Health and the Rise of Civilization

 (3 customer reviews)

The central message of this book is easy to convey: With the rise of civilization, health deteriorated. Of course this doesn't hold true for all of civilization all the time. But even to date the health of the less privileged in many Third World countries, and may be even that of the less privileged in our own big cities, is not better than that of hunter-gatherers from Paleolithic times. Contrary to current ideas held by many, the rise of agriculture, which allowed the birth of civilizations of ever increasing complexity, meant a step backward as far as health and nutrition is concerned. The main part of the book is rather short, some 140 pages. Written as an extended essay, this part reviews the evolution of human society, the history of disease as related to this evolution, and the impact this evolution had on nutrition. Two chapters, one on present day hunter-gatherer societies, the other on palaeopathology, then evaluate evidence for the views presented in the earlier...Read more

HEALTH AND THE RISE OF CIVILIZATION is a unique text answering how and why different health conditions around the world have emerged. Unlike many authors, Professor Mark Nathan Cohen, presents a set of premises consistent with evidence provided from a wide range of disciplines (history, anthropology, epidemiology, biology, geography). Cohen indicates that his work may not be completely correct and new data will either continue to support his ideas or may change certain parts of it.

Cohen also admits that he is only an expert in one field and has had to have help to ensure he has properly understood other fields data. This makes it, in my opinion, very reliable.

This would be a great starting point for anyone interested about understanding the spread of diseases and health conditions. Dr. Cohen has roughly 20 pages of external reading options for anyone interested in pursuing the subject further. It was a clearly, well written, intellectually challenging piece.

The emergence of agriculture and civilization represented an astonishing advance for humankind. Or did it? A growing number of people are raising questions about this cherished belief. Mark Nathan Cohen, an anthropology professor, wrote Health & the Rise of Civilization to shine a light on the history of human health. His book is fascinating.

Hunter-gatherers did not enjoy perfect health, but they were vulnerable to far fewer maladies than people in agricultural societies. In hunter society, dying from accidents was common. Intestinal parasites were common, and hunters were vulnerable to zoonotic diseases, which could use humans and other animals as hosts, but couldn't be transmitted from human to human. Diseases that could be transmitted from human to human were rare. Cancer, heart disease, and other degenerative diseases were very rare, as was starvation.

There are scientists who study the health of dead folks via their bones or mummified remains...Read more