Anthropology: what does it mean to be human?

Cover......Page 1
anthropology......Page 2
Dedication......Page 6
Brief Contents......Page 8
Contents......Page 9
Boxes......Page 23
Preface......Page 24
Chapter 1 What Is Anthropology?......Page 32
 What Is Anthropology?......Page 34
 What Is the Concept of Culture?......Page 35
 What Makes Anthropology a Cross-Disciplinary Discipline?......Page 36
 Biological Anthropology......Page 37
 In Their Own Words: Anthropology as a Vocation: Listening to Voices......Page 38
 Cultural Anthropology......Page 40
 Archaeology......Page 43
 Applied Anthropology......Page 44
 Medical Anthropology......Page 45
 The Uses of Anthropology......Page 46
 In Their Own Words: What Can You Learn from an Anthropology Major?......Page 47
 For Review......Page 48
 Suggested Readings......Page 49
 Scientific and Nonscientific Explanations......Page 50
 Some Key Scientific Concepts......Page 52
 Key Terms......Page 58
Chapter 2 Why Is Evolution Important to Anthropologists?......Page 60
 What Is Evolutionary Theory?......Page 61
  Essentialism......Page 62
  The Great Chain of Being......Page 63
  Transformational Evolution......Page 65
 What Is Natural Selection?......Page 67
  Population Thinking......Page 68
  Natural Selection in Action......Page 69
 How Did Biologists Learn about Genes?......Page 70
  Mendel’s Experiments......Page 71
 What Are the Basics of Contemporary Genetics?......Page 72
  Genes and Traits......Page 73
 Anthropology in Everyday Life: Investigating Human-Rights Violations and Identifying Remains......Page 75
  Mutation......Page 77
  DNA and the Genome......Page 78
 Genotype, Phenotype, and the Norm of Reaction......Page 79
 In Their Own Words: How Living Organisms Construct  Their Environments......Page 83
 What Does Evolution Mean?......Page 84
 Chapter Summary......Page 85
 For Review......Page 86
 Suggested Readings......Page 87
Chapter 3 What Can the Study of Primates Tell Us  about Human Beings?......Page 90
 How Do Biologists Classify Primates?......Page 91
  Strepsirrhines......Page 93
  Haplorhines......Page 94
 In Their Own Words: The Future of Primate Biodiversity......Page 99
 What Is Ethnoprimatology?......Page 101
 Are There Patterns in Primate Evolution?......Page 103
  Primates of the Paleocene......Page 105
  Primates of the Oligocene......Page 106
  Primates of the Miocene......Page 107
 Chapter Summary......Page 108
 Suggested Readings......Page 109
 Relative Dating Methods......Page 111
 Numerical (or Absolute) Dating Methods......Page 114
 Module Summary......Page 120
 Key Terms......Page 122
Chapter 4 What Can the Fossil Record Tell Us  about Human Origins?......Page 124
 What Is Macroevolution?......Page 125
 What Is Hominin Evolution?......Page 127
  The Origin of Bipedalism......Page 128
 In Their Own Words: Finding Fossils......Page 132
  Changes in Hominin Dentition......Page 133
 Who Were the Later Australopiths (3–1.5 mya)?......Page 134
  How Many Species of Australopith Were There?......Page 135
  Expansion of the Australopith Brain......Page 137
  How Many Species of Early Homo Were There?......Page 138
  Earliest Evidence of Culture: Stone Tools......Page 139
 Who Was Homo erectus (1.8–1.7 mya to 0.5–0.4 mya)?......Page 141
  Morphological Traits of H. erectus......Page 142
  The Culture of H. erectus......Page 143
  H. erectus the Hunter?......Page 144
 What Happened to H. erectus?......Page 145
  What Is the Fossil Evidence for the Transition to Modern H. sapiens?......Page 146
  Where Did Modern H. sapiens Come from?......Page 147
 Who Were the Neandertals (130,000–35,000 Years Ago)?......Page 148
 What Do We Know about Middle Paleolithic/Middle Stone Age Culture?......Page 150
 In Their Own Words: Bad Hair Days in the Paleolithic:  Modern (Re)Constructions of the Cave Man......Page 151
 What Do We Know about Anatomically Modern Humans  (200,000 Years Ago to Present)?......Page 153
  What Can Genetics Tell Us about Modern Human Origins?......Page 154
 What Do We Know about the Upper Paleolithic/Late Stone Age (40,000?–12,000 Years Ago)?......Page 156
 What Happened to the Neandertals?......Page 158
 How Many Kinds of Upper Paleolithic/Late Stone Age Cultures Were There?......Page 159
 Where Did Modern H. sapiens Migrate in Late Pleistocene Times?......Page 160
 In Their Own Words: Women’s Art in the Upper Paleolithic?......Page 161
  Eastern Asia and Siberia......Page 163
  The Americas......Page 164
