The people (The excavation of Khok Phanom Di, a prehistoric site in central Thailand.

The people (The excavation of Khok Phanom Di, a prehistoric site in central Thailand. N.G. TAYLES. The people (The excavation of Khok Phanom Di, aprehistoric site in central Thailand V). xiv+382 pages, 89 figures, 143tables. 1999. London: Society of Antiquaries of London The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society, based in the United Kingdom, concerned with "the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries". ; 0-85431-270-6hardback 40 [pounds sterling]. This fifth volume of reports of excavations in Thailand is basedupon a Ph.D thesis by Nancy G. Tayles. Her study of 154 human skeletonsexcavated in 1985 from the Khok Phanom Di cemetery, dating from 2000 to1500 BC, concentrated on demographic data of age and sex distribution inthe burial area and reconstruction of health status of the individualspecimens from skeletal and dental markers in order to achieve `adynamic picture of them and their times which goes some way towardsdescribing a Thai population with confidence' (p. 321). This is a welcome contribution to the palaeodemography of SoutheastAsia, where meagre mea��geralso mea��gre ?adj.1. Deficient in quantity, fullness, or extent; scanty.2. Deficient in richness, fertility, or vigor; feeble: the meager soil of an eroded plain.3. attention has been given to the skeletal biology ofits ancient inhabitants. Many previous studies were based upon the nowdefunct practice of `racial palaeontology' preoccupied withcraniology cra��ni��ol��o��gyn.The scientific study of the characteristics of the skull, such as size and shape, especially in humans. and driven by racist and nationalistic motives held byinvestigators in an earlier era of anthropological theory. Tayles'employment of current computer-generated approaches and multivariatestatistics enhances the value of her study as a model for futurebiological anthropologists examining cemetery series in any part of theworld. Following a Preface, the 10 chapters include an introduction; adiscussion of census and demographic data of age, sex, mortality,fertility and intra-site comparisons; a review of skeletal and dentalmorphological variables; and five chapters about pathological conditionsand health profiles. The penultimate chapter discusses the associationof incidences of abnormal haemoglobins to malaria and the practice ofagriculture. The final chapter is an Appendix entitled `IndividualProfiles'. The volume concludes with a bibliography of 37 pages anda brief subject index. An author-name index is not included. Drawings,photographs, tables and maps are clear and precise. Among the conclusions derived from a study of patterns of physicalactivity at Khok Phanom Di, Tayles notes that possibly differentexpectations of young adults by the community may account for therelatively low degree of sexual dimorphism, as exhibited by smallstature differences of males and females. Or increased sensitivity ofmales to environmental stress during infancy and childhood could haveresulted in their low stature values. Elsewhere in this chapter, Taylesclaims that `adult males were robust and muscular and appear to havebeen physically very active' (p. 117), yet a decline in male healthis marked when `males were less physically active and lived shorterlives' (p. 317). Equally speculative are the author'scorrelations of health changes to shifts in the natural environmentrelated to sea levels and climate, cariogenic cariogenic (kerēōjen´ik),adj contributing to the advancement of caries. Often used in the context of describing sugary foods. dietary changes and higherfrequencies of malaria coincident with agricultural practices (pp.308-12). Although these reconstructions of the health and lifeways of anextinct 2nd-millennium BC population are valuable to thepalaeoanthropologist, certain problems are noted that merit commentwithout detracting from the overall high quality of the study.Measurements of cranial cranial/cra��ni��al/ (-al)1. pertaining to the cranium.2. toward the head end of the body; a synonym of superior in humans and other bipeds.cra��ni��aladj. and postcranial post��cra��ni��aladj.1. Situated behind the cranium.2. Consisting of the parts or structures behind the cranium. bones `were made using standardosteometric techniques' (p. 19). Alas, there are neither universalmensural men��su��ral?adj.1. Of or relating to measure.2. Music Having notes of fixed rhythmic value.[Late Latin m methodologies nor even consistent practices of how ameasurement can be taken in specific published sources where choices ofprocedure are offered and coded by numbers and letters. As the authormust be aware, methods for taking measurements on bones and teeth have ahistory going back to the 19th century when French, German, British andother `schools' of anthropometry anthropometry(ănthrəpŏm`ətrē), technique of measuring the human body in terms of dimensions, proportions, and ratios such as those provided by the cephalic index. were initiated. These nationalinstitutions have created revisions of earlier methods invented by theirfounders, e.g. Knussmann's (1988) recent revision of the Lehrbuchseries edited by Martin & Sailer (1957) which was a revision ofMartin's (1914) first edition of his Lehrbuch. Because Tayles hasnot provided her readers with the specifics and sources of her metrical met��ri��cal?adj.1. Of, relating to, or composed in poetic meter: metrical verse; five metrical units in a line.2. Of or relating to measurement. analyses, it would be difficult for another scientific investigator toduplicate