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In human populations, biological, social, spatial, ecological and economic aspects of existence are inextricably linked, demanding a holistic approach to their study. Many undergraduate and postgraduate courses now emphasise the value of studying human populations using theoretical frameworks and methodologies from different traditional disciplines. Human Population Dynamics introduces such frameworks and methodologies whilst demonstrating how changes in human population structure can be addressed from several different academic perspectives. As such, the book contains contributions from world-renowned researchers in demography, social and biological anthropology, genetics, biology, sociology, ecology, history and human geography. In particular, the contributors emphasise the lability of many population structures and boundaries, as viewed from their area of expertise. This text is aimed at undergraduate students, graduates and academic researchers from any academic discipline which considers human populations

The Cerdanya valley in the eastern Pyrenees has a physical unity into
which a political frontier has been imposed to divide it. The social and
cultural repercussions of this Franco-Spanish border have created obstacles to
marriage which are not due to topography. Choice of month of marriage is under
cultural control and the study of seasonality in marriages recorded in the
registers of all the Cerdan parishes on both sides of the border demonstrated
differences over time and between French and Spanish sectors. It is suggested
that these changes demonstrate the process of distancing of the two
populations. Cluster and correspondence analysis showed progressive
differentiation of the seasonality patterns of the French and Spanish Cerdans despite the geographic unity of the valley. Sociocultural factors are presumed responsible.

Food preferences and tastes are among the fundamentals affecting human existence; the sociocultural, physiological and neurological factors involved have therefore been widely researched and are well documented. However, information and debate on these factors are scattered across the academic literature of different disciplines. In this volume cross-disciplinary perspectives are brought together by an international team of contributors that includes socialand biological anthropologists, ethologists and ethnologists, psychologists, neurologists and zoologists in order to provide access to the different specialisms on the topic