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Paredes-Ruvalcaba N, Kim AW, Ndaba N, Cele L, Swana S, Bosire E, Moolla A. Coping mechanisms during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown in metropolitan Johannesburg, South Africa: A qualitative study. Am J Hum Biol 2023; 35:e23958. [PMID: 37427489 PMCID: PMC10776812 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23958] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2022] [Revised: 06/26/2023] [Accepted: 06/27/2023] [Indexed: 07/11/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic has caused prolonged stress on numerous fronts. While the acute health impacts of psychosocial stress due to the pandemic are well-documented, less is known about the resources and mechanisms utilized to cope in response to stresses during the pandemic and lockdown. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to identify and describe the coping mechanisms adults utilized in response to the stressors of the COVID-19 pandemic during the 2020 South African lockdown. METHODS This study included adults (n = 47: 32 female; 14 male; 1 non-binary) from the greater Johannesburg region in South Africa. Interviews with both closed and open-ended questions were administered to query topics regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were coded and thematically analyzed to identify coping mechanisms and experiences. RESULTS Adults engaged in a variety of strategies to cope with the pandemic and the ensued lockdown. The ability to access or engage in multiple coping mechanisms were either enhanced or constrained by financial and familial situations. Participants engaged in seven major coping mechanisms: interactions with family and friends, prayer and religion, staying active, financial resources, mindset reframing, natural remedies, and following COVID-19 prevention protocols. CONCLUSIONS Despite the multiple stressors faced during the pandemic and lockdown, participants relied on multiple coping strategies which helped preserve their well-being and overcome pandemic-related adversity. The strategies participants engaged in were impacted by access to financial resources and family support. Further research is needed to examine the potential impacts these strategies may have on people's health.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Andrew Wooyoung Kim
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
- SAMRC Developmental Pathways for Health Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Nokubonga Ndaba
- SAMRC Developmental Pathways for Health Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Lindile Cele
- SAMRC Developmental Pathways for Health Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Someleze Swana
- SAMRC Developmental Pathways for Health Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Edna Bosire
- Brain and Mind Institute, Aga Khan University, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Aneesa Moolla
- Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office, Wits Health Consortium, Johannesburg, South Africa
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2
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Helfrecht C, Dira SJ. The Sidama Model of Human Development. HUMAN NATURE (HAWTHORNE, N.Y.) 2023:10.1007/s12110-023-09449-z. [PMID: 37101096 DOI: 10.1007/s12110-023-09449-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/05/2023] [Indexed: 04/28/2023]
Abstract
Human ontogeny has been shaped through evolution, resulting in markers of physical, cognitive, and social development that are widely shared and often used to demarcate the lifespan. Yet, development is demonstrably biocultural and strongly influenced by context. As a result, emic age categories can vary in duration and composition, constituted by both common physical markers as well as culturally meaningful indicators, with implications for our understanding of the evolution of human life history. Semi-structured group interviews (n = 24) among Sidama adults and children, as well as individual interviews with children (n = 30), were used to identify age categories across the lifespan and to specifically investigate acquisition of sociocultural skills and cognitive development. Ten major age categories were identified, covering birth through death. These largely map onto patterning of human universals, but specific cultural beliefs and behaviors were indicated as important markers of development. Adults and children are oriented toward the dynamic relationships between physical development and acquisition of skills tied to social and cultural success. Culture, ecology, and ontogeny are co-determinants of human development, and the interactions among them should be considered in studies examining human life history and its evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Courtney Helfrecht
- Department of Anthropology, University of Alabama, Box 870210, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA.
