A group of villages in the Otmoor region of Oxfordshire was the subject of a fifteen year study of human biology, and this book provides a detailed account of these findings. To begin, the historical demography of the region was reconstructed using its excellent parish records; this enabled changing patterns of population size, fertility, mortality, and other factors to be documented. Predictions were then made about current genetic structure and tested by studies of the biological variety in present day populations that measured gene frequency distribution and a number of anthropometric and psychometric traits, as well as analyzing their influence on phenomena such as marriage and social mobility. Further studies examined the health and well-being of today's inhabitants in which lifestyle characteristics are described and their possible effects on stress levels, sleep patterns, and morbidity histories are identified. The result is a unique account of life in an English village from a biological point of view.
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`Every researcher in human biology will want to read this admirable synthesis of their results.' David Coleman, University of Oxford, Nature, Vol. 383, October 1996
`This book provides a concise summary, clearly written by the principal investigator, of many studies on the Oxfordshire villages research project already published as journal articles and chapters. An advantage of the book is Harrison's relatively informal style of presentation and his attempt to cut through the seeming complexity of the findings to the main conclusions ... the book stands as an excellent introduction to the variety of studies on selected aspects of the biosocial context of everyday life in contemporary English villages. I do think this book should be in the collection of interested human biologists as a clear introduction and reference to the many studies conducted by Harrison and his colleagues in Otmoor.' Stephen T. McGarvey, Brown University, J. Biosoc Sci (1997) Vo.29
`This book provides a concise summary, clearly written by the principal investigator, of many studies on the Oxfordshire villages research project already published as journal articles and chapters. An advantage of the book is Harrison's relatively informal style of presentation and his attempt to cut through the seeming complexity of the findings to the main conclusions ... the book stands as an excellent introduction to the variety of studies on selected aspects of the biosocial context of everyday life in contemporary English villages. I do think this book should be in the collection of interested human biologists as a clear introduction and reference to the many studies conducted by Harrison and his colleagues in Otmoor.' Stephen T. McGarvey, Brown University, J. Biosoc Sci (1997) Vo.29
About the Author
G. Ainsworth Harrison, Emeritus Professor of Biological Anthropology, University of Oxford.
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