126 BOOK REVIEWS

due to single-gene mutations). More impor-
tantly, many of the techniques discussed in
the first section may not be profitably ap-
plied to small populations. Multipoint link-
age analysis usually requires large numbers
of statistically informative families. The mul-
tivariate techniques discussed by Sing et al.
and Smalley et al. also tend to require large
sample sizes.
There are several additional cautions in
using small, anthropological populations in
studying diseases of complex causation.
These diseases have by definition a large
number of underlying causal variables. Thus,
populations often must be multiply parti-
tioned to test hypotheses. As the editors
themselves acknowledge (p. 1131, anthropo-
logical populations are frequently too small
to permit such manipulations. Written rec-
ords are often absent (as Szathmary notes for
her population), causing serious difficulties
in retrieving adequate historical data (partic-
ularly pedigrees). Multiple inbreeding loops,
often a characteristic of these populations,
can create obstacles for likelihood analysis of
pedigrees. Because of small sample sizes, the
lack of statistically significant differences be-
tween case and control groups may reflect
low statistical power rather than a true ab-
sence of differences. Although the authors
and editors of this book present a substantial
case for the use of small populations in stud-
ies of complex diseases, the advantages they
cite must be weighed against these disadvan-
tages.
L.B . JORDE
Department of Human Genetics
University of Utah School of Medicine
Salt Lake City, Utah
LITERATURE CITED
Karlin, S, Cameron, EC, and Chakraborty, R (1983) Path
analysis in genetic epidemiology: A critique. Am. J.
Hum. Genet. 35:695-732.
King, MC, Lee, GM, Spinner, NB, Thomson, G, and
Wrensch, MR (1984) Genetic epidemiology. Annu. Rev.
Public Health 5 - 5 2 ,
Neel, JV (1962) Diabetes mellitus: A “thrifty” genotype
rendered detrimental by “progress”? Am. J. Hum. Ge-
net. 14:353-362.

PALEOPATHOLOGY AND THE ORIGINS OF AGRI- United States (Palkovich), California (Dickel
CULTURE. Edited by M.N. Cohen and G.J. et al.), Panamanian Isthmus (Norr), Ecuador
Armelagos. Orlando: Academic Press. 1984. (Ubelaker), and Peru and Chile (Allison; Ben-
xx + 615 pp., figures, tables, references, fer). The final two chapters are summations
index. $59.00 (cloth). and conclusions by Roosevelt and the editors.
Clearly, there is a wide discrepancy in the
Was the technological transition from geographical areas covered by the various
hunting-gathering to agriculture hazardous contributors; some chapters focus on a single
to human health? Paleopathology and the site, while others summarize data from thou-
Origins of Agriculture, based on a 1982 sym- sands of square miles. Likewise there is a
posium, examines the skeletal evidence from wide variation in the nature and the quality
various areas about the globe in a n effort to of the data bases from which the authors can
assess the nature of the tradeoffs in morbid- draw their conclusions. In light of all this it
ity and mortality that accompanied major is not surprising that few, if any, absolute
shifts in subsistence patterns. rules of thumb can be drawn from this sur-
Following a n introduction to the theoreti- vey. What is perhaps more surprising is that
cal theme of the symposium by Cohen, Good- some general trends can be discerned (al-
man et al. present a concise summary of though not without exceptions). These col-
skeletal stress indicators. The major portion lected surveys do not offer the definitive
of the volume consists of several chapters answer to the question of whether or not
examining changes in health and subsis- population pressure was the impetus for the
tence in the Eastern Mediterranean (Angel), development of agriculture. They do, how-
Western Europe (Meiklejohn et al.), the La- ever, offer, both individually and collectively,
vant (Smith et al.), Iran and Iraq (Rathbun), insights into some of the variables that gov-
South Asia (Kennedy), Nubia (Martin et al.), ern the interplay of subsistence and health
Illinois (Buikstra; Cook; Goodman et al.), under specific circumstances.
Ohio River Valley (Cassidy; Perzigian et al.), If the volume fails to answer one of the
Georgia (Larsen), Lower Mississippi Valley cosmic questions of prehistory, that really
and Caddoan areas (Rose et al.), Southwest does not detract from its usefulness. It offers
 BOOK REVIEWS
to the generalist and specialist alike an ex-
cellent summary of the state of our knowl-
edge (and sometimes our ignorance) about
the interpretation of skeletal indicators of
stress, health, and morbidity. For instance,
two markers of interrupted childhood growth,
Harris lines and enamel hypoplasias, fre-
quently point in conflicting directions. The
way out of this dilemma appears to lie in a
more careful assessment of the etiologies of
the two markers and in remembering the
impermanence of Harris lines during life.
Some stress indicators emerge as being bet-
ter than others in the sense of being more
interpretable. Differences in sexual dimor-
phism are clearly the result of more than
simple differences in nutrition, but what
other factors are contributing is currently
unknown. Consequently, the simple state-
ment of a n increase or decrease in the sexual
dimorphism of a population tells us little
about its biomedical well-being. Another val-
uable asset of this collection is the multiple
bibliographies, which together comprise a
handy compendium of the major literature in
the field.
The general high quality of the chapters in
this book should earn it a place on the shelves
BOOKS RECEIVED
Betzig, LL (1986)Despotism and DiEerential
Reproduction. A Darwinian View of His-
tory. New York: Aldine. 171 pp. $24.95
(cloth).
Langdon, JH (1986) Functional Morphology
of the Hominoid Foot. Basel, Switzerland:
Karger. 226 pp. $41.75 (cloth).
Mizoguchi, Yuji (1985)Shovelling: A Statisti-
cal Analysis of Its Morphology. Tokyo, Ja-
127
of many anthropologists’ libraries. But there
is a negative side. The high price of this book
is not reflected in the quality of its produc-
tion. The numerous errors, lack of profes-
sional proofing and quality type, which are
characteristics of camera-ready copy, are
more easily forgiven if they are compensated
for by a more reasonable price. Moreover, the
cost of this volume very much limits its use
as a seminar text and its market among stu-
dents, many of whom will probably be driven
to the photocopy machine.
To return to the original question of whe-
ther the transition to agriculturally based
subsistence was hazardous to human health,
the short answer is “frequently.” The long
answer, with all of its qualifications, uncer-
tainties, specifications, and assumptions lies
within the pages of this book. These summar-
ies point out not only the current state of
knowledge but also the unknowns, the puz-
zles, and the contradictions, and therein lies
the real excitement in the field.
LINDAL. KLEPINGER
Department of Anthropology
University of Illinois
Urbana, Illinois
pan: University of Tokyo Press. Distributed
by CoIumbia University Press, New York.
176 pp. $34.00 (cloth).
Scribner, S, and Cole, M (1981) The Psychol-
ogy of Literacy. Cambridge: Harvard Uni-
versity Press. 335 pp. $10.95 (paper).
Seth, PK, and Seth, S (1986) The Primates.
New Delhi, India: Northern Book Centre.
176 pp. RS 200/-(cloth).