Life and Death in the Ancient City of Teotihuacan: A Modern Paleodemographic Synthesis

by Rebecca Storey

Overview

Cities arose independently in both the Old World and in the pre-Columbian New World. Lacking written records, many of these New World cities can be studied only through archaeology, including the earliest pre-Columbian city, Teotihuacan, Mexico, one of the largest cities of its time (150 B.C. to A.D. 750). Thus, an important question is how similar New World cities are to their Old World counterparts.

Before recent times, the dense populations of cities made them unhealthy places because of poor sanitation and inadequate food supplies. Storey's research shows clearly that although Teotihuacan was a very different environment and culture from 17th-century London, these two great cities are comparable in terms of health problems and similar death rates.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780817384357
Publisher:	University of Alabama Press
Publication date:	11/15/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	327
Lexile:	1430L (what's this?)
File size:	7 MB

Table of Contents

Contents Tables and Figures Preface 1. Anthropology and Paleodemography: The Problem and Its Theoretical Foundations 2. Teotihuacan and the Demography of Preindustrial Cities 3. The Tlajinga 33 Apartment Compound 4. The Tlajinga 33 Skeletons 5. General Demographic Characteristics of the Tlajinga 33 Population 6. Paleodemographic Analysis of the Tlajinga 33 Skeletons 7. Paleopathology, Health, and Mortality at Tlajinga 33 8. Mortality Models and the Demographic Significance of Tlajinga 33 Appendix: Metric Measurements Used in the Discriminant-Function Sexing References Cited Index

Editorial Reviews

Before recent times, the dense populations of cities made them unhealthy places because of poor sanitation and inadequate food supplies. Storey's (anthropology, U. of Houston) research shows that Teotihuacan, Mexico, one of the largest cities of its time (150 BC- AD 750), though very different from 17th-century London, had comparable health problems and a similar death rate. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

"This significant addition to the growing literature on Mesoamerican paleopathology and paleodemography should be methodologically emulated by all students of ancient human osteology. An excellent, provocative, error-free study that provides a firm foundation for additional and future research."
—Latin American Anthropology Review


"The reconstruction of the nutrition and health status of past populations is an exceedingly intriguing but difficult venture . . . but Storey has done an excellent job."
—American Anthropologist

From the Publisher