| | - Samuel Jilo Dira
- Department of Anthropology, Hawassa University, Hawassa, Ethiopia
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Ivey Henry P, Spence Beaulieu MR, Bradford A, Graves JL. Embedded racism: Inequitable niche construction as a neglected evolutionary process affecting health. Evol Med Public Health 2023; 11:112-125. [PMID: 37197590 PMCID: PMC10184440 DOI: 10.1093/emph/eoad007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2022] [Revised: 04/11/2023] [Indexed: 05/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Racial health disparities are a pervasive feature of modern experience and structural racism is increasingly recognized as a public health crisis. Yet evolutionary medicine has not adequately addressed the racialization of health and disease, particularly the systematic embedding of social biases in biological processes leading to disparate health outcomes delineated by socially defined race. In contrast to the sheer dominance of medical publications which still assume genetic 'race' and omit mention of its social construction, we present an alternative biological framework of racialized health. We explore the unifying evolutionary-ecological principle of niche construction as it offers critical insights on internal and external biological and behavioral feedback processes environments at every level of the organization. We Integrate insights of niche construction theory in the context of human evolutionary and social history and phenotype-genotype modification, exposing the extent to which racism is an evolutionary mismatch underlying inequitable disparities in disease. We then apply ecological models of niche exclusion and exploitation to institutional and interpersonal racial constructions of population and individual health and demonstrate how discriminatory processes of health and harm apply to evolutionarily relevant disease classes and life-history processes in which socially defined race is poorly understood and evaluated. Ultimately, we call for evolutionary and biomedical scholars to recognize the salience of racism as a pathogenic process biasing health outcomes studied across disciplines and to redress the neglect of focus on research and application related to this crucial issue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paula Ivey Henry
- Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Angelle Bradford
- Department of Physiology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Joseph L Graves
- Department of Biology, North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, NC, USA
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Jumping is not just about height: Biosocial becomings as an integrative approach in understanding contextualized jump performance in Maasai society. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0278547. [PMID: 36454993 PMCID: PMC9714807 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0278547] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2022] [Accepted: 11/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies focused on jumping performance in humans have so far investigated either its biological or sociocultural significance, with very little attentions paid to the inseparable relations of these two aspects in daily life of people. Integrating both ethnographic and biomechanical methods, this research investigated the biosocial features of the jump performance of Maasai youth in its most well observed context, the wedding ceremony. Ethnographic data were used to explain the social status of participants, the physical movements and singing tempo of performers, and their interactions. Biomechanical methods were applied to assess the heights and frequencies of identified repetitive double-legged vertical jumps (n = 160, from 15 male youths). All youth performers followed a certain posture pattern, paying specific attention to their final landing. Large variations exist in their jumping heights [coefficient of variation (CV) = 0.237]; however, the frequency in jump repetitions were maintained with the least variations (CV = 0.084). Cheering interactions were confirmed, but with no significant difference in height between the cheered and non-cheered groups. These results indicate that the Maasai youths did not compete for jump height during local ceremonies. Rather, they emphasized the rhythmical retention of jumps, corresponding to other youth mates who were singing alongside. In the broader context of human behaviors, the analysis addresses the diverse meanings of motor performances in different daily contexts that reject the generalized sports regime of "higher/faster-the-better".
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5
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Ingold T. Evolution without Inheritance. CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1086/722437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
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6
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Cabana GS, Mendoza M, Smith LA, Delfino H, Martínez C, Mazza B, Teruya Rossi L, Di Fabio Rocca F. Crossing at y/our own peril: Biocultural boundary crossing in anthropology. AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/aman.13729] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Pessa RP, Oths KS, Dressler W, Balieiro MC, Dos Santos JE. Cultural Consonance in Food Consumption and Nutrient Intake in Southern Brazil. Ecol Food Nutr 2021; 61:385-405. [PMID: 34961369 DOI: 10.1080/03670244.2021.2018312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Culture influences food consumption and nutrient intake. In this paper we present a new approach in research, examining how knowledge and understanding of food is encoded in cultural models. The degree to which individuals match these shared models in their own consumption patterns is then measured, using the concept of cultural consonance. In research conducted in urban Brazil, the configuration of cultural models of food, and the association of cultural consonance in food with nutrient intake, are moderated by socioeconomic status. The theory and method employed here offers a new approach to the study of culture, food, and nutrient intake.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosane Pilot Pessa
