| Abstract: | The authors incorporate data from skeletal remains in an attempt to construct health profiles for the Amerindian population before Columbus's arrival and for the antebellum black slave populations of North America and the Caribbean. They examine the impact of poor nutrition among slaves, as evidenced in bone and tooth samples, on infant and childhood mortality, fertility, and adult mortality. They go on to suggest that the change from a hunter-gatherer life-style to a more sedentary agricultural one resulted in poorer health for the Amerindian population. However, agriculture made soft foods more available, allowing women to wean their children earlier, thus increasing overall fertility. |
