162 asian perspectives . 43(1) . spring 2004 tion and speculations toward an adapta- cited in the text) shows there are more re- tionist one. What I find poignant in this alistic models of prehistoric human behav- honest monograph is the author’s evident ior than those imagined by Steadman (1995 struggle to reconcile finding no facts to and others), and certainly warrants a call for support the currently popular idea that hu- incorporating physical causal factors, such man populations (whether initially profli- as habitat fragmentation (Burkey 1995) and gate or later growing too dense for their climatic and sea-level oscillations during resources to sustain without damage) in the the late Holocene (Nunn 1998; Dickinson Pacific islands inevitably decreased envi- 2001; Hunter-Anderson 2002) into our ronmental diversity through inappropriate explanatory models. farming methods, over-hunting of birds, and unrestrained marine resource pro- REFERENCES CITED curement: ‘‘That resource depression and extinctions were not more visible archae- Burkey,T.V. ologically may signal that human popula- 1995 Extinction rates in archipelagoes: Im- tions, albeit quite low in number, lived in plications for populations in frag- mented habitats. Conservation Biology a sustainable manner—a unique situation 9(3):527–541. amongst many Pacific islands studied thus Dickinson,W.R. far’’ (p. 128). 2001 Paleoshoreline record of relative Weisler’s solution to this self-inflicted Holocene sea levels on Pacific islands. dilemma, of having documented an actual Earth-Science Reviews 55(2001):191– case of Pacific islanders making a ‘‘sustain- 234. able living’’ for about two thousand years Hunter-Anderson,R.L. and counting, is the typical inductivist call 2002 The e¤ects of Holocene climatic for more data, using a ‘‘comparative ap- oscillations upon human population radiations into Remote Oceania and proach’’ wherein ‘‘we may come to under- consequences for cultural variation in stand the breadth of atoll adaptations— the Marianas. Paper presented at the technological, economic and social’’ (p. 17th Indo-Pacific Prehistory Associa- 128). With On the Margins as an example tion meetings in Taipei, Sept. 9–15. of the attention to detail in data collection Nunn,P.D. and presentation required, a more eco- 1998 Sea-level changes over the past 1,000 years in the Pacific. Journal of Coastal nomic approach would be for Pacific Research 14:23–30. archaeologists to re-examine their already- Steadman collected ‘‘data’’ on allegedly human- ,D.W. 1995 Prehistoric extinctions of Pacific is- caused environmental changes. The Mar- land birds: Biodiversity meets zooar- shallese case (and here I refer to this and chaeology. Science 267:1123–1131. other publications of Weisler’s and others

Ban Chiang, A Prehistoric Village Site in Northeast Thailand I: The Human Skeletal Remains. Michael Pietrusewsky and Michele Toomay Douglas. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, University Museum Monograph 111, 2002. 493 pp. $100.00 (hardcover). ISBN 0-924171-92-8. Reviewed by Marc Oxenham, School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University

This is the first major publication on Asian assemblage to combine a bioarchaeo- the past human biology of a Southeast logical and more traditional quantitative-

Asian Perspectives,Vol.43,No.1( 2004byUniversityofHawai‘iPress. book reviews 163 qualitative morphological analysis. The re- chaeological populations. The sex ratios sult is a very well-integrated study of the were slightly dissimilar between the tem- inhabitants of Ban Chiang, who lived some porally earlier and later subsamples of the 4100 to 800 years ago on the northern as- assemblage, although they suggest this to pect of the Khorat Plateau. Pietrusewsky is be more artifactual than indicative of ac- a prominent biological anthropologist who tual demographic sex ratio di¤erences. The has been researching in the Asia-Pacific re- mortality profiles di¤ered by sex and this gionforoveraquartercentury.Douglas was attributed to increased female mortal- analyzed the Ban Chiang assemblage for ity during their principle reproductive life her doctoral thesis under the supervision of stage. The authors also employ a number Pietrusewsky. of demographic formulae that have been The monograph is presented as 13 chap- demonstrated to be robust to age-at-death tersofvariablelengthwithfiveextensive estimation and sampling biases. A combi- appendices and a CD-ROM that provides a nation of the juvenile-adult ratio and mea- wealth of data on various pathologies, skel- sure of mean childhood mortality suggested etal completeness, nonmetric variation, and that the Ban Chiang population had low so forth. Moreover, a very useful index has levels of fertility and was