The Human Biology of the English Village
G. A. Harrison(Author)
Oxford University Press
Published on 1. October 1995
Book
Hardback
157 pages
978-0-19-857600-6 (ISBN)
Description
This survey details many aspects of the human biology of a group of villages in the Otmoor region of Oxfordshire, which were studied over a 15-year period. First, the historical demography of the region was reconstructed using its parish records. This enabled changing patterns of population size, fertility, mortality, movement and migration to be documented, and predictions to be made about current genetic structure. These predictions were tested by studies of the biological variety in the present day populations, which measured gene frequency distributions and a number of anthropometric and psychometric traits. The role of these latter characteristics in influencing such phenomena as marriage and social mobility were also analyzed. Further studies examined the health and well-being of today's inhabitants, in which lifestyle characteristics were described and their possible effects on stress levels, sleep patterns and morbidity histories identified. The book thus provides a unique account of life in an English village from a biological point of view.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
line figures, tables, bibliography
ISBN-13
978-0-19-857600-6 (9780198576006)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Content
1.: Introduction. 2.: Demographic structure: past and present. 3.: Occupation and social class. 4.: Movement and ancestry structure. 5.: Biological variety and genetic structure. 6.: Marriage, social mobility, and population structure. 7.: The biology of daily life. 8.: Health. 9.: Evidence from surnames on the population structure of villages surrounding the Otmoor. Bibliography. Index