Human Biology of Afro-Caribbean Populations
Lorena Madrigal provides a microevolutionary study of Caribbean populations of African descent, reviewing the conditions endured by the slaves during their passage and in the plantations and how these may have affected their own health and that of their descendents. The book provides an evolutionary framework for understanding the epidemiology of common modern-day diseases such as obesity, hypertension, and diabetes, and in addition looks at infectious diseases and their effect on the genetic make-up of Afro-Caribbean populations. It also reviews population genetics studies that have been used to understand the microevolutionary pathways for various populations and investigates their demographic characteristics, including the relationships between migration, family type, and fertility. Ending with a case study of the Afro-Caribbean population of Limo´n, Costa Rica, this will be a fascinating resource for researchers working in biological anthropology, demography, and epidemiology, and for those interested in the African diaspora in the New World.
LORENA MADRIGAL is Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of South Florida and has worked on historical demography, population genetics, disease and modernization, and the genetics of longevity. She has also published Statistics for Anthropology (Cambridge, 1998)