The Rostock Manifesto for paleodemography: the way from stage to age

In June 1999, the Laboratory of Survival and Longevity at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock, Germany, hosted a three-day workshop entitled “Mathematical Modelling for Palaeodemography: Coming to Consensus”. The title chosen reflected two issues the workshop was meant to deal with. First, the use of biostatistical methods as a means for estimating demographic profiles from skeletal data was clearly emerging as the right direction for the future. A number of individuals were invited who had published such techniques. Second, coming to consensus was a play on words for evaluating and finding a methodological approach that best did the job for paleodemography.