Demographic anthropology

Abstract

K E Y W O R D S : enthnographic census, life tables, paleodemography, population models 1 | I N TR ODU C TI ON Demography is the study of population dynamics. The primary foci of demography are rates and levels of mortality, fertility, and migration and how these all interact to produce population growth (or decline), density, and age-and sex-structures; how these rates or levels vary across time and space and what produces such variation; and what consequences these have on other aspects of human (or nonhuman) existence. These demographic phenomena lie at the very heart of evolution. Natural selection occurs as a result of differential fertility and mortality within a population; gene flow occurs because of migration between populations; and the effects of genetic drift are dependent upon population size, which is an outcome of the interactions among mortality, fertility, and migration (Gage, DeWitte, & Wood, 2012).These demographic forces also affect, are affected by, and reflect many of the things that anthropologists find most interesting. For example, the age-sex structure of a population influences the population's ratio of consumers to producers and numbers of potential marriage partners, and thus places limits on such things as subsistence strategies and household structure. The age-sex structure of a population can also significantly influence economic relationships among families and communities, as cultures often have inheritance and habitation rules that depend on the sex and sometimes age of individuals, and thus are inherently influenced strongly by demographic structure. Population growth and density affect socio-political structures and shape disease ecologies, which can, in turn, affect demographic rates and drive biological and cultural adaptations. Sociocultural phenomena also have the potential to powerfully shape demography. For example, warfare can have short-and long-term effects on sex ratios or age structures (as in the case of the post-World War II baby boom). Sexselective infanticide and abortion, and withholding of resources or medical care from daughters because of cultural preferences for sons affects sex ratios. Economic policies and warfare influence patterns of migration. Ultimately, demography is relevant to all fields of anthropology, whether or not all anthropologists are interested in demography itself and its effects on other aspects of human life. Although, as can be seen in the pages of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, numerous anthropologists over the last 100 years of the journal's existence have been explicitly interested in demography, and in demographic anthropology in particular. In contrast to national demography, which primarily focuses on large datasets (often derived from censuses) from European and other industrialized populations, demographic anthropology typically focuses on relatively small, nonindustrial populations from which data are collected as a part of ethnographic fieldwork. Demographic anthropology also examines the demography of populat...

Life History Transitions at the Origins of Agriculture: A Model for Understanding How Niche Construction Impacts Human Growth, Demography and Health

“…A key challenge for bioarchaeologists is the interpretation of detailed demographic and life history data from skeletal assemblages. There are many approaches to palaeodemographic interpretation of factors relevant to the interpretation of life history traits, such as population structure, mortality, and migration (283), the challenges of which have been discussed at length (284). New osteological approaches have also been developed for the interpretation of fertility (285) and the timing of puberty (286) that deserve greater attention.…”

Paleodemographic analysis of age at death for a population of Black Sea Scythians: An exploration by using Bayesian methods

“…In contemporary anthropology, there is a methodological consensus that this uncertainty needs to be formally quantified, ideally through probability distributions (Caussinus & Courgeau, 2010; Hoppa & Vaupel, 2002; Séguy & Buchet, 2013). The recent review in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology (DeWitte, 2018) and the seminal monographs dealing with this topic (Hoppa & Vaupel, 2002; Séguy & Buchet, 2013) all point towards the use of Bayesian approaches as a natural way to describe this estimation uncertainty in a formal, coherent and transparent manner.…”

Reconstructing prehistoric demography: What role for extant hunter‐gatherers?

“…One common feature of many prehistoric skeletal assemblages is the lack of older (aged 40 +) individuals. Whether this is an accurate representation of longevity in this past is a long-standing debate in skeletal paleodemography, 54 and if not, how do we explain their absence from the archeological record?…”