BAN CHIANG,
A PREHISTORIC VILLAGE
S ITE IN NORTHEAST THAILAND
, I: THE HUMAN SKELETAL
R EMAINS . By Michael Pietrusewsky and Michele
Toomay Douglas. Philadelphia. University of Pennsylvania
Press. 2002. 493 pp. ISBN 0-924171-92-8. $100
(cloth).
The Ban Chiang site dates from ca. 2100 B.C.
to A.D. 200, spanning the Pre-metal, Bronze, and Iron Ages. At
the early end of the sequence, populations were proficient, albeit
nonintensive, rice agriculturalists. Later, rice production increased
via the adoption of paddy cultivation and use of the water buffalo
as a traction animal. Building upon the general themes of subsistence,
lifestyle, and population history, this monograph seeks to 1)
characterize morphology and pathology in the Ban Chiang skeletal
remains in particular and the region in general, 2) document the
impact of agricultural intensification on health and lifestyle,
and 3) identify patterns of social change in relation to health
and other biological parameters.
The first three chapters outline the context
of the site and general goals of the investigation; the methods
of data collection and analysis and processes of inventory, sex
and age determination, measurement, nonmetric observations, and
paleopathology; and the condition of the skeletal remains and
taphonomic considerations. The core of the monograph presents
various analyses in individual chapters on paleodemography, cranial
morphology, dental morphology, dental paleopathology, tooth use
and modification, postcranial morphology, and postcranial pathology.
For each chapter the authors go to great lengths
to present the assumptions underlying the study, such as how potential
sampling biases might affect the construction and interpretation
of the death sample. Pietrusewsky and Douglas argue that the equal
representation of both sexes and the presence of individuals from
all age groups indicate that the skeletons are representative
of the original living population. The analysis of cranial, dental,
and postcranial nonmetric data reveals the likelihood that the
population represented by the skeletons is a biological continuum,
thus indicating that any temporal changes in health and other
areas reflect developments in an evolving population.
The fund of information available for cranial,
dental, and postcranial pathology provides a comprehensive retrospective
on the history of health. Contrary to other prehistoric agricultural
settings around the world (especially in the Americas), the authors
found low frequencies of caries and other pathologies of infectious
origin. Pietrusewsky and Douglas attribute the low frequencies
of caries to the presence of a dietary regime that was broadly
based on a range of domestic and nondomestic resources. This interpretation
is a sound one, but I would also suggest that rice may not be
as cariogenic as other starches, a notion borne out by bioarchaeological
analyses from other settings of Southeast Asia (e.g., Oxenham,
[2000]; Tayles et al., [2000]). The analysis also reveals no evidence
of infectious lesions that could be attributed to specific endemic
diseases (e.g., tuberculosis or treponematosis), and the frequency
of nonspecific periostitis (periosteal reactions) was also quite
low. The only pathological condition to show an appreciable change
over time was an increase in hypoplasias, which the authors attribute
to possible increased physiological stress as agriculture intensified.
This finding is consistent with many other settings that have
been analyzed by bioarchaeologists. However, the overwhelming
lack of temporal change in pathology suggests that the intensification
of agriculture did not occasion a decline in health for this setting.
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Pathology associated with activity and workload
(degenerative joint disease, enthesiopathies, and related conditions)
is present in appreciable levels, suggesting that life for the
prehistoric inhabitants of Ban Chiang was physically demanding.
Like most other skeletal samples from archaeological settings,
males display more evidence of activity-related pathology than
females. Numerous fractures are present, but all appear to reflect
injuries sustained through accidental rather than violent means.
Comparisons with other series from Thailand
(Non Nok Tha, Non Pa Kluay, and Khok Phanom Di) show that Ban
Chiang is not unusual in having relatively low frequencies of
pathologies of infectious origin. On the other hand, the single
coastal series (Khok Phanom Di) shows evidence of more pathology,
which may reflect important differences in health and quality
of life in comparing coastal and inland settings. This and other
issues relating to variation in health in prehistoric Southeast
Asia remain to be investigated.
This is an important book. It provides the
first comprehensive study of its kind for the earlier inhabitants
of this area of the world. Owing to the publication of this volume,
we now know a lot more than we did before about this region of
Asia. The book contributes a wholly new window onto environmental,
social, and biological factors surrounding the intensification
of agriculture and onto alterations in subsistence patterns and
technology. Importantly, this study opens our eyes to the strong
likelihood that the intensification of agriculture did not result
in a uniform decline in human health. Still to be learned is the
impact of the shift from foraging to farming in this region on
health and quality of life.
The book is also important because it presents
a comprehensive overview of the skeletal remains, not only in
individual chapters but also in the presentation of an amazing
body of comparative information in the five appendices, including
an easy-to-use CD-ROM containing the raw data. Finally, the book
presents a thorough context for the study, analysis, and interpretation
of findings.
It is clear that the authors put a great deal
of effort into the production of this handsome monograph. This
is a must-read for anyone interested in archaeological human skeletons
and the information they provide about the human past.
CLARK SPENCER
LARSEN
Department of Anthropology
Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio
LITERATURE CITED
Oxenham MF. 2000. Health and behavior during the mid-Holocene
and Metal period of northern Viet Nam. Ph.D. dissertation. Northern
Territory University, Darwin, Australia.
Tayles N, Domett K, Nelson K. 2000. Agriculture and dental caries?
The case of rice in prehistoric Southeast Asia. World Archaeol
32: 68-83.
DOI 10.1002/ajpa.10159
Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com)
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