ABSTRACT
This selection provides substantive detail regarding the health impacts of the first epidemiologic transition that accompanied the adoption of agriculture by foraging populations. It shows how anthropologists assess health status, physical strength and functional limitation, and infectious and nutritional disease stress through analysis of bone lesions in skeletal remains. The selection describes the kinds of information that specific lesions can reveal about the living conditions of the person who bore them. It shows how comparative analysis of bones from different populations can provide insights into the impacts on health of changes in subsistence modes and living conditions.