- College of Nursing, University of São Paulo-Ribeirão Preto, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - Kathryn S Oths
- Department of Anthropology, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA
| | - William Dressler
- Department of Anthropology, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA
| | - Mauro C Balieiro
- Department of Psychology, Paulista University, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
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Downey G. Echolocation among the blind: an argument for an ontogenetic turn. JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/1467-9655.13607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Greg Downey
- Macquarie School of Social Sciences Macquarie University Room B514, Level 5, 25B Wally's Walk NSW 2109 Australia
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Chinnaswamy S. SARS-CoV-2 infection in India bucks the trend: Trained innate immunity? Am J Hum Biol 2021; 33:e23504. [PMID: 32965717 PMCID: PMC7536963 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23504] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2020] [Revised: 07/26/2020] [Accepted: 08/24/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19 pandemic caught the world unawares by its sudden onset in early 2020. Memories of the 1918 Spanish Flu were rekindled raising extreme fear for the virus, but in essence, it was the host and not the virus, which was deciding the outcome of the infection. Age, gender, and preexisting conditions played critical roles in shaping COVID-19 outcome. People of lower socioeconomic strata were disproportionately affected in industrialized countries such as the United States. India, a developing country with more than 1.3 billion population, a large proportion of it being underprivileged and with substandard public health provider infrastructure, feared for the worst outcome given the sheer size and density of its population. Six months into the pandemic, a comparison of COVID-19 morbidity and mortality data between India, the United States, and several European countries, reveal interesting trends. While most developed countries show curves expected for a fast-spreading respiratory virus, India seems to have a slower trajectory. As a consequence, India may have gained on two fronts: the spread of the infection is unusually prolonged, thus leading to a curve that is "naturally flattened"; concomitantly the mortality rate, which is a reflection of the severity of the disease has been relatively low. I hypothesize that trained innate immunity, a new concept in immunology, may be the phenomenon behind this. Biocultural, socioecological, and socioeconomic determinants seem to be influencing the outcome of COVID-19 in different regions/countries of the world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sreedhar Chinnaswamy
- Infectious Disease GeneticsNational Institute of Biomedical GenomicsKalyaniIndia
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Beatrice JS, Soler A, Reineke RC, Martínez DE. Skeletal evidence of structural violence among undocumented migrants from Mexico and Central America. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2021; 176:584-605. [PMID: 34409584 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24391] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2021] [Revised: 07/11/2021] [Accepted: 07/20/2021] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES We examine the prevalence and sociodemographic risk factors of skeletal indicators of stress in forensic samples of undocumented migrants from Mexico and Central America. MATERIALS AND METHODS Cranial and dental remains of 319 migrants recovered in the Arizona and Texas borderlands were assessed for porotic hyperostosis (PH), cribra orbitalia (CO), and linear enamel hypoplasias (LEH). Logistic regression models for each condition were estimated to test for associations with biological sex, age, recovery location, and whether individuals were identified. Additional models estimated for a subsample of identified migrants included region of origin, residential context, and community indigeneity. RESULTS The full sample shows moderate crude prevalence of CO (9.6%) and LEH (34.1%), and a high prevalence of PH (49.6%). Significantly higher odds of PH are associated with being male (2.16 times higher), unidentified (1.89 times higher), and recovered in Arizona (3.76 times higher). Among identified migrants, we fail to find associations significant at the p < 0.05 level between skeletal stress and all sociodemographic variables except age. DISCUSSION The factors associated with PH may be related to influences on decisions to migrate and diversity among migrant sending regions. The skeletal evidence for early life stress is generally consistent with common public health concerns among impoverished communities in the region. The lesions themselves are viewed as embodied risk of physiological disturbance when resource access is structured by higher-level social, economic, and political forces. Forensic anthropologists would benefit from increased sensitivity to embodied structural violence among the vulnerable individuals and communities they serve.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jared S Beatrice
- Department of Sociology and Anthropology, The College of New Jersey, Ewing, New Jersey, USA
| | - Angela Soler
- Forensic Anthropology Unit, Office of Chief Medical Examiner of New York City, New York, New York, USA
| | - Robin C Reineke
- The Southwest Center, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
| | - Daniel E Martínez
- School of Sociology, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
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11
