Description: Who are the Native Americans? When and how did they colonize the New World? What proportion of the biological variation in contemporary Amerindian populations was "made in America" and what was brought from Siberia? This book is a unique synthesis of the genetic, archaeological, and demographic evidence concerning the Native peoples of the Americas, using case studies from contemporary Amerindian and Siberian indigenous groups to unravel the mysteries. It culminates in an examination of the devastating collision between European and Native American cultures following Contact, and the legacy of increased incidence of chronic diseases that still accompanies the acculturation of Native peoples today.
Review Quotes: "It really serves as a comprehensive review of the human biology of native Americans in the broadest sense, with topics ranging from origins to contemporary population structure to demography and epidemiology...Crawford's book is not just of value to researchers interested in native Americans as a geographic region or population genetics as a topical area; rather, it has something for everyone and is destined to be a classic work in human biology." Human Biology