likely static or also been included. The introductory chap- even slightly declining. However, a mea- ter briefly reviews the history of archaeo- sure of the proportion of juvenile and old logical work in Thailand previous to the dependents was extremely low and sug- Ban Chiang excavations in the 1970s. The gested to the authors that life was relatively site itself is then introduced followed by ‘‘easy’’ in terms of this measure at least. the chief aims of the monograph, which Chapter 5 describes the sample in terms include the e¤ects of sedentism and agri- of qualitative and quantitative measures of cultural intensification, evidence for social cranial morphology. Pietrusewsky has pub- hierarchy, and patterns of (and explanations lished extensively on morphological varia- for) di¤erential health. tion, microevolutionary change, and mi- Chapter 2 is a very brief review of gratory patterns within the East Asian and methods employed in excavation, skeletal Pacific region. The chief findings in this preparation, recording, sex and age-at- chapter were that the sample is morpho- death determination, stature estimation, logically consistent with an East Asian and/ and nonmetric trait pathology recording. or Pacific ancestry. Moreover, the study While much of these data are summarized seems to suggest the practice of exogamy in the appendixes, the specific details, in- at Ban Chiang, with males clustering in cluding the frequent problems and solu- terms of specific sets of nonmetric traits. A tions that arise with fragmentary material concise examination of dental morphology concerning age and sex determination, are notes the relative small size of the Ban not reviewed. This is a troubling oversight Chiang molar dentition and finds some given skeletal preservation problems de- evidence for genetic continuity within the tailed in Chapter 3 and reliance on accurate temporally earlier grouping and possible constitutive data in the subsequent palaeo- genetic discontinuity between the two demographic analysis in Chapter 4. Chap- samples. The authors also suggest the series, ter 3 goes on to review aspects of skeletal as a whole, is allied with the Sundadont completeness, mortuary behavior, and gen- dental pattern. However, the results of this eral taphonomic factors that can a¤ect skel- particular analysis can only be provisional etal preservation and notes some that have given the restricted number of traits exam- impacted the Ban Chiang assemblage spe- ined. cifically. Most dental pathologies examined by Detailed data analysis begins in Chapter bioarchaeologists are reviewed in Chapter 4 with an investigation of the demographic 7. This section is somewhat anomalously makeup of the assemblage. They note that, titled ‘‘Dental Paleopathology’’ given the overall, the age-at-death distribution ap- extensive treatment of oral traits that are proaches that observed in general for ar- not strictly pathological, such as dental 164 asian perspectives . 43(1) . spring 2004 enamel hypoplasia, and culturally mediated od(s) of occurrence remains stable. While alterations to the teeth, task-wear facets for the authors examined enamel hypoplasia example. While the authors are very thor- with respect to subadults and adults they ough in identifying and enumerating the did not look at this condition in relation various dental conditions, the discussion of to their reconstructed age-at-death profiles. their findings is not as comprehensive as This is an unfortunate omission as a num- it could have been. For instance, the fre- ber of studies have found a correlation be- quency and distribution of carious lesions tween mortality and evidence for enamel (by tooth class and location) is provided in hypoplasia (e.g., Duray 1996; Goodman detail but the subsequent discussion is su- and Armelagos 1988; Saunders and Keen- perficial. Reference is made to the rela- leyside 1999). tively low caries rate indicating a mixed A small chapter (8) follows on post- economy but no mention is made of the cranial morphology, variation, and stature. argument for rice having an extremely low Interesting findings included evidence for cariogenicity (e.g., Krasse 1985; Sreebny di¤erential use of the upper and lower 1983; Tayles et al. 2000). Moreover, a limbs by sex. Females tended to use their more detailed discussion of the specific lo- upper limbs and males their legs more in cations of lesions would have contributed strenuous activities. The section on non- to an understanding on the diet of this metric variation tended to support their sample (see following discussion of Chap- view of genetic continuity between the ter 11). Notwithstanding these comments earlier and later skeletal series at the site. however, this section and the appended This is important