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Health in Prehistoric Populations of the Santa Barbara Channel Islands

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Patricia M. Lambert
Patricia M. Lambert*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara CA 93106
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Abstract

Skeletal remains from the Santa Barbara Channel Islands, California were analyzed to evaluate the health consequences of an economic shift from a generalized maritime hunting-and-gathering adaptation to one focused increasingly on fishing. Changes in stature and in the frequency of inflammatory bone lesions suggest that health generally declined during this economic shift. This occurred despite an increase in the protein content of the diet. These data provide a basis for evaluating the significance of protein deficiency as a cause of the deterioration in health seen with the development of intensive agriculture.

Resumen

Resumen

Restos de esqueletos ubicados en el canal de las islas de Santa Bárbara, California, fueron analizados para evaluar las consecuencias que para la salud provocaría un cambio en la economía de una adaptación generalizada a la caza marítima y otra enfocada principalmente en la pesca. Cambios de estatura y la frecuencia en casos de huesos inflamados, sugieren que la salud generalmente decayó durante este cambio en la economía. Esto ocurrió a pesar del aumento en el contenido de proteína en la dieta. Estos datos proveen una base para la evaluación de deficiencia de proteína como causa del deterioro de la salud que acompaña al desarrollo intensivo de la agricultura.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 58 , Issue 3 , July 1993 , pp. 509 - 522
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1993

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