The Science of Roman History: Biology, Climate, and the Future of the Past

Published by Princeton University Press 2018

The Science of Roman History

Biology, Climate, and the Future of the Past

Edited by: Walter Scheidel

https://doi.org/10.23943/9781400889730

Overview
Contents

About this book

How the latest cutting-edge science offers a fuller picture of life in Rome and antiquity

This groundbreaking book provides the first comprehensive look at how the latest advances in the sciences are transforming our understanding of ancient Roman history. Walter Scheidel brings together leading historians, anthropologists, and geneticists at the cutting edge of their fields, who explore novel types of evidence that enable us to reconstruct the realities of life in the Roman world.

Contributors discuss climate change and its impact on Roman history, and then cover botanical and animal remains, which cast new light on agricultural and dietary practices. They exploit the rich record of human skeletal material--both bones and teeth—which forms a bio-archive that has preserved vital information about health, nutritional status, diet, disease, working conditions, and migration. Complementing this discussion is an in-depth analysis of trends in human body height, a marker of general well-being. This book also assesses the contribution of genetics to our understanding of the past, demonstrating how ancient DNA is used to track infectious diseases, migration, and the spread of livestock and crops, while the DNA of modern populations helps us reconstruct ancient migrations, especially colonization.

Opening a path toward a genuine biohistory of Rome and the wider ancient world, The Science of RomanHistory offers an accessible introduction to the scientific methods being used in this exciting new area of research, as well as an up-to-date survey of recent findings and a tantalizing glimpse of what the future holds.

Author / Editor information

Walter Scheidel is the Dickason Professor in the Humanities, Professor of Classics and History, and a Kennedy-Grossman Fellow in Human Biology at Stanford University. He is the author or editor of seventeen previous books, including The Great Leveler: Violence and the History of Inequality from the Stone Age to the Twenty-First Century (Princeton).

Reviews

"This interdisciplinary book brings together the latest scientific methodologies to better understand the history of Rome and the ancient world. There really isn't another book like this."—Kristina Killgrove, University of West Florida

"The Science of Roman History is a very timely book. With state-of-the-art contributions by scholars who are leaders in their respective fields, it describes how the integration of natural and human archives is changing the entire historical enterprise. I highly recommend that all historians read this important contribution."—J. G. Manning, author of The Last Pharaohs

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Illustrations and Tables Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	vii
Notes on Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xiii
Maps Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xiv
Introduction Walter Scheidel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
CHAPTER 1. Reconstructing the Roman Climate Kyle Harper and Michael McCormick Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	11
CHAPTER 2. Archaeobotany: The Archaeology of Human-Plant Interactions Marijke van der Veen Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	53
CHAPTER 3. Zooarchaeology: Reconstructing the Natural and Cultural Worlds from Archaeological Faunal Remains Michael MacKinnon Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	95
CHAPTER 4. Bones, Teeth, and History Alessandra Sperduti, Luca Bondioli, Oliver E. Craig, Tracy Prowse and Peter Garnsey Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	123
CHAPTER 5. Human Growth and Stature Rebecca Gowland and Lauren Walther Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	174
CHAPTER 6. Ancient DNA Noreen Tuross and Michael G. Campana Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	205
CHAPTER 7. Modern DNA and the Ancient Mediterranean Roy J. King and Peter A. Underhill Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	224
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	249