when considering intra- tables are a mine of information that future sample di¤erences in biology. Overall, their scholars will find indispensable in studying work on nonmetric variation makes a posi- the past inhabitants of Thailand. tive contribution to the otherwise poor It is worth mentioning their analysis of global and regional database on this aspect enamel hypoplasia given the enormous of skeletal biology. comparative literature available on this in- Chapter 9 focuses on pathological con- dicator of metabolic/physiologic state in ditions in the samples and forms the largest childhood. Again, the authors are to be single section in this monograph. The au- commended on their thorough and de- thors begin with a competent review and tailed presentation of data on this condition descriptions of the evidence for traumatic by sex and tooth class. However, discussion injury in the sample. Their cautious con- oftheresultslacksdepthandthisisalso clusion that the patterning of trauma in the true of the comparative section on enamel sample is consistent with everyday injuries, hypoplasia in Chapter 11. It is interesting falls, and general misadventure, is com- that their results on the timing of hypo- mendable. However, I would have liked to plastic events by tooth class were consistent see a more detailed review of the literature with many such studies globally. Given examining patterns of trauma and behav- their familiarity with the following study it ior. Regarding the skeletal evidence for might have been useful to point out that infectious disease the authors describe and their results provide further evidence in discuss the material element by element. support of Skinner and Goodman’s (1992) Given the low frequency of evidence for work that what is being measured in such infectious disease it may have been more instances are not peak periods of stress as- appropriate, and certainly more useful in sociated with weaning, or whatever, but terms of di¤erential diagnoses, to look at rather the time of peak enamel formation. appropriate individuals in a series of case This observation, incidentally, provides a studies. One interesting di¤erential diagno- reason why the observed frequency of sis of a neonate included a compelling ar- enamel hypoplasia increases over time (be- gument for Ca¤ey’s disease. This would tween the two temporally discrete subsam- makeitthefirstsuchcaseobservedin ples; see Chapter 11) while the peak peri- Southeast Asia to date. book reviews 165

The frequency of cribra orbitalia is pre- severe forms of OA in a skeletal series sented with 15.2 percent of adults and 41.7 representing an extremely underresearched percent of subadults displaying some form region of the globe. of cribrotic lesion. These results are mod- Following the section on osteoarthritis erate with respect to other Southeast Asian the authors detail what they term activity- samples. Again, as with the omission with induced indicators. For the most part this respect to their study of enamel hypoplasia, involves describing and illustrating mor- the authors did not examine the distri- phological variants, squatting facets for ex- bution of cribra orbitalia by age-at-death. ample, or various enthesial and syndesmosal Some detail is given to enumerating the developments. This section is useful in doc- various skeletal malformations present in umenting these features, although a more this series. While an important contribution supportive and literature-based discussion to the regional and global database of such of their conclusions regarding inferred be- conditions, it is of limited relevance to haviors would have been useful. This is the health and question of sample genetic particularly pertinent in light of the almost homogeneity/heterogeneity. complete lack of clinical supporting litera- The authors also summarize the nature ture for occupational and activity-related and prevalence of osteoarthritis (or degen- claims often made by bioarchaeologists erative joint disease) in the sample. They ( Jurmain 1999; Stirland 1998). found the overall frequency of osteo- The following short chapter, titled arthritis to be relatively low, with less than ‘‘Noteworthy Burials,’’ details the disposi- 6 percent of the sample showing evidence tion, burial goods, and biology of a number of moderate to severe forms. Consistent of individuals and collections of individuals. with other bioarchaeological studies, the It is a very interesting and useful addition frequency of male appendicular OA was to the monograph that provides more higher than that for females, which they personal insights into the people of Ban interpret as suggestive of a division of labor: Chiang.Itisalsoasectionthatmayhave ‘‘males performing more strenuous physical been