 Two Million Years of Human Evolution......Page 165
 Chapter Summary......Page 166
 For Review......Page 168
 Suggested Readings......Page 169
Chapter 5 What Can Evolutionary Theory Tell Us  about Human Variation?......Page 172
  The Modern Evolutionary Synthesis and Its Legacy......Page 173
 In Their Own Words: Have We Ever Been Individuals?......Page 174
  The Molecularization of Race?......Page 177
  The Four Evolutionary Processes......Page 181
 In Their Own Words: DNA Tests Find Branches but Few Roots......Page 182
  Microevolution and Patterns of Human Variation......Page 185
  Adaptation and Human Variation......Page 187
  Phenotype, Environment, and Culture......Page 191
 Can We Predict the Future of Human Evolution?......Page 194
 For Review......Page 195
 Suggested Readings......Page 196
Chapter 6 How Do We Know about the Human Past?......Page 198
 What Is Archaeology?......Page 199
  Surveys......Page 201
  Archaeological Excavation......Page 204
  Archaeology and Digital Heritage......Page 206
  Subsistence Strategies......Page 207
  Bands, Tribes, Chiefdoms, and States......Page 209
 Whose Past Is It?......Page 212
 How Is the Past Being Plundered?......Page 215
 In Their Own Words: Rescue Archaeology in Europe......Page 217
  Archaeology and Gender......Page 219
  Collaborative Approaches to Studying the Past......Page 221
 Anthropology in Everyday Life: Archaeology as a Tool  of Civic Engagement......Page 222
  Cosmopolitan Archaeologies......Page 224
 Chapter Summary......Page 226
 Suggested Readings......Page 227
Chapter 7 Why Did Humans Settle Down, Build Cities,  and Establish States?......Page 230
 How Is the Human Imagination Entangled with the Material World?......Page 231
 Is Plant Cultivation a Form of Niche Construction?......Page 233
 How Do Anthropologists Explain the Origins of Animal Domestication?......Page 236
 Was There Only One Motor of Domestication?......Page 240
 How Did Domestication, Cultivation, and Sedentism Begin in Southwest Asia?......Page 241
  Natufian Social Organization......Page 242
 Anthropology in Everyday Life: Çatalhöyük in the Twenty-First Century......Page 243
  Natufian Subsistence......Page 244
  Domestication Elsewhere in the World......Page 246
 What Were the Consequences of Domestication  and Sedentism?......Page 247
 In Their Own Words: The Food Revolution......Page 249
  Why Is It Incorrect to Describe Foraging Societies as “Simple”?......Page 251
 What Is the Archaeological Evidence for Social Complexity?......Page 252
  Why Did Stratification Begin?......Page 254
 How Can Anthropologists Explain the Rise  of Complex Societies?......Page 255
 In Their Own Words: The Ecological Consequences of Social Complexity......Page 257
  Andean Civilization......Page 258
 Chapter Summary......Page 262
 Suggested Readings......Page 264
Chapter 8 Why Is the Concept of Culture Important?......Page 266
 How Do Anthropologists Define Culture?......Page 267
 In Their Own Words: The Paradox of Ethnocentrism......Page 268
 In Their Own Words: Culture and Freedom......Page 270
 Culture, History, and Human Agency......Page 271
 In Their Own Words: Human-Rights Law and the Demonization of Culture......Page 272
 Why Do Cultural Differences Matter?......Page 274
  What Is Cultural Relativism?......Page 275
  Genital Cutting, Gender, and Human Rights......Page 276
  Genital Cutting as a Valued Ritual......Page 277
  Did Their Culture Make Them Do It?......Page 278
 Does Culture Explain Everything?......Page 279
  Cultural Imperialism or Cultural Hybridity?......Page 280
  Cultural Hybridity......Page 281
  Can We Be at Home in a Global World?......Page 283
 Chapter Summary......Page 284
 Suggested Readings......Page 285
 Single-Sited Fieldwork......Page 286
  How Do Anthropologists Think about the  Ethics of Their Work?......Page 287
  What Is Participant Observation?......Page 289
 Multisited Fieldwork......Page 290
 Collecting and Interpreting Data......Page 291
 The Dialectic of Fieldwork: Interpretation  and Translation......Page 292
  Interpreting Actions and Ideas......Page 293
 The Dialectic of Fieldwork: An Example......Page 295
 The Effects of Fieldwork......Page 296
 The Production of Anthropological Knowledge......Page 297
 Module Summary......Page 298
 Suggested Readings......Page 299
Chapter 9 Why Is Understanding Human Language Important?......Page 302
 What Makes Language Distinctively Human?......Page 303
