Demography in Archaeology

257 Pages·2006·4.88 MB·English

by  Andrew T. Chamberlain

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DEMOGRAPHY IN ARCHAEOLOGY
DemographyinArchaeologyisareviewofcurrenttheoryandmethodinthereconstruction
ofpopulationsfromarchaeologicaldata.Startingwithasummaryofdemographicconcepts
andmethods,thebookexamineshistoricalandethnographicsourcesofdemographicevidence
beforeaddressingthemethodsbywhichreliabledemographicestimatescanbemadefrom
skeletalremains,settlementevidenceandmodernandancientbiomolecules.Recentdebates
in palaeodemography are evaluated, new statistical methods for palaeodemographic recon-
structionareexplained,andthenotionthatpastdemographicstructuresandprocesseswere
substantiallydifferentfromthosepertainingtodayiscritiqued.Thebookcoversawidespanof
evidence,fromtheevolutionarybackgroundofhumandemographytotheinfluenceofnatural
andhuman-inducedcatastrophesonpopulationgrowthandsurvival.Thisisessentialread-
ingforanyarchaeologistoranthropologistwithaninterestinrelatingtheresultsoffieldand
laboratorystudiestobroaderquestionsofpopulationstructureanddynamics.
andrew t. chamberlain is Reader in Biological Anthropology at the University of
Sheffield.
CAMBRIDGE MANUALS IN ARCHAEOLOGY
GeneralEditor
GraemeBarker,UniversityofCambridge
AdvisoryEditors
ElizabethSlater,UniversityofLiverpool
PeterBogucki,PrincetonUniversity
Booksintheseries
PotteryinArchaeology,CliveOrton,PaulTyersandAlanVince
VertebrateTaphonomy,R.LeeLyman
PhotographyinArchaeologyandConservation,2ndedition,PeterG.Dorrell
AlluvialGeoarchaeology,A.G.Brown
Shells,CherylClaasen
Zooarchaeology,ElizabethJ.ReitzandElizabethS.Wing
SamplinginArchaeology,CliveOrton
Excavation,SteveRoskams
Teeth,2ndedition,SimonHillson
Lithics,2ndedition,WilliamAndrefskyJr.
GeographicalInformationSystemsinArchaeology,JamesConollyandMarkLake
DemographyinArchaeology,AndrewT.Chamberlain
CambridgeManualsinArchaeologyisaseriesofreferencehandbooksdesignedforan
internationalaudienceofupper-levelundergraduateandgraduatestudents,andprofessional
archaeologistsandarchaeologicalscientistsinuniversities,museums,researchlaboratories
andfieldunits.Eachbookincludesasurveyofcurrentarchaeologicalpracticealongside
essentialreferencematerialoncontemporarytechniquesandmethodology.
DEMOGRAPHY IN ARCHAEOLOGY
AndrewT.Chamberlain
  
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press
TheEdinburghBuilding,Cambridge,UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridg e.org /9780521593670
© Andrew T. Chamberlain 2006
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexceptionandtotheprovisionof
relevantcollectivelicensingagreements,noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplace
without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
Firstpublishedinprintformat 2006
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ToCliveandStephen,whopointedtheway.

CONTENTS
Listoffigures pagexiii
Listoftables xvi
Preface xviii
1 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Theprincipalconcernsofdemography 1
1.1.1 Whatisapopulation? 1
1.1.2 Populationcharacteristics 2
1.1.3 Demographicdata:fromindividuallifehistories
topopulationparameters 3
1.2 Demographyinarchaeology 4
1.2.1 Archaeologyandpeople 4
1.2.2 Populationpressure:causeoreffect? 4
1.2.3 Populationstructure 6
1.2.4 Healthanddisease 7
1.2.5 Migration 8
1.3 Sourcesofevidence 10
1.3.1 Theoreticalmodels 10
1.3.2 Ethnographicandhistoricalevidence 11
1.3.3 Archaeologicalevidence:skeletalremains,
settlementsandsitecatchments 11
1.3.4 Geneticandevolutionaryevidence 12
1.3.5 Evidencefromdisease 13
viii contents
2 DEMOGRAPHIC CONCEPTS, THEORY
AND METHODS 15
2.1 Populationstructure 15
2.1.1 Agecategoriesandagedistributions 15
2.1.2 Sexdistributions 18
2.1.3 Otherstructuringcategories 19
2.2 Populationgrowthanddemographictransition 19
2.2.1 Geometricandexponentialgrowth 19
2.2.2 Logisticgrowth 21
2.2.3 Demographictransition 23
2.3 Mortality,survivorshipandlifetables 25
2.3.1 Mortality 25
2.3.2 Survivorship 25
2.3.3 Stablepopulations 26
2.3.4 Thelifetable 27
2.3.5 Hazardfunctionsformodellingmortalityand
survivorship 32
2.4 Fertilityandpopulationprojection 35
2.4.1 Fertility 35
2.4.2 Populationprojection 36
2.5 Migrationandcolonisation 38
2.5.1 Migration 38
2.5.2 Colonisation 40
2.6 Populationstandardisationandcomparison 41
2.6.1 Populationstandardisation 41
2.6.2 Populationcomparison 43
3 HISTORICAL AND ETHNOGRAPHIC
DEMOGRAPHY 45
3.1 Documentarysourcesofdemographicdata 45
3.1.1 Vitalregistration 45
3.1.2 Censuses 46