better placed near the beginning of labor than females’’ (p. 144). However, a this volume in giving the reader a glimpse more prosaic reason for this di¤erence is of things to come later on. available when examining the demographic Chapter 11 examines intrasample vari- profile of the sample. Their sample is ability in terms of genetic homogeneity and slightly biased toward males and is strongly di¤erential health. In the former case the biased toward older males. Furthermore, a authors address the questions (1) ‘‘is there more critical engagement with the litera- evidence of a new, morphologically distinct ture would have shown that in clinical stu- population moving into the area during dies of modern populations males tend to the second half of the second millennium have a generally higher prevalence of OA b.c.?’’ (p. 190) and (2) does health change up to about age fifty and thereafter it is with the archeologically visible change in women who are more at risk (Roberts and subsistence orientation in the first half of Burch 1966, cited in Moskowitz 1993). the first millennium b.c.? While the ques- Furthermore, Rogers et al. (1997) show a tion of genetic continuity between the two positive correlation between osteophyte skeletal series represented at Ban Chiang development, age, and being male. Osteo- needed to be dealt with much earlier in arthritis is an extremely complex multi- the monograph the authors do conclude, factorial condition with behavior being based on nonmetric analyses of cranial, only one of numerous potentially contri- postcranial, and dental traits, that the col- buting factors to its occurrence and distri- lective samples are likely genetically homo- bution by joint, age, sex, and so forth. geneous or in other words display genetic Overall, the authors are to be commended continuity over time. for providing an invaluable series of de- The remainder of this chapter deals with scriptions and illustrations of the more the second question regarding health in 166 asian perspectives . 43(1) . spring 2004 terms of a select number of indicators: de- The results indicate the possibility of rank mographic profiles, carious lesions, enamel or status di¤erences in terms of this analysis, hypoplasia, cribra orbitalia, attained stature, although problems with identifying lineally trauma, and infections lesions. The demo- distinct groups, particularly given the lack graphic analyses of the subsamples support of corroborative archaeological evidence the hypothesis for a correlation between (di¤erential distribution of grave goods for changes in health and subsistence orienta- example) brings the entire endeavor into tions. For instance, there appears to be a question. Nonetheless, it is an innovative clear increase in mortality, decrease in av- approach that may prove useful in other erage age-at-death, and an increase in fer- bioarchaeological analyses with greater tility with the move to agriculture. sample sizes. The evidence from their analysis of oral The penultimate chapter serves to com- health does not, at face value, support the paratively place aspects of the Ban Chiang archaeological evidence for a change to an results into a regional context. The first emphasis on cereal grains in the latter tem- section of this chapter is essentially a fur- poral span of the assemblage. One obvi- ther development of Chapter 5 and it is ous reason for this that is not explored by unclear why these two parts were not com- the authors is the demonstrated extremely bined. Who these people were in terms of low cariogenicity of rice (see discussion of their evolutionary and/or migratory history Chapter 7) as compared to other cereals is something that needed to be established such as maize for which a correlation with at the beginning of the study, which was in increased dental disease is normally asso- fact one of the aims of Chapter 5. The re- ciated in bioarchaeological studies. Further, mainder of this chapter provides a useful, a closer examination of the patterning of albeit perfunctory, comparison of the Ban caries in the two temporally separate sam- Chiang palaeopathological findings with a ples (using data from the appendices and number of other studies of assemblages CD-ROM supplied with the monograph) from Thailand, but also, curiously, a study shows a marked increase in the proportion from South Asia, Harappa. Because the au- of both those lesions a¤ecting the anterior thors’ intent seems to be to provide sum- teeth and those a¤ecting noncrown areas marized comparisons without detailed dis- of the teeth in the temporally later agri- cussion, it may have been more e¤ective cultural sample. These observations are to incorporate the respective regional com- entirely consistent with a move to softer