yet? In this essay, I explore what we, Physical Anthropologists, as a discipline are doing in the context of a New Physical Anthropology, where we might be headed, and why this discussion is crucial to our relevance.

Entangled traditions of race: Physical anthropology in Hungary and Romania, 1900-1940.

Abstract: This article discusses the relationship between race and physical anthropology in Hungary and Romania between 1900 and 1940. It begins by looking at institutional developments in both countries and how these influenced the most important Hungarian and Romanian anthropologists’ professional and research agendas. Drawing from a wide range of primary sources, the article reveals the significant role the concept of race played in articulating anthropological and ethnic narratives of national belonging. It is necessary to understand the appeal of the idea of race in this context. With idealized images of national communities and racial hierarchies creeping back into Eastern European popular culture and politics, one needs to understand the latent and often unrecognized legacies of race in shaping not only scientific disciplines like anthropology, but also the emergence and entrancement of modern Hungarian and Romanian nationalism.

Life and death at Teposcolula Yucundaa: Mortuary, archaeogenetic, and isotopic investigations of the early colonial period in Mexico

Abstract: Two mid-16 century cemeteries are investigated at the Mixtec site of Teposcolula Yucundaa and shown to be related to the unidentified cocoliztli pandemic of 1545-1548. Through archaeogenetic and oxygen stable isotope analysis it is shown that the interred individuals are local Mixtecs, and mortuary analysis sheds light on both Christian and traditional religious practices at the site. Mitochondrial haplogroup frequencies do not support severe population bottlenecking during the 16 century epidemic period, and carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis does not support a shift away from maize consumption, despite evidence for increased wheat production at the site. In order to further refine Middle American stable isotope-based paleodietary models, a large-scale empirical study was conducted on the isotopic diversity of regional crop plants, and an experimental feeding study in swine was developed to determine the isotopic effects of nixtamalization on mineralized tissues.

Histories of American physical anthropology in the twentieth century

Abstract: 1 Table of Contents 2 Preface 3 Contributors to the Volume Chapter 4 1. Introduction to the History of American Physical Anthropology Chapter 5 2. "Physical" Anthropology at the Turn of the Last Century Chapter 6 3. Franz Boas's Place in American Physical Anthropology and Its Institutions Chapter 7 4. Ale? Hrdlicka and the Founding of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology: 1918 Chapter 8 5. Principal Figures in Early 20th Century Physical Anthropology: With Special Treatment of Forensic Anthropology Chapter 9 6. The Founding of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists (AAPA): 1930 Chapter 10 7. Principal Figures in Physical Anthropology before and During World War II Chapter 11 8. The Post War Years: The Yearbook of Physical Anthropology and the Summer Institutes Chapter 12 9. Sherwood Washburn and "The New Physical Anthropology" Chapter 13 10. The Two Twentieth Century Crises of Racial Anthropology Chapter 14 11. Race and the Conflicts within the Profession of Physical Anthropology during the 1950s and 1960s Chapter 15 12. 75 Years of the Annuals Meetings of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, 1930-2004 Chapter 16 13. Description, Hypothesis Testing, and Conceptual Advances in Physical Anthropology: Have We Moved On?

Whither race? Physical anthropology in post-1945 Central and Southeastern Europe

Abstract: Although research on the history of physical anthropology in Central and Southeastern Europe has increased significantly since the 1990s the impact race had on the discipline's conceptual maturity has yet to be fully addressed. Once physical anthropology is recognized as having preserved inter-war racial tropes within scientific discourses about national communities, new insights on how na- tionalism developed during the 1970s and 1980s will emerge, both in countries belonging to the communist East—Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania, and in those belonging to the West—Austria and Greece. By looking at the relationship be- tween race and physical anthropology in these countries after 1945 it becomes clear what enabled the recurrent themes of ethnic primordiality, racial continuity, and de-nationalizing of ethnic minorities not only to flourish during the 1980s but also to re-emerge overtly during political changes characterizing the last two decades.

A Life of Research in Biological Anthropology

Abstract: I much appreciated being invited to write a contribution for this journal, but initially presumed that what was required was a comprehensive review of some major issue in biological anthropology. Indeed I drafted a contribution on the history of the subject during the second part of the twentieth century. I was then firmly told that this was not what was wanted, rather something much more autobiographical. Well that is what you have got: an extremely personal account of my own research career over some 50 years in biological anthropology. I have summarized the results of what I consider the main projects I and my colleagues have undertaken and tried to document successes and failures. I cannot claim any earth-shattering discovery but hope that we have contributed in a substantial way to the further understanding of the nature of human variation, a main concern of biological anthropology in the second half of the twentieth century.

Anthropology at Jagiellonian University (Cracow, Poland) - past, present and future

Abstract: For nearly 150 years, aspects of biological anthropology have been taught at Jagiellonian University in Cracow. The first course was given in 1856 by J. Majer, who was professor of physiology in the Medical Faculty. The Department of Anthropology was established in 1908 and today it is one of the very few university departments in Poland that teaches and conducts research in biological anthropology. We offer a broad program for students of biology and social sciences. We offer an MSc and a PhD in Biology with a specialization in Physical Anthropology. Specialization in anthropology is very popular among biology students. Each year at least 20 students prepare graduate work (MSc degrees) in our department. In addition, at the present time 12 PhD students of Jagiellonian University are specializing in anthropology. Apart from the courses recommended for students of biology, we also offer a course for students of archeology, psychology, sociology and philosophy. Since the end of the SecondWorld War, the Department of Anthropology of Jagiellonian University has been one of the major sources of professional anthropologists in Poland. Our students are especially well prepared for careers in a variety of biomedical fields, including public health, ergonomics, forensic studies and bioarcheology.