Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction
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PALEODEMOGRAPHY: METHODS AND RECENT ADVANCES Maru Mormina Department of Applied Social Studies, University of Winchester, Winchester, UK
Synonyms Bioarchaeology; Evolutionary history; Human population history Definition Paleodemography refers to the description and explanation of biological adaptations, mortality, fertility, and migratory patterns of prehistoric populations, within the explanatory framework of evolutionary theory. Traditionally, paleodemography relied on morphological studies of bioarchaeological (bone material) evidence, although in recent years it has also been based on DNA and stable isotope evidence as well. Introduction Paleodemography is concerned with the impact of cultural and environmental change on the lives of past peoples. Once the preserve of paleontologists, anthropologists, and archaeologists, it now attracts biologists, geneticists, bioinformaticians, and chemists with fresh methods and perspectives that have made this field an exciting multidisciplinary endeavor. Knowledge of past human populations traditionally came from studying human osteological remains from archaeological contexts. The primary concern was the description and characterization of biological differences, and where temporal differences in skeletal morphology were found, these were interpreted in terms of migration and replacement. For example, the indigenous people of Tierra del Fuego (at the southern tip of
South America) show a robust morphology, substantially different from the gracile morphology of other Amerindians. While this was initially interpreted as the result of the Fuegians belonging to an earlier migration into the continent (Lahr, 1995), other studies suggested that their morphology may reflect local adaptation to hard diets and extreme climate or long-term population isolation (Bernal et al., 2006). Further studies involving genetic analyses have now concluded that Fuegians and Amerindians share a common ancestry and come from the same migration that populated the rest of the Southern Cone (Perez et al., 2007, Perez et al., 2009). This example highlights how modern disciplines and new methodologies, such as genetics, can inform and change traditional paradigms in paleodemographic studies. The first part of this review highlights the general methodological issues linked to paleodemographic studies (including the contribution of modern approaches such as genetics and isotope analyses); the second part discusses some of paleodemography’s current topics.
Methods in paleodemography: issues and current advances Sources of paleodemographic data: bioarchaeological material and preservation issues. Our ability to reconstruct the life and lifestyle of past populations depends largely on the quantity and quality of the recovered archaeological finds. Biological material of paleodemographic interest is often not well preserved in archaeological sites. Hard tissue (primarily bone) is most commonly recovered, but, occasionally, soft (mummified) tissue can also be preserved, providing further opportunities for
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