 How Are Language and Culture Related?......Page 305
  How Do People Talk about Experience?......Page 307
 What Does It Mean to “Learn” a Language?......Page 310
  Pragmatics: How Do We Study Language in Contexts of Use?......Page 313
  What Is the Difference between a Pidgin and a Creole?......Page 315
  What Is Language Ideology?......Page 316
 In Their Own Words: Varieties of African American  English......Page 318
 What Is Raciolinguistics?......Page 319
 What Is Lost If a Language Dies?......Page 320
 Anthropology in Everyday Life: Language Revitalization......Page 321
 How Are Language and Truth Connected?......Page 324
 Chapter Summary......Page 325
 Suggested Readings......Page 326
 Morphology: Word Structure......Page 327
 Syntax: Sentence Structure......Page 328
 Key Terms......Page 330
Chapter 10 How Do We Make Meaning?......Page 332
  What Are Some Effects of Play?......Page 333
  Is There a Definition of Art?......Page 334
  “But Is It Art?”......Page 338
 In Their Own Words: Tango......Page 340
  “She’s Fake”: Art and Authenticity......Page 341
 How Does Hip-Hop Become Japanese?......Page 342
 What Is Myth?......Page 343
  Do Myths Help Us Think?......Page 345
  How Is Ritual Expressed in Action?......Page 346
  What Are Rites of Passage?......Page 347
  How Are Play and Ritual Complementary?......Page 348
 What Are Symbols?......Page 350
 What Is Religion?......Page 351
  How Are Religion and Social Organization  Related?......Page 353
  Coping with Misfortune: Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic among  the Azande......Page 355
  Coping with Misfortune: Listening for God among Contemporary Evangelicals in the United States......Page 357
 In Their Own Words: For All Those Who Were Indian in a Former Life......Page 358
  How Do People Cope with Change?......Page 359
 In Their Own Words: Custom and  Confrontation......Page 360
 How Are Worldviews Used as Instruments of  Power?......Page 361
 Chapter Summary......Page 362
 Suggested Readings......Page 363
Chapter 11 Why Do Anthropologists Study Economic  Relations?......Page 366
  Self-Interest, Institutions, and Morals......Page 367
 How Do Anthropologists Study Production, Distribution,  and Consumption?......Page 368
  What Are Modes of Exchange?......Page 372
 In Their Own Words: “So Much Work, So Much Tragedy . . . and for What?”......Page 373
  The Maisin and Reciprocity......Page 374
  Modes of Production......Page 376
 Anthropology in Everyday Life: Producing Sorghum and Millet in Honduras and the Sudan......Page 377
  What Is the Role of Conflict in Material Life?......Page 379
  The Internal Explanation: Malinowski and Basic Human  Needs......Page 380
 In Their Own Words: Questioning Collapse......Page 381
  How Is Consumption Culturally Patterned?......Page 383
  How Is Consumption Being Studied Today?......Page 385
 In Their Own Words: Fake Masks and Faux  Modernity......Page 386
 The Anthropology of Food and Nutrition......Page 388
 Chapter Summary......Page 389
 Suggested Readings......Page 390
Chapter 12 How Do Anthropologists Study Political Relations?......Page 392
 How Are Culture and Politics Related?......Page 393
  Is Political Power Nothing More Than Coercion?......Page 395
 In Their Own Words: Protesters Gird for Long Fight over Opening Peru’s Amazon......Page 397
  What Are Domination and Hegemony?......Page 400
  What Are Biopower and Governmentality?......Page 401
 In Their Own Words: Reforming the Crow  Constitution......Page 403
 How Do Anthropologists Study Politics of the  Nation-State?......Page 405
 Nation Building in a Postcolonial World: The Example  of Fiji......Page 406
  How Does Globalization Affect the Nation-State?......Page 407
 Migration, Trans-Border Identities, and Long-Distance Nationalism......Page 408
 Anthropology and Multicultural Politics in the New Europe......Page 409
  How Can Citizenship Be Flexible?......Page 414
  What Is Territorial Citizenship?......Page 416
  What Is Vernacular Statecraft?......Page 417
 Global Politics in the Twenty-First Century......Page 418
 For Review......Page 419
 Suggested Readings......Page 420
Chapter 13 What Can Anthropology Teach Us about Sex, Gender, and Sexuality?......Page 422
 How Did Twentieth-Century Feminism Shape the Anthropological Study of Sex, Gender, and  Sexuality?......Page 423
 How Do Anthropologists Organize the Study of Sex, Gender, and Sexuality?......Page 427
 In Their Own Words: The Consequences of Being  a Woman......Page 430