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van Doren TP, Sattenspiel L. The 1918 influenza pandemic did not accelerate tuberculosis mortality decline in early-20th century Newfoundland: Investigating historical and social explanations. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2021; 176:179-191. [PMID: 34009662 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2020] [Revised: 02/26/2021] [Accepted: 05/03/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The selective mortality hypothesis of tuberculosis after the 1918 influenza pandemic, laid out by Noymer and colleagues, suggests that acute exposure or pre-existing infection with tuberculosis (TB) increased the probability of pneumonia and influenza (P&I) mortality during the 1918 influenza pandemic, leading to a hastened decline of TB mortality in post-pandemic years. This study describes cultural determinants of the post-pandemic TB mortality patterns in Newfoundland and evaluates whether there is support for this observation. MATERIALS AND METHODS Death records and historical documents from the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador were used to calculate age-standardized island-wide and sex-based TB mortality, as well as region-level TB mortality, for 1900-1939. The Joinpoint Regression Program (version 4.8.0.1) was used to estimate statistically significant changes in mortality rates. RESULTS Island-wide, females had consistently higher TB mortality for the duration of the study period and a significant shift to lower TB mortality beginning in 1928. There was no similar predicted significant decline for males. On the regional level, no models predicted a significant decline after the 1918 influenza pandemic, except for the West, where significant decline was predicted in the late-1930s. DISCUSSION Although there was no significant decline in TB mortality observed immediately post-pandemic, as has been shown for other Western nations, the female post-pandemic pattern suggests a decline much later. The general lack of significant decrease in TB mortality rate is likely due to Newfoundland's poor nutrition and lack of centralized healthcare rather than a biological interaction between P&I and TB.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taylor P van Doren
- Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA
| | - Lisa Sattenspiel
- Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA
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12
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Thompson AL. What is normal, healthy growth? Global health, human biology, and parental perspectives. Am J Hum Biol 2021; 33:e23597. [PMID: 33763952 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23597] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2020] [Revised: 02/27/2021] [Accepted: 03/01/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The widespread variation seen in human growth globally stands at odds with the global health perspective that young child growth should not vary across populations if nutritional, environmental and care needs are met. This paper: (1) evaluates the idea that a single standard of "healthy" growth characterizes children under age 5, (2) discusses how variation from this standard is viewed in global health, in human biology and by parents, and (3) explores how views of "normal" growth shape biomedical and parental responses. METHODS This paper reviews the anthropological, public health and clinical literature on the nature of child growth and the applicability of World Health Organization Multicenter Growth Reference Study growth standards across contexts. RESULTS The considerable variability in child growth across contexts makes it unlikely that any one framework, with issues of sample selection and representativeness, can serve as the model of healthy growth. Global health, human biology and parents differ in the emphasis they place on heredity versus environmental context in understanding this variability, but human biologists and parents tend to view a wider range of growth as "normal." Since both biomedicine and parents base their care decisions on their perceptions of normal, healthy growth, the comparative framework used has important implications for medical treatment and feeding practices. CONCLUSIONS A more nuanced approach that incorporates the biology of growth and its association with health outcomes across contexts is critical to identify patterns of healthy growth and to avoid over-reliance on a single standard that may pathologize variability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda L Thompson
- Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.,Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
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Fuentes A. Biological anthropology's critical engagement with genomics, evolution, race/racism, and ourselves: Opportunities and challenges to making a difference in the academy and the world. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2020; 175:326-338. [PMID: 33098091 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2020] [Revised: 07/25/2020] [Accepted: 10/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Biological anthropology can, and should, matter in the Anthropocene. Biological anthropologists are interested in human biology and the human experience in a broader ecological, evolutionary, and phylogenetic context. We are interested in the material of the body, the history of the body, and interactions of diverse bodies, communities, ecologies, and evolutionary processes. However, the cultural realities of bodies, histories, communities, livelihoods, perceptions, and experiences are as central to the endeavor and inquiry of biological anthropology as are their material aspects. Biological anthropology is a constant dialectic between the cultural and the biological. In this essay, I argue that Biological Anthropology has much to offer, a history to contend with, and a future that matters. To illustrate this, I highlight theoretical and methodological issues in genomics, evolutionary theory and connect them to the study of Race and Racism to emphasize specific arenas where Biological Anthropology has a great capacity, and a strong obligation, to play a central role. However, Biological Anthropology also has substantive internal issues that hinder our ability to do the best possible science. If we are to live up to our potential and make a difference in the 21st century we need to ameliorate our structural shortcomings and expand our voice, and impact, in academic and public discourse. The goal of this perspective is to offer suggestions for moving us toward this goal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agustín Fuentes
- Department of Anthropology, 123 Aaron Burr Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
