Day-to-day activities are important in the development of social identities, the establishment of social standing, and the communal understanding of societal rules. This perspective is broadly referred to as practice theory and relates to the power of an overarching social structure and the individual actors that exist within it. Practice theory has made an important contribution to anthropological and archaeological research as these fields are particularly interested in daily life and the importance of these actions. This volume argues that practice theory can also be used in a bioarchaeological context through the examination of human skeletal remains and the archaeological context in which they were excavated. Bioarchaeology offers a unique perspective on these day-to-day experiences—skeletal tissue is constantly undergoing a process of change and, as a living biological system, it can adapt to external forces. Furthermore, bioarchaeological studies are multi-scalar and can examine individuals, groups, or entire populations. Using osteological indicators of activity patterns (entheseal changes, osteoarthritis) and dietary isotopes (carbon, nitrogen) as examples, this book addresses patterns of everyday life in the ancient past. Physical activities and food consumption are actions that are carried out on a daily basis. While bioarchaeology does not have the ability to recreate specific day-to-day activities, we can assess broad trends in everyday life. The volume illustrates these points using examples from the Ancient Nile Valley. Through the examination of over 800 Egyptian and Nubian individuals from five different archaeological sites, the research addresses patterns of everyday life as they relate to social inequality, agency, and practice. Beyond osteological indicators of activity and dietary patterns, this book also discusses additional methods that can be pursed to draw attention to daily life. Lastly, this book also highlights the applicability of and potential contribution that practice theory can make to this area of research.

Provides information on food practices for 15 cultures. Each chapter focuses on a particular culture, including such factors as diabetes risk factors; traditional foods, dishes and meal plans; special holiday foods; traditional health beliefs; current food practices, and more. Culturally appropriate counselling recommendations are also discussed.

Volume 18 of Advances in Medical Sociology brings cutting-edge sociological research to bear on these multiple dimensions of food systems and their impacts on individual and population health. This volume highlights how food systems matter for health policy, health politics, the lived experiences and life chances of individuals and communities.

Nutrition Education, Second Edition provides a simple, straightforward model for designing effective nutrition education that addresses the personal and environmental influences that affect food choice and assists individuals in adopting healthy behaviors. Using a six-step process, this text integrates theory, research, and practice and provides advice on designing, implementing, and evaluating theory-based nutrition education.

Grounded in public health practice, this text offers a comprehensive study of the health behavior theories that are the foundation of all health education and promotion programs. Your students will come away with a clear understanding of essential relationships between human behavior and health, as well as the practical application of theory and approaches to health promotion research and practice. Designed for graduates or upper level undergraduates, the book maintains a consistent, single voice and offers many examples throughout. Contents: Section I. Theory in Context: 1. Health Behavior in the Context of Public Health 2. A Social Ecological Perspective 3. Theories of Motivation and Behavior: A Brief History and Contemporary Perspectives Section II. Cognitive and Social Theories of Motivation and Behavior 4. Expectancy Value Models 5. Operant Conditioning, Self-Regulation, and Social Cognitive Theory 6. Social Influence Theory: The Effects of Social Factors on Health Behavior 7. Diffusion of Innovations Theory Section III. Behavior Change Theories 8. Learning, Teaching, and Counseling 9. Self-Determination Theory and Motivational Interviewing 10. Stage Models 11. Health Communication and Social Marketing 12. Communities and Health Promotion

Materialising the Roman Empire defines an innovative research agenda for Roman archaeology, highlighting the diverse ways in which the Empire was made materially tangible in the lives of its inhabitants. The volume explores how material culture was integral to the processes of imperialism, both as the Empire grew, and as it fragmented, and in doing so provide up-to-date overviews of major topics in Roman archaeology. Each chapter offers a critical overview of a major field within the archaeology of the Roman Empire. The book’s authors explore the distinctive contribution that archaeology and the study of material culture can make to our understanding of the key institutions and fields of activity in the Roman Empire. The initial chapters address major technologies which, at first glance, appear to be mechanisms of integration across the Roman Empire: roads, writing and coinage. The focus then shifts to analysis of key social structures oriented around material forms and activities found all over the Roman world, such as trade, urbanism, slavery, craft production and frontiers. Finally, the book extends to more abstract dimensions of the Roman world: art, empire, religion and ideology, in which the significant themes remain the dynamics of power and influence. The whole builds towards a broad exploration of the nature of imperial power and the inter-connections that stimulated new community identities and created new social divisions.

This book focuses on South American archaeology and its contributions to the broader global archaeological discussion in theory, methods and new interpretations of the archaeological record. These include discussions on human peopling and colonization of the continent, domestication of plants and emergence of complex societies. This volume covers a wide variety of sub-disciplines in archaeology, including archaeobotany, zooarchaeology, molecular archaeology, bioarchaeology, geoarchaeology. The chapters span from the pre-Columbian to contemporaneous indigenous societies for all the main geographical and ecological zones of South America. The book discusses how particular cases of South American archaeology have contributed to the understanding of a global and basic issue: human relations with their environments and landscapes during the past. The authors focus on the latest results produced by multidisciplinary studies carried out at archaeological sites in several areas of South America ranging from studies of early hunter-gatherers through the historic period. This work would be of interest to researchers in archaeology and Latin American studies.