2 - Paleodemography: looking back and thinking ahead

Summary

Introduction

Paleodemography is the field of inquiry that attempts to identify demographic parameters from past populations derived from archaeological contexts. Questions have been explored primarily by physical anthropologists through the analysis of skeletal remains, although such information can be augmented with associated documentary information available from epigraphy, census and parish records, or, sometimes, primary literary sources.

When demographic parameters are known or can be estimated, it is argued that the resultant population structure is predictable and can be extended either forward or backward in time to examine the significance of sets of parameters (Howell 1986:219). However, paleodemographic theory relies upon several assumptions that cannot be readily validated by the researcher. The primary assumption of paleodemographic reconstructions is that the age and sex profiles seen within the sample of dead individuals provide a clear and accurate reflection of those parameters within the once-living population – that is, the numbers, ages and sexes of the mortality sample accurately reflect the death rate of the population. Second, any bias that may affect the data can be recognized and taken into account (Ubelaker 1989).

Historical perspectives

By 1950, the subject of human longevity in the past had been tackled by the occasional inquiry (e.g., Lankester 1870; Pearson 1902; MacDonnell 1913; Hooton 1930; Vallois, 1937; Willcox 1938; Weidenreich 1939; Senyürek 1947).