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Hoke MK, Schell LM. Doing biocultural anthropology: Continuity and change. Am J Hum Biol 2020; 32:e23471. [PMID: 32681558 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23471] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2020] [Revised: 06/23/2020] [Accepted: 06/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Biocultural anthropology has long represented an important approach in the study of human biology. However, despite demonstrated utility, its somewhat amorphous identity leaves some scholars questioning just what it means to be biocultural. In this article, rather than providing proscriptive doctrine, we contribute to these conversations about the nature of biocultural anthropology by considering what biocultural research does. We begin with a consideration of some of the foundational themes of biocultural work including recognition of the dialectical nature of sociocultural and biological forces, interest in inequality, and incorporation of both evolutionary and political economic perspectives. To emphasize the consistency of biocultural work over time, we also trace these themes from originating work to their appearance in current research. We then identify some of the key actions of the biocultural approach, noting that biocultural work can execute any number though rarely all of these actions simultaneously. We then offer brief introductions to the articles that make up this special issue, highlighting the ways in which each piece undertakes key biocultural actions. Following these introductions, we provide a discussion of some of the types of biocultural work that are not present in this special issue, recognizing the breadth of biocultural research across multiple subfields of anthropology. Finally, we point to some potentially fruitful directions for future biocultural research. In the end, we conclude that while biocultural anthropology may not have a cohesive or set agenda, it does have a clear and recognizable form of content and methodology illuminated by its actions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morgan K Hoke
- Department of Anthropology & Population Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Lawrence M Schell
- Department of Anthropology, Department of Epidemiology and Statistics, & the Center for the Elimination of Minority Health Disparities, University at Albany, Albany, New York, USA
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Toyne JM, Murphy MS, Klaus HD. An introduction to advances in Andean South American paleopathology. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PALEOPATHOLOGY 2020; 29:1-15. [PMID: 32334998 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpp.2019.09.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2019] [Revised: 09/20/2019] [Accepted: 09/22/2019] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
In the 20 years since the publication of John Verano's foundational paper "Advances in Paleopathology of Andean South America," paleopathological and bioarchaeological investigations of human skeletal remains in the region have increased dramatically. Today, primary foci have grown to span the identification of disease, detailed reconstructions of biocultural interactions, embodied social experiences, and ancient living worlds. In this special issue, more than a dozen scholars reflect on the state of developments in the scientific analyses of ancient disease, life, and society across the region. For this introductory article, we frame the current state of Andean paleopathology by reviewing key historical contributions beginning in the last century. More recent trends since 1997 are defined via a meta-analysis of the literature. We then highlight current innovations and consider future directions of study. We then close with an overview of the papers comprising this special issue. Each article explores major theoretical, topical, and methodological advances that have transpired since 1997 and charts the course for the next two decades of work - with implications and insights that transcend the Andes and speak to key paleopathological issues around the world.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Marla Toyne
- Department of Anthropology, University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Blvd, Orlando, FL, 32803-1631, United States.
| | - Melissa S Murphy
- Anthropology Department, 12th and Lewis Streets, Laramie, WY, 82071, United States.
| | - Haagen D Klaus
- Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology, Robinson Hall B Room 305, 4400 University Dr., Mailcode 3G5, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, 22030, United States.
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Leatherman T, Goodman A. Building on the biocultural syntheses: 20 years and still expanding. Am J Hum Biol 2019; 32:e23360. [PMID: 31814227 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23360] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2019] [Revised: 08/25/2019] [Accepted: 11/13/2019] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Building a New Biocultural Synthesis: Political Economic Perspectives in Human Biology called for an integration of political economy with ecological and adaptability perspectives in biocultural anthropology. A major goal of this volume was to explore the utility of including political-economic and sociocultural processes in analyses of human biological variation, nutrition, and health. A second goal was to enhance collaboration among subfields and work against the "chasm" that separated complementary perspectives in cultural and biological anthropology. Twenty years hence, new ways to link social inequalities and human biology have emerged in part through contributions of developmental origins of health and disease, epigenetics, microbiomes, and other new methods for tracing pathways of embodiment. Equally important, notions of "local/situated biologies" and "reactive genomes," provide frameworks for understanding biology and health at the nexus of ecologies, societies, and histories. We review and highlight these contributions toward expanding critical approaches to human biology. Developments over the past two decades have reinforced the central role of social environments and structural inequalities in shaping human biology and health. Yet, within biocultural approaches, a significant engagement with historical, political-economic, and sociocultural conditions remains relatively rare. We review potential barriers to such analyses, focusing on theoretical and methodological challenges as well as the subfield structure of anthropology. Achieving politically and socially contextualized and relevant critical biocultural approaches remains a challenge, but there is reason for optimism amid new theoretical and methodological developments and innovations brought by new generations of scholars.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Leatherman
- Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts
| | - Alan Goodman
- School of Natural Sciences, Hampshire College, Amherst, Massachusetts
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Dressler WW. The construction of the cultural niche: A biocultural model. Am J Hum Biol 2019; 32:e23311. [DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2019] [Revised: 07/01/2019] [Accepted: 08/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
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Tallman PS. Water insecurity and mental health in the Amazon: Economic and ecological drivers of distress. ECONOMIC ANTHROPOLOGY 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/sea2.12144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
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Arsdale AP, Shenk MK. Biological and Evolutionary Perspectives in
American Anthropologist
: An Editorial Provocation. AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/aman.13206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
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Copeland T. To Keep this Disease from Killing You: Cultural Competence, Consonance, and Health among HIV-positive Women in Kenya. Med Anthropol Q 2017; 32:272-292. [PMID: 28766753 DOI: 10.1111/maq.12402] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2015] [Revised: 06/19/2017] [Accepted: 06/19/2017] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
The HIV/AIDS crisis continues in sub-Saharan Africa, where nearly 70% of infections are found. Despite recent efforts to supply antiretroviral therapy to those infected, most are not receiving medication and are forced to rely on self-management to remain healthy. In Kenya, many of those infected are women living in extreme poverty. This article presents the findings of research among poor women in Nairobi that examined the relationship between knowledge of a cultural model of self-managing HIV/AIDS, cultural consonance, and health. This biocultural study expands on earlier findings showing that knowledge of the model (competence) is a significant predictor of health by examining here how behavior consistent with that knowledge (consonance) affects health outcomes, as measured by CD4 counts, perceived stress, depressive symptoms, and recent illnesses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Toni Copeland
- Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures, Mississippi State University
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Oths KS, Smith HN, Stein MJ, Lazo Landivar RJ. A decade of rapid change: Biocultural influences on child growth in highland Peru. Am J Hum Biol 2017; 30. [PMID: 29083078 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2017] [Revised: 07/25/2017] [Accepted: 10/08/2017] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES In the past decade many areas of Peru have been undergoing extreme environmental, economic, and cultural change. In the highland hamlet of Chugurpampa, La Libertad, climate change has ruined harvests and led to frequent periods of migration to the coast in search of livelihood. This biocultural research examines how the changes could be affecting the growth of children who maintain residence in the highlands. METHODS Clinical records from the early 2000s were compared to those from the early 2010s. Charts were randomly selected to record anthropometric data, netting a sample of 75 children ages 0-60 months of age. Analysis of covariance was run to compare mean stature, weight, and BMI between cohorts. Percentage of children who fall below the -2 threshold for z-scores for height and weight were compared by age and cohort. RESULTS A significant secular trend in growth was found, with children born more recently larger than those born a decade before. The effect is most notable in the first year of life, with the growth advantage attenuated by the age of 3 for height and age 4 for weight. While children were unlikely to be stunted from 0 to 3 years of age, 44% of the later cohort were stunted and 11% were underweight from 4 to 5 years of age. CONCLUSIONS Three possible explanations for the rapid shift are entertained: more time spent on the coast during gestation and early childhood, which may attenuate the effect of hypoxia on child growth; dietary change; and increased use of biomedicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathryn S Oths
- Department of Anthropology, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487
| | - Hannah N Smith
- Department of Anthropology, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487
| | - Max J Stein
- Department of Anthropology, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487
| | - Rodrigo J Lazo Landivar
- Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003
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Gengo RG, Oka RC, Vemuru V, Golitko M, Gettler LT. Positive effects of refugee presence on host community nutritional status in Turkana County, Kenya. Am J Hum Biol 2017; 30. [PMID: 28976046 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2017] [Revised: 07/09/2017] [Accepted: 08/28/2017] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Refugee camps are often assumed to negatively impact local host communities through resource competition and conflict. We ask instead whether economic resources and trade networks associated with refugees have benefits for host community health and nutrition. To address this question we assess the impacts of Kakuma Refugee Camp in northwest Kenya, comparing anthropometric indicators of nutritional status between Turkana communities in the region. METHODS Participants were recruited at four sites in Turkana County (N = 586): Kakuma Town, adjacent to Kakuma Refugee Camp; Lorugum, an area with sustained economic development; Lokichoggio, formerly host to international NGOs, and now underdeveloped; and Lorengo, an undeveloped, rural