her observations. It is a serious error to assign a single age at time of death to agiven skeletal specimen, as the reader will observe by inspecting someof the photographic figures. Only age ranges are acceptable, the valuesincreasing with the advancing age of the individual being examined, evenspanning a decade or more for older adults. Thus the note that a male is32 years of age (e.g. figure 27) is an improper procedure given thebroad spectrum of age-estimating criteria in the skeletons that mightallow this specimen to be reassessed at 30-35 years of age at time ofdeath. Although Tayles associates some instances of skeletal-muscularrobusticity to work activity, she omits any discussion of markers ofoccupational stress about which an impressive body of scientificliterature has been published within the past decade (Capasso et al.1999; Kennedy 1998). The neglect of this subject, that might haveconstituted a separate chapter, may reflect the author's dependencyupon older scientific sources, as cited in the text and bibliography,even omitting more recent revised editions of standard publications inhuman skeletal biology, e.g. citation of the 1971 edition of W.Bass' (1987) Human osteology osteology/os��te��ol��o��gy/ (os?te-ol��ah-je) scientific study of the bones. os��te��ol��o��gyn.The branch of anatomy that deals with the structure and function of bones. , now in its 2nd edition, and L.Cavalli-Sforza & associates' (1994) The history and geographyof human genes. There is more recent information about the Gua Cha sitein Maylaysia than reported in this volume, although Tayles' reviewof other Southeast Asian archaeological sites is a welcome contributionto the opening parts of her book. Current diagnoses of porotic hyperostosis with its remodeling ofcranial bones in a sufferer with anaemia anaemiasee anemia. focus upon iron deficiency inthe diet, although the phenotypic expression of abnormal haemoglobinsshould not be excluded from consideration, a subject that deserves moreattention than covered here. Excessive wear of the occlusal surfaces ofthe enamel dental crowns is attributed to `regular chewingactions', although Tayles notes that `wear is evenly spread aroundthe dental arcade', being slightly higher in males than in femalesof comparable age (p. 234). But this is not supported by an inspectionof several individuals represented in the photographs (figures34, E & F) where wear of the anterior dentition dentition,kind, number, and arrangement of the teeth of humans and other animals. During the course of evolution, teeth were derived from bony body scales similar to the placoid scales on the skin of modern sharks. exceeds that ofthe premolar-molar rows. This condition indicates a marker ofoccupational stress formed by use of the incisors and canines forgrasping when the mouth is used as a vice-like tool for holding objectsand performing other nondietary functions. The figures and tables are excellent, the former including metricalscales when osteological objects are illustrated. Some cranial specimensare represented by a number of aspects -- facial, right and leftlateral, superior, basal and superior. The degrees of bone and dentalpreservation are described for every specimen in the text and in theAppendix. There is minimal information about the possible social statusof the 154 individuals with respect to health profiles and ages but, infairness to the author, this volume should be read in connection withthe four volumes preceeding it in which archaeological contexts andassociation of grave goods are described. This is a book I shall recommend to my graduate students andfaculty colleagues as a significant contribution to thepalaeoanthroppology of central Thailand during the 2nd millenium BC. Itprovides a useful set of comparative metrical and morphological datathat will provide future comparative studies with the data to obtain aclearer picture of human biology, evolution, and lifeways of the ancientpeoples in adjacent portions of South East Asia. References BASS, W. 1971. Human osteology: A laboratory and field manual.Columbia (MO): Missouri Archaeological Society. 1987. Human osteology: A laboratory and field manual. Columbia(MO): Missouri Archaeological Society. 2nd edition. CAPASSO, L., K.A.R. KENNEDY & C.A. WILCZAK. 1999. Atlas ofoccupational markers in human remains. Journal of Paleontology The Journal of Paleontology is a scientific journal covering the field of paleontology, published by The Paleontological Society. It is indexed by BIOSIS Previews, Science Citation Index, The Zoological Record and GeoRef and has an impact factor of 0.4499[1]. MonographPublications 3: 1-184. Teramo, Italy: Edigrafica S.P.A. CAVALLI-SFORZA, L., P. MENOZZI & A. PIAZZI. 1994 The historyand geography of human genes. Princeton (NJ): Princeton UniversityPress. MARTIN, R. 1914. Lehrbuch der Anthropologie. Stuttgart: J.G.Fischer. MARTIN, R. & K. SALLER. 1957. Lehrbuch der Anthropologie insystematischer Darstellung: mit besonderer Berucksichtigung desanthropologischen Methoden. Stuttgart: Fischer. 3rd edition. KENNEDY, K.A.R. 1998 Markers of occupational stress: conspectus con��spec��tus?n. pl. con��spec��tus��es1. A general survey of a subject.2. A synopsis.[Latin, from past participle of c andresearch, International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 8(5): 305-10. KNUSSMANN, R. VON R. 1988. Anthropologie: Handbuch dervergleichenden Biologie der Mensehen 1(1). Wissenschafts-theorie,Geschichte, morphologischen Methoden. Stuttgart: Fischer. KENNETH A.R. KENNEDY Department of Ecology & EvolutionaryBiology Cornell University, Ithaca (NY)