Continuity and change : a biological history of Ancient Egypt
The change in subsistence strategy, from hunting and gathering to agriculture, and the associated development of social hierarchy form a series of changes of particular biological interest. There are two main aspects to these changes, which interact and modify each other; the first relates to human biology and human variation, and the second to the history of population movements along the Nile. The emergence of Egyptian civilisation was preceded by the introduction of agriculture in the Nile Valley. The emergence of the First Dynasty was a major development in the political and sociocultural transformation of the agricultural communities inhabiting the lower Nile Valley. Human variation can act in terms of differing responses to diet and ecology, and can be recognised through trends in biological markers. This study has employed biological measures to ascertain the pattern of biological changes occurring in the Nile Valley through the Predynastic and Early Dynastic periods. A model was developed both to predict the pattern of physical changes expected to affect the individuals and to link these biological changes with the genetic structure of the local population. The first portion of the study concentrates
Zakrzewski, Sonia Ruth
Continuity and change : a biological history of Ancient Egypt. The change in subsistence strategy, from hunting and gathering to agriculture, and the associated development of social hierarchy form a series of changes of particular biological interest. There are two main aspects to these changes, which interact and modify each other; the first relates to human biology and human variation, and the second to the history of population movements along the Nile. The emergence of Egyptian civilisation was preceded by the introduction of agriculture in the Nile Valley. The emergence of the First Dynasty was a major development in the political and sociocultural transformation of the agricultural communities inhabiting the lower Nile Valley. Human variation can act in terms of differing responses to diet and ecology, and can be recognised through trends in biological markers. This study has employed biological measures to ascertain the pattern of biological changes occurring in the Nile Valley through the Predynastic and Early Dynastic periods. A model was developed both to predict the pattern of physical changes expected to affect the individuals and to link these biological changes with the genetic structure of the local population. The first portion of the study concentrates
continuity_change biological history ancient_egypt change subsistence_strategy hunt gathering agriculture associate development social_hierarchy form series change particular biological interest two_main aspect change interact modify first relate human biology human variation second history population_movement along nile emergence egyptian civilisation precede introduction agriculture nile_valley emergence major development political sociocultural transformation agricultural community_inhabit low nile_valley human variation act term differ response diet ecology recognise trend biological marker study employ biological measure ascertain pattern biological change_occur nile_valley predynastic_early dynastic_period model_develop predict pattern physical change expect affect individual link biological change genetic structure local_population first portion study_concentrate