The Oxford Handbook Of The Archaeology Of Diet

The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Diet aims to provide a survey of both the diversity of human diet in the past as well as providing solid information on the many approaches to the topic. Thus the aim was not just to present what we know, but how we gain that understanding. The first section presents research on the diets of non-human primates and ancestral humans using a variety of approaches to explore their environmental, biological and cultural contexts. The second section aims to show how human diet has diversified along with human expansion across the globe, from Africa to Eurasia, the Americas and Oceania. The third section focuses on human diet, health and disease across the lifespan and includes ethnographic and clinical studies as well as bioarchaeological approaches to assessing growth, health and disease in the context of diet. Each chapter combines a specific methodological approach with key research questions about past dietary adaptations.

Written by a team of experts and presenting the results of the most up-to-date research, The Handbook of Anglo-Saxon Archaeology will both stimulate and support further investigation into a society poised at the interface between prehistory and history.

Humans are unique among animals for the wide diversity of foods and food preparation techniques that are intertwined with regional cultural distinctions around the world. The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Diet explores evidence for human diet from our earliest ancestors through the dispersal of our species across the globe. As populations expanded, people encountered new plants and animals and learned how to exploit them for food and other resources. Today, globalization aside, the results manifest in a wide array of traditional cuisines based on locally available indigenous and domesticated plants and animals. How did this complexity emerge? When did early hominins actively incorporate animal foods into their diets, and later, exploit marine and freshwater resources? What were the effects of reliance on domesticated grains such as maize and rice on past populations and the health of individuals? How did a domesticated plant like maize move from its place of origin to the northernmost regions where it can be grown? Importantly, how do we discover this information, and what can be deduced about human health, biology, and cultural practices in the past and present? Such questions are explored in thirty-three chapters written by leading researchers in the study of human dietary adaptations. The approaches encompass everything from information gleaned from comparisons with our nearest primate relatives, tools used in procuring and preparing foods, skeletal remains, chemical or genetic indicators of diet and genetic variation, and modern or historical ethnographic observations. Examples are drawn from across the globe and information on the research methods used is embedded within each chapter. The Handbook provides a comprehensive reference work for advanced undergraduate and graduate students and for professionals seeking authoritative essays on specific topics about diet in the human past.

The final chapter in this section explores the uses of food in the classroom.

For more than a century, the study of hunting and gathering societies has been central to the development of both archaeology and anthropology as academic disciplines, and has also generated widespread public interest and debate. The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology and Anthropology of Hunter-Gatherers provides a comprehensive review of hunter-gatherer studies to date, including critical engagements with older debates, new theoretical perspectives, and renewed obligations for greater engagement between researchers and indigenous communities. Chapters provide in-depth archaeological, historical, and anthropological case-studies, and examine far-reaching questions about human social relations, attitudes to technology, ecology, and management of resources and the environment, as well as issues of diet, health, and gender relations - all central topics in hunter-gatherer research, but also themes that have great relevance for modern global society and its future challenges. The Handbook also provides a strategic vision for how the integration of new methods, approaches, and study regions can ensure that future research into the archaeology and anthropology of hunter-gatherers will continue to deliver penetrating insights into the factors that underlie all human diversity.

There is an urgent need to better understand the causes and consequences of obesity, and to learn what works to prevent or reduce obesity. This volume accurately and conveniently summarizes the findings and insights of obesity-related research from the full range of social sciences including anthropology, economics, government, psychology, and sociology. It is an excellent resource for researchers in these areas, both bringing them up to date on the relevant research in their own discipline and allowing them to quickly and easily understand the cutting-edge research being produced in other disciplines. The Oxford Handbook of the Social Science of Obesity is a critical reference for obesity researchers and is also valuable for public health officials, policymakers, nutritionists, and medical practitioners. The first section of the book explains how each social science discipline models human behavior (in particular, diet and physical activity), and summarizes the major research literatures on obesity in that discipline. The second section provides important practical information for researchers, including a guide to publicly available social science data on obesity and an overview of the challenges to causal inference in obesity research. The third part of the book synthesizes social science research on specific causes and correlates of obesity, such as food advertising, food prices, and peers. The fourth section summarizes social science research on the consequences of obesity, such as lower wages, job absenteeism, and discrimination. The fifth and final section reviews the social science literature on obesity treatment and prevention, such as food taxes, school-based interventions, and medical treatments such as anti-obesity drugs and bariatric surgery.

Fully updated, the Oxford Handbook of Nutrition and Dietetics, second edition is a practical quick-reference guide to nutrition in the prevention and treatment of disease and the maintenance of good health.

This handbook provides an authoritative guide to the full range of archaeological activities past and present. It will give the reader a sense of the history of the subject and of the main theoretical debates, as well as a taste of the excitement generated by archeological exploration.