community. We evaluated nutritional status using summed skinfold thickness and body mass index (BMI). Structured interviews provided contextual data. RESULTS Age-controlled multiple regression models reveal two distinct skinfold thickness profiles for both sexes: comparatively elevated values in Kakuma and Lorugum, and significantly lower values in Lorengo and Lokichoggio. BMI did not vary significantly by location. Despite better nutritional status, a large proportion of Kakuma residents still report worries about basic needs, including hunger, health, and economic security. CONCLUSIONS Kakuma Refugee Camp is associated with better host community energetic status indicators, compared to other relevant, regional sites varying in development and resources. Based on global nutritional standards, observed differences likely represent meaningful disparities in overall health. We suggest that access to cereals via refugee trade networks and employment might mediate this relationship. However, perceptions of refugees as illegitimate interlopers maintain a high psychological burden.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rieti G Gengo
- Department of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, 46556.,Kellogg Institute for International Studies, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, 46556.,Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, 46556
| | - Rahul C Oka
- Department of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, 46556.,Kellogg Institute for International Studies, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, 46556.,Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, 46556.,Eck Institute for Global Health, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, 46556
| | | | - Mark Golitko
- Department of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, 46556
| | - Lee T Gettler
- Department of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, 46556.,Eck Institute for Global Health, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, 46556
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Nelson RG. Reimaging Process in 2016: Deliberations on a Year of Integrative Slow Science in Biological Anthropology. AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST 2017. [DOI: 10.1111/aman.12869] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Robin G. Nelson
- Department of Anthropology; Santa Clara University; Santa Clara CA 95053
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Handler R, Bashkow I, Solway J, Baker LD, Schrempp G. Voicing the ancestors. HAU: JOURNAL OF ETHNOGRAPHIC THEORY 2016. [DOI: 10.14318/hau6.3.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
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Wagner JK, Yu JH, Ifekwunigwe JO, Harrell TM, Bamshad MJ, Royal CD. Anthropologists' views on race, ancestry, and genetics. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2016; 162:318-327. [PMID: 27874171 PMCID: PMC5299519 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2016] [Revised: 09/28/2016] [Accepted: 10/06/2016] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Controversies over race conceptualizations have been ongoing for centuries and have been shaped, in part, by anthropologists. Objective To assess anthropologists' views on race, genetics, and ancestry. Methods In 2012 a broad national survey of anthropologists examined prevailing views on race, ancestry, and genetics. Results Results demonstrate consensus that there are no human biological races and recognition that race exists as lived social experiences that can have important effects on health. Discussion Racial privilege affects anthropologists' views on race, underscoring the importance that anthropologists be vigilant of biases in the profession and practice. Anthropologists must mitigate racial biases in society wherever they might be lurking and quash any sociopolitical attempts to normalize or promote racist rhetoric, sentiment, and behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Joon-Ho Yu
- University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, 98195
| | | | - Tanya M Harrell
- Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, 98109
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Chibnik M. Thanks. AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/aman.12687] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Michael Chibnik
- Department of Anthropology; University of Iowa; Iowa City IA 52242-1322
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Wiley AS, Cullin JM. What Do Anthropologists Mean When They Use the TermBiocultural? AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/aman.12608] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Andrea S. Wiley
- Department of Anthropology; Indiana University; Bloomington IN 47405
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Downey G. Being Human in Cities: Phenotypic Bias from Urban Niche Construction. CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY 2016. [DOI: 10.1086/685710] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Subsistence-patterns, gender roles, effective temperature, and the evolutionary timing of a post reproductive life span. Med Hypotheses 2016; 89:48-57. [PMID: 26968909 DOI: 10.1016/j.mehy.2016.01.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2015] [Revised: 01/21/2016] [Accepted: 01/29/2016] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Evolutionary anthropologists explain menopause and the start of a post reproductive lifespan (PRLS), as beneficiary for older women who can now help contribute to their children/grandchildren's wellbeing. This paper presents a new model with the aim to elucidate when, where, and for whom, such benefits may have arisen. In foraging societies, women contribute nutrients to their social groups/family units to a greater degree as overall effective temperatures (ETs) rise. Where the ET is favorable for women's contributions (ETs between 15 and 20), selection does lengthen the PRLS of women because women contribute sufficiently to enhance their own inclusive fitness. Paleo-environment records suggest that the climate necessary to encourage an increase PRLS occurred shortly after the younger dryad in emerging subtropical settings. Subsistence patterns and gender roles may have played a role in the evolution of PRLS in human females.
