Palaeopathology of Aboriginal Australians: Health and Disease across a Hunter-Gatherer Continent

by Stephen Webb

Overview

Using data collected from all parts of the continent, this book is a study of the health of Australia's original inhabitants over 50,000 years. It represents the first continental survey of its kind and is the first to quantify and describe important aspects of Australian hunter-gatherer health. Major categories of disease described are: stress, osteoarthritis, fractures, congenital deformations, neoplasms and non-specific and treponemal infections. The author also describes some surgical techniques used by Aboriginal people. A broad-ranging book offering fresh insight into the study of Australian prehistory and Aboriginal culture, the book also illuminates the origins and ecology of human disease.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521460446
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	04/28/1995
Pages:	338
Product dimensions:	6.69(w) x 9.61(h) x 0.83(d)

Table of Contents

Introduction; 1. General methodology; 2. The Upper Pleistocene pathology of Sunda and Sahul; 3. Pathology in Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene Australian hominids; 4. Stress in traditional Aboriginal society; 5. Infectious disease; 6. Osteoarthritis; 7. Trauma; 8. Dental disease; 9. Neoplastic disease; 10. Congenital disease; 11. The pathology of a Late Holocene Papua New Guinea community (Motupore); 12. A personal view of the reburial issue in Australia; 13. Conclusion.

Editorial Reviews

"Well written; extensive bibliography; excellent and highly instructive photographs and data tables. A worthwhile acquisition." N. Krusko, Choice

From the Publisher