parisons of each pathological condition carbohydrate-rich foods in the latter part of within the appropriate preceding chapters. the temporal sequence, although not nec- Read in conjunction with Domett’s essarily boiled rice. In concluding this sec- (2001) recent monograph that compares tion the authors note that, with a few ex- most of the significant ancient skeletal ceptions such as the demographic results assemblages in Thailand (with the excep- and an observed increase in the frequency tion of Ban Chiang and Non Nok Tha) the of enamel hypoplasia over time, the major- reader will be well armed in understanding ity of health indicators examined suggest the health and behavior of the inhabitants little health costs associated with a move to of this fascinating and underresearched re- agriculture in Ban Chiang. gion. The authors conclude their mono- Thechapterfinisheswithanexamina- graph in five pages highlighting the chief tion of spatial variation in the site (that aims of their work but without any attempt portion excavated in the second season at a detailed synthesis. only) with the first objective being to de- This is an invaluable piece of published fine lineally distinct groups. Having ac- scholarly work that forms the third (after complished this, albeit only suggestively as Tayles 1999 and Domett 2001) compre- they point out, the authors then look for hensive and important thesis examining variability between these identified lineally issues of ancient human skeletal biology in close groups in terms of health markers. Southeast Asia. This book is professionally book reviews 167 fashioned with clear tabulated summaries of McCarty and W. J. Koopman. Phila- data and well-produced photographic illus- delphia: Lea and Febiger. trations. This volume will form an impor- Rogers,J.,L.Shepstone, and P. Dieppe tant resource for students of the prehistory 1997 Bone formers: osteophyte and enthe- of East Asia and tropical human biology in sophyte formation are positively as- sociated. Annals of the Rheumatic Dis- general for many years to come. Moreover, eases 56:85–90. any one interested in physical anthropology Saunders,S.R.,and A. Keenleyside or bioarchaeology needs a copy of this vol- 1999 Enamel hypoplasia in a Canadian his- ume on their shelf. toric sample. American Journal of Hu- man Biology 11:513–524. REFERENCES CITED Sreebny,L.M. 1983 Cereal availability and dental caries. Domett,K.M. Community Dentistry and Oral Epi- 2001 Health in Late Prehistoric Thailand. demiology 11(3):148–155. BAR International Series 946. Ox- Skinner,M.,and A. H. Goodman ford: Archaeopress. 1992 Anthropological uses of develop- Duray,S.M. mental defects of enamel, in Skeletal 1996 Dental indicators of stress and re- Biology of Past Peoples: Research Meth- duced age at death in prehistoric Na- ods: 153–174, ed. S. R. Saunders tive Americans. American Journal of and M. A. Katzenberg. New York: Physical Anthropology 99:275–286. Wiley-Liss. Jurmain,R.D. Stirland,A.J. 1999 Stories from the Skeleton: Behavioral Re- 1998 Musculoskeletal evidence for activity: construction in Human Osteology.Aus- Problems for evaluation. International tralia: Gordon and Breach Publishers. Journal of Osteoarchaeology 8:354–362. Goodman,A.H.,and G. J. Armelagos Tayles,N. 1988 Childhood stress and decreased lon- 1999 The Excavation of Khok Phanom Di: A gevity in a prehistoric population. Prehistoric Site in Central Thailand,vol. American Anthropologist 90:936–944. 4: The People.TheSocietyofAnti- quaries of London: Oxbow Books. Moskowitz,R.W. 1993 Clinical and laboratory findings in Tayles,N.,K.Domett, and K. Nelson osteoarthritis, in Arthritis and Allied 2000 Agriculture and dental caries? The Conditions: 1735–1760, ed. D. M. case of rice in prehistoric Southeast Asia. World Archaeology 32(1):68–83.

Southeast Asian Archaeology 1998. Proceedings of the 7th International Conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists. Berlin, 31 August–4 September 1998. Wibke Lobo and Stefanie Reimann, eds. Hull: Centre for South-East Asian Studies, University of Hull, 2002. viii þ 288 pp., many B&W photos, maps, tables and site plans, bibliography. ISBN 0-903122-10-3. Reviewed by John N. Miksic, Southeast Asian Studies Programme, National University of Singapore

This volume, like its antecedents in the se- than topic, so one must scan the table of ries, contains something for everyone: pre- contents to locate chapters relevant to one’s history, historical studies, site reports, and specialty. On the other hand, most articles discussions of analytical techniques. Ar- are of a su‰cient degree of interest and rangement is by author’s last name rather breadth of coverage that nonspecialists in a

Asian Perspectives,Vol.43,No.1( 2004 by University of Hawai‘i Press.