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Fouts HN, Silverman LS. Parenting and environmental risk : an examination of child loss and maternal involvement among Bofi foragers in Central Africa. HUMAN NATURE-AN INTERDISCIPLINARY BIOSOCIAL PERSPECTIVE 2015; 26:73-88. [PMID: 25742709 DOI: 10.1007/s12110-015-9221-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
The majority of adaptationist models and research related to parenting strategies have focused on extrinsic or population-level risk as predictors of parenting. However, some researchers have called for greater consideration of cultural factors as well as on intracultural variation in parenting. This study uses a biocultural approach to examine intracultural variation in environmental risk and parenting among the Bofi foragers in Central Africa. In particular, we examine 30 mothers' experiences of child loss as a predictor of variation in maternal involvement (proximity, holding, and affection) with their young children. Multivariate and univariate analyses indicate that child loss accounted for substantial variation in maternal behaviors and was predictive of maternal holding and the expression of physical affection. In sum, our findings indicate that intracultural variation in child loss is predictive of maternal involvement with young children and that a biocultural approach is useful in explaining this variation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hillary N Fouts
- Department of Child and Family Studies, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA,
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Fitzgerald D. Social Science and Neuroscience beyond Interdisciplinarity: Experimental Entanglements. THEORY, CULTURE & SOCIETY 2015; 32:3-32. [PMID: 25972621 PMCID: PMC4425296 DOI: 10.1177/0263276414537319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
This article is an account of the dynamics of interaction across the social sciences and neurosciences. Against an arid rhetoric of 'interdisciplinarity', it calls for a more expansive imaginary of what experiment - as practice and ethos - might offer in this space. Arguing that opportunities for collaboration between social scientists and neuroscientists need to be taken seriously, the article situates itself against existing conceptualizations of these dynamics, grouping them under three rubrics: 'critique', 'ebullience' and 'interaction'. Despite their differences, each insists on a distinction between sociocultural and neurobiological knowledge, or does not show how a more entangled field might be realized. The article links this absence to the 'regime of the inter-', an ethic of interdisciplinarity that guides interaction between disciplines on the understanding of their pre-existing separateness. The argument of the paper is thus twofold: (1) that, contra the 'regime of the inter-', it is no longer practicable to maintain a hygienic separation between sociocultural webs and neurobiological architecture; (2) that the cognitive neuroscientific experiment, as a space of epistemological and ontological excess, offers an opportunity to researchers, from all disciplines, to explore and register this realization.
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Tanner S. Health and disease: exploring the relation between parasitic infections, child nutrition status, and markets. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2014; 155:221-8. [PMID: 25059318 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22573] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2014] [Revised: 07/09/2014] [Accepted: 07/11/2014] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Research in bioarchaeology and among living people provides insight into the biological and biocultural consequences of subsistence, political, and economic transitions. Central to this effort is examining infectious disease, such as diarrheal disease, respiratory infections, and parasitic infections because they are an important source of nutritional and energetic stress in both past and current groups. Although infection may not always result in overt disease, frequent exposure results in biological stress with a negative effect on child growth and, by extension, health. The goal of this article is to examine the association between a common class of infectious disease, soil-transmitted helminth worms, and nutritional status among youth living in communities that vary with respect to their distance from a commercial center. In 2007, anthropometric measurements and parasitological surveys were collected for 338 2-14-year-old children and adolescents living in lowland Bolivia as part of the Tsimane' Amazonian Panel Study. Associations between the presence of helminth infections and markers of both short- and long-term nutritional status were overall weak. Youth living in communities distant from the commercial center were more likely to be positive for multiple parasite species than youth in near communities, but youth in mid-distance communities had lower infection rates. This article demonstrates the challenge of identifying associations between nutritional and disease stress when individual and household factors are nested in a larger context of socioeconomic and environmental change. Increased collaboration between bioarchaeology and human biology should continue to examine the connections between stress and disease across time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan Tanner
- Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
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Carse A. The Year 2013 in Sociocultural Anthropology: Cultures of Circulation and Anthropological Facts. AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST 2014. [DOI: 10.1111/aman.12108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ashley Carse
- Department of Engineering and Society; University of Virginia; Charlottesville VA 22904
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MacKinnon KC. Contemporary Biological Anthropology in 2013: Integrative, Connected, and Relevant. AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST 2014. [DOI: 10.1111/aman.12102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
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Calcagno JM. Still Keeping Cultural and Biological Anthropology Together: A Response to Alan Goodman's AAA Presidential Address. AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST 2014. [DOI: 10.1111/aman.12094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- James M. Calcagno
- Department of Anthropology; Loyola University Chicago; Chicago IL 60660
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Goodman AH. Toward Deeper Biocultural Integration: A Response to James Calcagno. AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST 2014. [DOI: 10.1111/aman.12095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Alan H. Goodman
- Department of Natural Sciences; Hampshire College; Amherst MA 01002
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