 How Are Sex and Gender Affected by Other Forms of Identity?......Page 431
 How Do Ethnographers Study Gender Performativity?......Page 433
 How Do Anthropologists Study Relations between Sex, Gender, and Sexuality?......Page 438
 How Does Ethnography Document Variable Culture Understandings Concerning Sex, Gender, and Sexuality?......Page 440
  Female Sexual Practices in Mombasa......Page 441
  Transsexuality and Same-Sex Desire in Iran......Page 444
 Chapter Summary......Page 446
 Suggested Readings......Page 448
Chapter 14 Where Do Our Relatives Come from and Why Do  They Matter?......Page 450
 How Do Human Beings Organize Interdependence?......Page 451
 What Is Friendship?......Page 452
 What Is Kinship?......Page 455
 What Is the Role of Descent in Kinship?......Page 456
  Bilateral Kindreds......Page 457
 What Role Do Lineages Play in Descent?......Page 458
  The Logic of Lineage Relationships......Page 459
  What Are Patrilineages?......Page 460
  What Are Matrilineages?......Page 461
  What Criteria Are Used for Making Kinship Distinctions?......Page 462
  Adoption in Highland Ecuador......Page 463
 What Is the Relation between Adoption and Child Circulation in the Andes?......Page 464
  Negotiation of Kin Ties among the Ju/’hoansi......Page 465
  European American Kinship and New Reproductive  Technologies......Page 466
  Assisted Reproduction in Israel......Page 468
  Organ Transplantation and the Creation of New Relatives......Page 469
  Woman Marriage and Ghost Marriage among the Nuer......Page 470
 Why Is Marriage a Social Process?......Page 471
  Single and Plural Spouses......Page 472
 What Is the Connection between Marriage and Economic Exchange?......Page 474
 In Their Own Words: Outside Work, Women, and Bridewealth......Page 475
  What Is the Nuclear Family?......Page 476
 In Their Own Words: Dowry Too High. Lose Bride  and Go to Jail......Page 477
  What Is the Polygynous Family?......Page 478
  Extended and Joint Families......Page 479
  Divorce and Remarriage......Page 480
 In Their Own Words: Law, Custom, and Crimes against Women......Page 481
  How Does International Migration Affect the Family?......Page 482
 In Their Own Words: Survival and a Surrogate  Family......Page 483
 Anthropology in Everyday Life: Caring for Infibulated Women Giving Birth in Norway......Page 485
 The Flexibility of Marriage......Page 487
 In Their Own Words: Why Migrant Women Feed Their Husbands Tamales......Page 488
 In Their Own Words: Two Cheers for Gay Marriage......Page 489
  Love, Marriage, and HIV/AIDS in Nigeria......Page 491
 Chapter Summary......Page 492
 For Review......Page 494
 Suggested Readings......Page 495
Chapter 15 What Can Anthropology Tell Us about Social Inequality?......Page 498
 Class......Page 500
  Class and Caste in the United States?......Page 501
  Caste in India......Page 502
  How Do Caste and Class Intersect in Contemporary  India?......Page 504
 In Their Own Words: As Economic Turmoil Mounts, So Do Attacks on Hungary’s Gypsies......Page 505
 Race......Page 508
 Ethnicity......Page 511
 In Their Own Words: The Politics of Ethnicity......Page 512
  Are Human Rights Universal?......Page 516
 Anthropology in Everyday Life: Anthropology and Indigenous Rights......Page 520
 In Their Own Words: How Sushi Went Global......Page 525
 Chapter Summary......Page 527
 Suggested Readings......Page 529
Chapter 16 How Is Anthropology Applied in the Field of Medicine?......Page 532
 What Makes Medical Anthropology “Biocultural”?......Page 533
 In Their Own Words: American Premenstrual Syndrome......Page 534
 In Their Own Words: The Madness of Hunger......Page 536
  Kinds of Selves......Page 537
  Decentered Selves on the Internet......Page 538
 Anthropology in Everyday Life: Lead Poisoning among Mexican American Children......Page 539
  Self and Subjectivity......Page 540
  Subjectivity, Trauma, and Structural Violence......Page 542
 How Are Human Sickness and Health Shaped by the Global Capitalist Economy?......Page 545
 In Their Own Words: Ethical Dilemmas and Decisions......Page 546
  Health, Human Reproduction, and Global Capitalism......Page 548
  Medical Anthropology and HIV/AIDS......Page 551
  The Future of Medical Anthropology......Page 554
 CHAPTER SUMMARY......Page 555
 KEY TERMS......Page 557
 SUGGESTED READINGS......Page 558
Glossary......Page 559
References......Page 570
Credits......Page 583
Index......Page 588